The United States Attorney who led the prosecutions of many of those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 will resign from his position shortly before President Trump takes the oath of office next month, the Justice Department announced on Monday. 

Matthew Graves has been the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia since late 2021, which is when he began his crusade to investigate, prosecute, and jail those January 6 defendants in one of the most sprawling federal investigations in American history. He says he is proud of that work, even though much of it is set to be undone by Trump when he returns to the White House. 

“Serving as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has been the honor of a lifetime,” Mr. Graves said. “I am deeply thankful to Congresswoman Holmes Norton for recommending me; to President Biden for nominating me; and to Attorney General Garland for placing his trust in me.”

In the statement announcing his resignation, which is effective on January 16, the Justice Department highlighted the January 6 prosecutions as a “priority” for him starting on day one. 

“To date, roughly 1,600 people have been charged in connection with the attack with almost 1,100 having already been sentenced for their conduct.  There have been over 170 contested trials with the United States prevailing in more than 99% of them,” the Justice Department wrote. “Because politically motivated violence and destruction rip at the fabric of our society, Mr. Graves made federally prosecuting such crimes a priority.”

Republicans who have long decried the imprisonment of January 6 defendants were quick to cheer Mr. Graves’s impending resignation. 

“U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves — the pawn at the helm of DOJ’s targeting of Joe Biden’s political opponents — just resigned ahead of President Trump’s inauguration,” a Judiciary Committee member, Congressman Andy Biggs, wrote on X on Monday. “The Swamp knows that justice is coming.”

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene — who along with Mr. Biggs has visited the Washington, D.C., prison where several January 6 defendants have been held for the last several years — echoed that sentiment in an interview on Monday. 

“The weight of the prosecutions were so unbearable for some of these January 6 defendants that I know of at least five … committing suicide over the last few years,” Ms. Greene told Real America’s Voice. “This has been such a stain on our nation’s history. … They imprisoned them in the most horrific circumstances.”

Ms. Greene also issued a threat to the outgoing prosecutor, saying: “If he resigned today, this is not the end for him because we are about to take over … and I think he should pay.”