Rachel Brand has been widely discussed as a potential judicial nominee. Leaving the administration might help her avoid controversy that could complicate any future nomination. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo Justice Department's No. 3 official resigns Rachel Brand is leaving the post of associate attorney general after less than 9 months on job.

The Justice Department's third-ranking official, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, is resigning her post for a job in the private sector, officials said Friday.

Brand moved to depart after an unusually brief tenure in the post: just eight-and-a-half months. She's is taking a senior position at Wal-Mart, the company confirmed Friday night.


The company announced Brand will join as Executive Vice President, Global Governance and Corporate Secretary, reporting directly to the company's President and CEO, Doug McMillon.

Brand has been the focus of recent speculation since she could be abruptly elevated to take over management of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein named Special Counsel Robert Mueller to lead that probe and oversees his work. But President Donald Trump has complained that Rosenstein is inadequately loyal.

The possibility that Trump could fire Rosenstein has led to talk that Brand might step into his shoes, since she's next in the department's order of succession. But Trump could appoint any presidentially-confirmed official in the government — or one of hundreds of other Justice Department employees — to take Rosenstein's job on an acting basis.

Asked about the impetus for Brand's departure, one associate who asked not to be named said, "Because she is very smart, accomplished, and talented, and wants to protect her career.”

At Wal-Mart, Brand will be responsible for the company's legal, global ethics and compliance and global Investigation, security, aviation and travel departments, along with her role as corporate secretary.

Another person told of Brand's move said Friday: "She got a really great offer from a Fortune 10 company. That's all there is to it."

Brand's statement, as released by the Justice Department on Friday evening, gave no hint of dissatisfaction.

"The men and women of the Department of Justice impress me every day,” Brand said. “I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish over my time here. I want to thank Attorney General Sessions for his leadership over this Department. I’ve seen firsthand his commitment to the rule of law and to keeping the American people safe.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised Brand's work and stressed that her decision was driven by the job she'd been offered in the business world.

“Rachel Brand is a lawyer’s lawyer,” Sessions said in a statement. "I know the entire Department of Justice will miss her, but we join together in congratulating her on this new opportunity in the private sector. She will always remain a part of the Department of Justice family.”

Brand's decision to resign appeared to take many Justice Department officials by surprise, setting off something of a scramble. A department statement said she was expected to leave her post "in the coming weeks."





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A graduate of Harvard law school and veteran of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy in the George W. Bush administration, Brand has been widely discussed as a potential judicial nominee. Leaving the administration might help her avoid controversy that could complicate any future nomination.

Brand's Trump administration job included oversight of the Justice Department's civil rights division, civil division and antitrust division. She also played a key role in lobbying Congress to renew legislation authorizing monitoring of foreigners' communications through U.S. based internet firms and telecommunication providers.

Brand had expertise in the issue because she'd served on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board during the Obama administration, studying a range of the government's anti-terrorism surveillance authorities.

When Congress passed a six-year renewal of the provision known as Section 702 last month, Justice Department officials went out of their way to draw attention to her leadership in the fight.

Sessions highlighted that effort again in his statement on her departure.

"When I asked her to take the lead in the Department’s efforts on Section 702 re-authorization, she made this her top priority and combined her expertise and gravitas to help pass legislation keeping this crucial national security tool," the attorney general wrote.

Brand also devoted significant time to one of her longstanding passions: helping fight domestic abuse and human trafficking. She spoke at a Justice Department conference on the issue just last week, Before taking her post, she was a board member and volunteer at a battered women's shelter in Arlington, Va., Doorways for Women and Families.