A lead prosecutor on the Department of Justice's (DOJ) prosecution into President-elect Trump's mishandling of documents at Mar-a-Lago has retired from the department.
Jay Bratt left the DOJ on Friday after 34 years of working for the department, a spokesperson confirmed.
Bratt was a senior national security prosecutor who worked on the Mar-a-Lago documents case in its earliest stages, later working on detail in special counsel Jack Smith’s office.
Bratt and Smith formally transferred the Mar-a-Lago case to federal prosecutors based in Florida just before the end of the year.
Authorities found more than 300 documents with classified markings when they searched Trump’s home in 2022 after making multiple requests that he return boxes of documents from his presidency.
They later filed charges against Trump for violating the Espionage Act by retaining classified records and obstruction of justice charges for seeking to hide the documents from the Justice Department.
Smith’s team moved to dismiss the charges against Trump without prejudice, citing DOJ policy barring prosecution of a sitting president.
The case continues, however, for Trump’s two co-defendants: valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira.
Prosecutors have appealed a lower court ruling from Judge Aileen Cannon tossing the case after she determined Smith was unlawfully appointed.
Bratt’s role in the case sparked various investigations by House Republicans.
Bratt self-reported complaints from Nauta’s attorney Stanley Woodward, who accused Bratt of bringing up his interest in a judicial nomination as a pressure tactic. Bratt has called the allegation false and later said he was simply noting Woodward’s involvement with a commission that handles judicial nominations.
“Bratt mentioned this to Woodward early in their meeting purely as a matter of professional courtesy and only to indicate to Woodward that he understood that Woodward must have a good reputation. Nothing more was intended,” Smith’s team wrote in court filings last August.
Prosecutors also noted Woodward did not raise a complaint about the incident for another nine months, as he was informed his client was considered a target.
That matter is now being reviewed by the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
The House Judiciary Committee likewise initiated their own probe over the matter and have similarly asked about a trip Bratt made to the White House to interview an aide in the case.
