Dana Boente resigns as federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia

The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who also holds a top position in the Department of Justice, has resigned from office, a spokesman confirmed to The Washington Post on Friday. 

U.S. Attorney Dana Boente, an Obama appointee, will remain in his post until President Trump nominates and confirms his replacement. 

Boente is currently the acting assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, where he was placed after serving briefly as attorney general between Trump’s firing of Sally Yates and the confirmation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. 

{mosads}Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised Boente as “a dedicated public servant” after his stint leading the department. Boente will be replaced by John Demers, who has yet to be confirmed. 

Virginia’s Eastern District encompasses much of the D.C. metropolitan area and both the Pentagon and CIA, putting a number of security and terrorism-related cases under Boente’s jurisdiction, similar to those handled by the national security post at the Justice Department.