By Sarah N. Lynch and Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Four Democratic senators have asked the Justice Department’s Inspector General to investigate the resignation of a senior federal prosecutor in Washington who was being pressured to launch a criminal probe of a contract awarded under former President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency.
Democratic Senators Edward Markey, Sheldon Whitehouse, Chris Van Hollen and Bernie Sanders objected to the resignation of Denise Cheung, who left the U.S. Attorney’s office under pressure from officials in President Donald Trump’s administration. The senators said the officials “demonstrate a gross abuse of prosecutorial authority” in pressuring Cheung to start a criminal probe of the contract despite a lack of evidence.
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Her resignation is the latest by career Justice Department prosecutors to protest what they see as improper political interference by the Trump administration in criminal investigations.
“The Department must not become an instrument of political retribution or partisan maneuvering,” the senators wrote.
Cheung did not name the agency in her resignation letter. The senators cited media reports that said she was referencing a request to investigate money appropriated by Congress for multibillion-dollar green banking programs created by the Biden EPA to help low-income and minority communities invest in clean energy and leverage private sector help.
The reports “raise serious questions about the politicization of the Justice Department under President Donald Trump,” the senators wrote in a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz. “We urge you to investigate this matter promptly.”
The EPA declined to comment and referred the question to the Justice Department. The Justice Department’s inspector general’s office also declined to comment.
Spokespeople for the U.S. Attorneys office could not be immediately reached for comment.
Citibank, which holds the accounts for the National Clean Investment Fund and the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator programs, declined to comment.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin had announced his attempt to seize the green bank funding in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. The post called the funding fraudulent but cited no evidence.
When Cheung declined to launch a grand jury investigation citing a lack of evidence, she said she was ordered instead to pursue an asset seizure to prevent the recipient of the contract from drawing down the government funds.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by David Gregorio)
