Who is John Eisenberg? The Ukraine-call lawyer who led DOJ national security under Trump just quit.
He refused to testify in Trump's first impeachment, then ran the division that chased leaks to reporters.
John Eisenberg, who ran the Justice Department's National Security Division, resigned abruptly Friday, CBS News reported. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the departure on X and thanked him for "strengthening our nation's ability to address threats, both foreign and domestic." Neither Blanche nor the department gave a reason, and no acting head has been named in the reports we reviewed.
He is the second assistant attorney general to leave this week, two days after Democrats won both chambers of Congress. Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon resigned Thursday, and Miami U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones, who ran the "grand conspiracy" probe of Trump's critics, quit the same day as Eisenberg.
Who is John Eisenberg?
Eisenberg clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, held senior Justice Department posts in the 2000s and became a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, according to his department biography. In Trump's first term he was the National Security Council's top lawyer.
That job put him at the center of Trump's first impeachment. After Trump's July 2019 call pressing Ukraine's president to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, Eisenberg is believed to have moved records of the call into a system meant for highly classified material, NPR reported at the time. He denied ordering that, The Record noted. When House impeachment investigators subpoenaed him that November, he refused to appear, following Trump's orders not to cooperate, the AP reported.
Trump brought him back to lead the National Security Division. The Senate confirmed him, and he was sworn in June 5, 2025.
What his division did
The division handles terrorism, espionage and foreign-investment cases and the government's secret surveillance court requests. On his watch, it lost a large share of its career staff and joined leak investigations that reached journalists, including the search of a Washington Post reporter's home, CBS reported. ABC News reported that staff were shifted away from terrorism, espionage and foreign-interference cases toward immigration enforcement. The division also led the classified documents case against former national security adviser John Bolton, who pleaded guilty this year.
What's next
Trump will need a new nominee, and a Democratic Senate will decide whether that person is confirmed when the new Congress is seated in January.
Sources
- Top lawyer in DOJ's National Security Division abruptly resigns, CBS News via Yahoo News
- US attorney tasked with leading probe into Trump's foes resigns from DOJ, ABC News via AOL
- Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg, U.S. Department of Justice
- White House Officials Decline To Appear For Closed-Door Trump Impeachment Inquiry, NPR
- White House lawyer defies impeachment subpoena, Associated Press via Bangor Daily News
- Trump to nominate White House insider from first term to lead DOJ's National Security Division, The Record
Comments ()