Another top federal prosecutor has resigned from the United States Department of Justice amid pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump.
The Reuters news agency reported that Denise Cheung left her post on Tuesday, after leading the criminal division of the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
In her resignation letter, obtained by several US news agencies, she highlighted her long career in civil service.
“I have been proud to serve at the U.S. Department of Justice and this office for over 24 years,” Cheung wrote.
“I took an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution, and I have executed this duty faithfully.”
But she explained she was ordered to resign after she refused to launch a criminal probe she felt was not merited.
The requested probe had to do with a contract awarded under the administration of Trump’s predecessor and former election rival, Democrat Joe Biden.
Cheung wrote that she had been asked to launch a grand jury investigation into the legality of the contract. But she indicated that, after research, she found no evidence to justify such a probe.
Then she was asked to seek an asset freeze, preventing funds from being disbursed under the contract.
So Cheung sent the bank involved a letter “recommending a 30-day administrative freeze on certain assets”.
But officials in the Trump administration pushed her to send a second letter, specifying that the request came as part of a criminal investigation.
Cheung identified Ed Martin, the interim head of the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC, as one of the officials giving her orders. She addressed her letter to him.
“When I explained that the quantum of evidence did not support that action, you stated that you believed that there was sufficient evidence,” she wrote.
“Based upon the evidence I have reviewed, I still do not believe there is sufficient evidence to issue the letter you described, including sufficient ev