Potentially troubling news in the quest to drain the Swamp.
Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has left the Department of Justice.
A Justice Department spokesman told The Hill that Whitaker’s last day was Saturday but did not expand on the circumstances surrounding his departure or his plans after leaving. It is unclear where Whitaker might go, including whether he might seek another role in the Trump administration.
Whitaker served as the chief of staff for former attorney general Jeff Sessions until last November, when President Trump tapped him to lead the department temporarily following Sessions’ ouster. Sessions resigned at Trump’s request the day after the November midterm elections, after enduring months of criticism from the president over his decision to recuse himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Whitaker’s departure comes less than three weeks after Bill Barr was confirmed as Trump’s next attorney general. Barr was widely expected to bring new blood to top leadership roles in the department, raising questions about Whitaker’s tenure.
Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, quickly emerged as a controversial figure as a result of his past criticisms of Mueller’s investigation, which he began overseeing when he took the reins at the Justice Department. Democrats and other Trump critics feared that Whitaker would take steps to impede Mueller’s probe.
Whitaker endured a contentious appearance before the House Judiciary Committee last month, during which he was grilled on the Mueller investigation and his communications with Trump. READ MORE: