Shortly after ascending to the top of the
Blanche and
Under Reding Quiñones, 45, the district has emerged as an epicenter of Trump’s highly public push to use the Justice Department to pursue individuals he believes have wronged him. The moves have bolstered the office’s profile with leaders in Washington, but critics say the efforts are also taking a toll.
There is mounting concern that the pursuit of Trump’s agenda has triggered an exodus of experienced prosecutors and hampered Miami’s expertise in building major white collar crime and narcotics trafficking cases, according to more than a dozen former prosecutors and defense lawyers who handle cases in the district. Most asked not to be identified, citing fear of retaliation. Many expressed concern that the high-profile drug, corruption, fraud and money laundering prosecutions that the district is known for will fall by the wayside in this new era.
Several dozen attorneys in the Southern District of Florida have been fired, quit or retired since Trump’s second term began in January 2025, eroding the talent pool for prosecuting complex cases, said some of the people familiar with the office. A unit that focused on prosecuting economic crimes is down to about a dozen attorneys from the more than 30 it traditionally had, some of them added.
The Justice Department says there have been 26 departures since Reding Quiñones took over in August, and that he’s been busy replenishing the talent pool. He’s hired 40 attorneys, and has plans to add 25 more, the department said. The DOJ also said concerns about productivity are unfounded. During the last three months of 2025, the Southern District of Florida ranked first among 14 of the largest US attorney’s offices across the country for bringing charges, it said.
Reding Quiñones’ office declined to make him available for an interview.
‘Grand Conspiracy’
But it’s the probe of former government officials that has thrust the Miami office into the spotlight. Blanche has sought to give the case a boost since taking over as acting attorney general last month, said a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing internal dynamics.
A sense of urgency has spread across the department to produce charges as Trump and his allies grow impatient for results and Blanche auditions to remain attorney general.
In the probe that Trump allies and some Republican lawmakers have taken to calling the “grand conspiracy” investigation, activity is picking up.
A top Blanche aide earlier this year relocated to be a prosecutor in the office. Then, last month, an attorney overseeing the investigation was replaced with former US attorney and Trump loyalist
The investigation involves looking into whether national security officials committed crimes during a probe in late 2016 and early 2017 into Russia’s election interference efforts and whether Moscow sought to help Trump get elected. Bloomberg News has
A lawyer for Brennan declined to comment. Lawyers for Page and Strzok didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s allies have long hoped that such an investigation would expose a Democratic conspiracy to sabotage the president during the administrations of former Presidents
As efforts move ahead in South Florida, prosecutors in other jurisdictions have struggled with cases against current and former government officials considered to be enemies of the president. Charges against New York Attorney General
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Since last year, the South Florida US attorney’s office has focused on a crackdown on violent crime and drug trafficking, and has created an entire unit to combat illegal immigration cases. Other moves by the office have dovetailed with political moves by the Trump administration in Latin America. Prosecutors there are investigating Cuban leaders as the Trump administration pushes for a new government in Havana, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential probe.
White-Collar Probes
Some of the former attorneys in the South Florida office said that as more resources are devoted to the probe into former US officials or border and immigration crimes enforcement, there’s less potential for major white-collar crime investigations. The US attorney in South Florida has offices in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Key West and Ft. Pierce.
Between 2010 and 2024, federal prosecutors in the district racked up multiple $1 billion-plus money laundering and Medicare fraud cases, a rash of $100 million-plus corporate and political corruption cases, and prosecuted at least 185 people for $220 million of pandemic-relief fraud schemes, according to data on the office’s investigations reviewed by Bloomberg News.
“It is a shame that an office that used to be as prestigious as the Southern District of Florida was — with jobs that used to be as desirable to get as any — has been reduced to hanging up help wanted signs in the window,” said Seth Miles, a former prosecutor who left the office in 2005.
Miles, now a partner at the Buckner Miles law firm in Florida, added, “the net result is that white-collar criminals in South Florida seem to have been given a four-year hall pass.”
The Justice Department praised Reding Quiñones in response to questions about the district’s changes, noting he has presided over more than 200 trials during nearly a decade-long career as a DOJ attorney handling complex national security and criminal matters and as a Florida judge.
“The federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida are crushing it fighting drugs, gangs, violent crime, cartels, fraud and immigration,” the department said in a statement. “People who suggest otherwise simply don’t know what they are talking about.”
The department cited cases initiated during Reding Quiñones’ tenure so far, such as charging a multinational company that provides election services with participating in a money laundering and bribery scheme.
Rising Profile
Reding Quiñones was the first US attorney confirmed during Trump’s second term and advanced largely along party lines. The son of a Cuban political refugee, he previously worked as a lower-level prosecutor in the South Florida office, when he went by Jason Reding. He’s said he has since added Quiñones as a second surname to honor his family’s history. He’s a military veteran who previously worked at the Justice Department’s national security division and continues to serve as a colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
Since taking the helm, he made changes at the office. Reding Quiñones set quotas for prosecutors to charge or dismiss two cases a month, said one person familiar with the office, who asked not to be identified discussing internal dynamics. The department said Reding Quiñones had sought to challenge officials to either charge or decline two more cases than they average.
Reding Quiñones has also hired from political circles, tapping a former deputy general counsel to Florida Republican Governor
For now, outside of South Florida, Reding Quiñones still has a relatively low profile. US attorneys typically focus on cases in their geographical jurisdiction. However, one of the people familiar with the effort said Justice Department leadership has given him authority to pursue the so-called grand conspiracy case across the US.
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