Prosecutor who led Jan. 6 prosecutions announces his resignation
Matthew Graves was widely criticized for his decision not to bring charges against Hunter Biden for tax evasion.
Matthew Graves
Matthew M. Graves, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, will resign just four days before Donald Trump's inauguration. The lawyer chosen by Biden to head the D.C. District Attorney's Office played a key role in prosecuting those involved in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
In announcing his resignation, the Department of Justice highlighted the ongoing investigation into the Capitol riot, calling it the largest in the agency’s history. According to the DOJ, around 1,600 individuals were charged, and more than 1,000 have been convicted. Trump pledged to begin pardoning at least some of them during his first hour in office.
When Graves steps aside on Jan. 16, he will be replaced by Bridget M. Fitzpatrick, senior assistant U.S. attorney. Prosecutors nominated by an administration typically resign before the inauguration of their successor to avoid being fired.
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While the president-elect has yet to announce any last names for the position, he did unveil some key DOJ positions such as Pam Bondi, former Florida attorney general, for U.S. attorney general, and his lawyer Todd Blanche for deputy attorney general.
The Graves prosecutor's office
Under Graves' leadership, the agency achieved the largest seizure in its history: $3.6 billion in cryptocurrencies following the hacking of the crypto exchange platform Bitfinex in 2016.
In addition to bringing charges against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for hacking Trump's campaign, the agency secured convictions for environmentalists who vandalized the Constitution earlier this year and filed charges against pro-Palestinian protesters who attacked law enforcement officers.
In addition to the January 6 case, Graves was at the center of the public debate over the tax evasion case against Hunter Biden. IRS whistleblowers told Congress that the prosecutor had refused to work with his then-counterpart in Delaware, David Weiss, to bring charges against the president's son in Washington. Hunter Biden later pleaded guilty in that same case, but his father pardoned him in the latter stages of his presidency.
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