Kurt Olsen, an election denier who worked to overturn the 2020 election result in favour of President Trump, has resigned from the US Department of Justice, according to people familiar with his departure.
Olsen had been assigned to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, where he was involved in a “grand conspiracy” investigation targeting officials from the Obama and Biden administrations. The inquiry has not resulted in any charges.
His departure follows the resignation last month of Joe diGenova, the prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Todd Blanche. DiGenova left amid tensions with senior Justice Department officials over the management and pace of the cases.
Several prosecutors have reportedly left the team working on the investigation in recent days. One source said some out-of-state lawyers had been working on temporary assignments which had now ended.
Olsen previously worked at the White House as a “Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity”, according to the FBI. In 2020, he worked with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in urging the Supreme Court to overturn the election results.
He was subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the aftermath of the January 6 attack in 2022. The committee alleged that Olsen had contacted senior Justice Department officials at Mr Trump’s direction to discuss legal challenges to the election result, and said he had spoken with Mr Trump several times on January 6, 2021.
Olsen also referred the Fulton County election case to the FBI, prompting agents to carry out a search earlier this year. An FBI affidavit said dozens of boxes of ballots and other materials from the 2020 election were seized.
A source with direct knowledge said Olsen had made several other referrals relating to the 2020 election to the Justice Department.
Olsen did not immediately comment on his resignation. The Justice Department was also asked for a response.
