--- 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: 2026-10-08T08:46:54.152Z 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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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=2d0b04aa-516e-4d8e-b1c2-d06d620f8ca0&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Justice Department Official Leading Trump-Russia Investigation Stepping Down [Watch (HLS stream): Justice Department Official Leading Trump-Russia Investigation Stepping Down](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ny3VoqmK.m3u8) (0:37)  _Published 2017-04-21. Mary McCord, the Department of Justice's acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security who is leading the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, is stepping down from her post._ 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 acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security who is leading the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, is stepping down from her post. 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. ## Transcript The investigation into Donald Trump's campaign ties to Russia is about to receive a changing of hands. Mary McCord, who's the Department of Justice's acting assistant attorney for national security is stepping down from leading the investigation. According to the Associated Press, McCord will be leaving in May to To pursue other opportunities. She joined the National Security Division in 2014 and became the acting Assistant Attorney last year. McCord's departure is just the latest in the list of openings at the Justice Department after Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked 46 Obama era US Attorneys to resign. ```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":"2026-10-08T08:46:54.152Z","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"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Justice Department Official Leading Trump-Russia Investigation Stepping Down","description":"Mary McCord, the Department of Justice's acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security who is leading the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, is stepping down from her post.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Ny3VoqmK/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-21T15:08:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ny3VoqmK.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4749808/mary-mccord-justice-department-donald-trump-russia/","duration":"PT37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4749808/mary-mccord-justice-department-donald-trump-russia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```