{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/reuters-sen-coons-seeks-explanation-for-career-prosecutor-boentes-abrupt-resignation", "Reuters: Sen. Coons seeks explanation for career prosecutor Boente's abrupt resignation", "2017-11-07", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Christopher Coons", "C001088", "www.coons.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.07.17\n\t\t\t Reuters: Sen. Coons seeks explanation for career prosecutor Boente's abrupt resignation \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tReuters:\u00a0Senator seeks explanation for career U.S. prosecutor's abrupt resignation\r\nhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-prosecutor/senator-seeks-explanation-for-career-u-s-prosecutors-abrupt-resignation-idUSKBN1D735P\r\nWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic Senator said on Tuesday he wants answers from top Justice Department officials about why a career prosecutor was asked to resign days before a special counsel unveiled the first criminal charges in an investigation into Russia\u2019s role in the 2016 U.S.\u00a0Election.\r\nDana Boente was asked to quit in late October as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, whose district has played an important role in the investigation.\r\nJust days later, Special Counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s investigators charged President Donald Trump\u2019s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and another aide, Rick Gates, with conspiring to launder money and other charges.\r\nIt was also announced on Oct. 30 that a third former Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos, had pleaded guilty earlier in the month to a charge of lying to the FBI.\r\nU.S. Senator Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was writing to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to ask if Boente\u2019s departure was \u201cnormal or justified.\u201d\u00a0\r\n\u201cI\u2018m concerned about the abrupt departure of Dana Boente after a career as a federal prosecutor ... There\u2019s a lot of circumstances that connect the ongoing Mueller investigation to the Eastern District,\u201d Coons said in an interview.\r\nA Department of Justice spokesman said the agency does not comment on personnel matters.\r\nBoente could not immediately be reached for comment.\r\nInvestigations into whether Republican Trump\u2019s campaign associates colluded with Russia last year to help him defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for the presidency arose after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia carried out a campaign of hacking and propaganda to interfere in the election.\r\nRussia has repeatedly denied meddling allegations and Trump has denied any collusion.\u00a0\r\nA Justice Department veteran, Boente has stepped in to help stabilize the law enforcement agency in frequent periods of turmoil during the first year of the Trump administration.\u00a0\r\nBoente has also been temporarily serving as the acting assistant attorney general for the department\u2019s National Security Division. He previously was acting attorney general after Trump fired the prosecutor in that post, Sally Yates. After that, Boente also briefly was acting deputy attorney general.\r\nA person familiar with the matter confirmed that Sessions, a former Alabama Republican senator and close Trump ally, asked Boente to tender his resignation in late October.\u00a0\r\nBoente will step down as head of the National Security Division once Trump\u2019s nominee John Demers is confirmed by the Senate. After that, Boente will continue as head of the Eastern District in Alexandria, Virginia, until he is replaced.\r\nTrump has not yet nominated anyone for that post.\u00a0\r\nThe Eastern District post is the fourth most powerful position in the department\u2019s line of succession.\r\nA judge in the district approved the search warrant for the Alexandria, Virginia home of former Trump campaign manager Manafort in July.\u00a0\r\nA grand jury in the district earlier this year became part of Mueller\u2019s probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is under scrutiny for his work as a lobbyist for a Turkish businessman.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tSean Coit at 202-224-5042 or\u00a0Sean_Coit@coons.senate.gov\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/reuters-sen-coons-seeks-explanation-for-career-prosecutor-boentes-abrupt-resignation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9577397033572197, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}