Kurt Olsen, an election denier who sought to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of President Trump, has resigned from the Justice Department. Sources familiar with his departure informed CBS News of his resignation. Olsen served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, working on the ‘grand conspiracy’ investigation focusing on Obama- and Biden-era officials, an inquiry that has yet to result in any charges. CBS News has reached out to Olsen for comment.
Earlier in the month, Joe diGenova, a prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Todd Blanche, also resigned, citing tensions with senior Justice Department officials concerning case management and pace. Olsen previously worked in the White House as the ‘Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity,’ according to the FBI. In 2020, he collaborated with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to urge the Supreme Court to overturn election results.
In 2022, Olsen was subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 select committee investigating the aftermath of the 2020 election. The subpoena alleged that Olsen was directed by the president to contact high-level Department of Justice officials about filing challenges to the election results. The committee reported that Olsen had multiple discussions with Mr. Trump on January 6, 2021. His referral of the Fulton County election case to the FBI led to a warrant execution earlier this year, resulting in the seizure of numerous boxed ballots and materials from the 2020 election, as revealed by an FBI affidavit. Olsen has made several other referrals concerning the 2020 election to the Justice Department, according to direct sources.
CBS News has previously noted concerns expressed by law enforcement veterans over the Trump Justice Department’s investigation into Brennan and others, describing the team as systematically populated with politically motivated personnel aiming for a partisan indictment. Olsen is one among several prosecutors to leave the ‘grand conspiracy’ case team recently. One source indicated that some attorneys were on temporary assignments and are now returning to their home offices.
The Justice Department has subsequently brought on two former prosecutors to join the investigative team, according to a source.