--- title: Trump-Russia Probe: Official Leading It Steps Down description: The Assistant Attorney General for National Security who is leading the investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia, is stepping down canonical: https://time.com/4749808/mary-mccord-justice-department-donald-trump-russia/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-21T00:56:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:32:06.177Z article:section: Politics og:title: Justice Department Official Leading Trump-Russia Investigation Stepping Down og:description: McCord's departure adds to the relatively lengthy list of vacancies in the Justice Department og:url: https://time.com/4749808/mary-mccord-justice-department-donald-trump-russia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt053f1141c3696682/6988c3e2bc6cfc52ea3e0ffd/mary-mccord.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: National Security Division Holds News Conference At Department Of Justice og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justice Department Official Leading Trump-Russia Investigation Stepping Down twitter:description: McCord's departure adds to the relatively lengthy list of vacancies in the Justice Department twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt053f1141c3696682/6988c3e2bc6cfc52ea3e0ffd/mary-mccord.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justice Department Official Leading Trump-Russia Investigation Stepping Down > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 21, 2017 12:56 AM UTC  Mary McCord, acting U.S. assistant attorney general for national security, speaks during a Department of Justice news conference on March 15, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Mary McCord, acting U.S. assistant attorney general for national security, speaks during a Department of Justice news conference on March 15, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 21, 2017 12:56 AM UTC Mary McCord, the [Department of Justice’s](http://time.com/4705531/george-conway-justice-civil-rights/) acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security who is leading the investigation into possible ties between the[ Trump campaign and Russia](http://time.com/4721976/trump-russia-ties-probe/), is stepping down from her post. McCord will officially leave her position next month, the Associated Press reports. According to the AP, she is leaving to pursue “other opportunities.” **READ MORE:** [Russia Is Angry, but Don’t Expect Putin to Fall Out With Trump Over Syria](http://time.com/4730999/russia-vladimir-putin-donald-trump-syria-rex-tillerson/?iid=sr-link6) McCord joined the National Security division of the Justice Department in 2014, during the[ Obama administration,](http://motto.time.com/4602790/president-obama-planned-parenthood-funding/) and became acting Assistant Attorney General of the Department in 2016, following the resignation of John Carlin. Previously, she served as the Criminal Division Chief in the Washington D.C. U.S. attorney’s office for 20 years. McCord’s departure will add to the relatively lengthy list of vacancies that already exist at the Department of Justice. In March, Attorney General Jeff Sessions[ ordered the resignation](http://time.com/4699086/us-attorney-preet-bharara-fired/) of the 46 U.S. attorneys remaining from the Obama administration. Sessions has not replaced them, and his own top deputies are awaiting Senate confirmation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4749808/mary-mccord-justice-department-donald-trump-russia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4749808/mary-mccord-justice-department-donald-trump-russia/"},"headline":"Justice Department Official Leading Trump-Russia Investigation Stepping Down","datePublished":"2017-04-21T00:56:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:32:06.177Z","description":"McCord's departure adds to the relatively lengthy list of vacancies in the Justice Department","url":"https://time.com/4749808/mary-mccord-justice-department-donald-trump-russia/","keywords":["Justice Department","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt053f1141c3696682/6988c3e2bc6cfc52ea3e0ffd/mary-mccord.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt053f1141c3696682/6988c3e2bc6cfc52ea3e0ffd/mary-mccord.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"National Security Division Holds News Conference At Department Of Justice","caption":"National Security Division Holds News Conference At Department Of Justice","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/justice-department/","name":"Justice Department"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4749808/mary-mccord-justice-department-donald-trump-russia/","name":"Justice Department Official Leading Trump-Russia Investigation Stepping Down"}}]}] ```