But three sources familiar with the move described it to SpyTalk as a significant and even chilling event previewing a potential exodus of seasoned government lawyers and FBI agents who fear the wrath of Pam Bondi, Trump ’s pick for attorney general, Kash Patel, his intended nominee for FBI Director, and their expected army of MAGA loyalists in line to fill out top posts.

"They’re forcing him out. There isn’t any doubt that, like [FBI Director Chris] Wray, he’s leaving to get ahead of the axe," said one former Justice official who attended a farewell party for Bratt at the Justice Department’s seventh floor media center on Friday.

After obtaining evidence that Trump employees at Mar-a-Lago may have been moving boxes that hadn’t been returned, Bratt later pushed for a warrant to search the president’s home—a move that was resisted by Steven D’Antuono, the top FBI agent overseeing the case, who viewed the Justice prosecutor as being overly "aggressive," according to Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, the FBI and the War on Democracy, a book by veteran journalist David Rhode. But D’Antuono’s objections were overruled by senior FBI officials, resulting in the August 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago that recovered another 102 documents with classified markings. The search enraged Trump and put both Bratt and FBI Director Wray in the cross-hairs of the former president and his lawyers.

In addition, Stanley Woodward, a lawyer representing Walt Nauta, a co-defendant in your classified documents case against President Trump, accused you of improperly pressuring him by implying that the Biden Administration would look more favorably on Mr. Woodward’s candidacy for a judgeship if his client cooperated with the Office of the Special Counsel.10 According to Mr. Woodward, you advised him that you "wouldn’t want [him] to do anything to mess that up," in reference to Mr. Woodward’s judgeship application, and your desire to turn his client into a government cooperator.