Architect of Donald Trump's aggressive Cuba crackdown abruptly steps down as Miami US attorney
Miami’s top federal prosecutor, Jason Reding Quiñones, has stepped down from his post, Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday.
Quiñones served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, which oversaw the probe into U.S. President Donald Trump’s election conspiracy. His departure makes him the second senior Justice Department official to leave since the Republicans suffered devastating losses in the midterms. The office he is leaving has long been considered one of the strongest in the country.
It has also been at the center of Trump’s attempts to leverage the Justice Department to exact revenge on his political adversaries and shape US foreign policy.”We are grateful for Jason’s leadership in combating violent crime, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and transnational crime, including the indictment of Raul Castro,” Blanche said on X, referring to the former Cuban president.
Earlier this year, Quiñones created a “working group” that includes federal prosecutors and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies, according to one of the people. The task force’s aim is to try to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government and its Communist Party.
The person who described the effort spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss it. It was not immediately clear which Cuban officials the office is targeting. It was also unclear what criminal charges prosecutors may be looking to bring.
The Justice Department said in a statement at the time that “federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.”
The effort is taking place against the backdrop of Trump’s increasingly aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership.
Trump’s posture has been emboldened by the U.S. capture of Cuba’s close ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In February, the president said his administration was in high-level talks with officials in Havana to pursue “a friendly takeover” of the country.
He repeated those claims this week, saying his attention would turn back to Cuba once the war with Iran winds down.
Quiñones was sworn in as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida on August 13, 2025, after Trump nominated him and the United States Senate confirmed him.
He was the first United States Attorney confirmed during President Trump’s second administration. Attorney General Pamela Bondi administered the oath of office. Before his appointment as United States Attorney, Reding Quiñones served as a trial judge in Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami.
In that role, he presided over civil and criminal domestic violence cases. His earlier federal service included work as a national security official in the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, where he focused on counterterrorism and intelligence matters.
He also worked as a federal prosecutor in both the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Florida, handling and trying civil and criminal cases on behalf of the United States. U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones serves on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, a select group of United States Attorneys that advises the Attorney General on national law-enforcement policy, public-safety initiatives, and the operation of the nation’s U.S. Attorney’s Offices.
He co-chaired the Committee’s White Collar, Cyber Fraud, and Cryptocurrency Subcommittee and serves on its Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee.
