Todd Gilbert, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, resigned Wednesday after roughly five weeks in the role.
Gilbert, the former House of Delegates minority leader, left his role in the General Assembly and was sworn in as the interim U.S. attorney on July 14.
“As of 5 p.m. this evening, C. Todd Gilbert resigned as United States Attorney and Robert N. Tracci, First Assistant United States Attorney, assumed the role of Acting United States Attorney,” Brian McGinn, spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office, said in an email Wednesday evening.
No reason was given for Gilbert’s departure from the office. Tracci deferred to McGinn for comment.
Gilbert could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening, but he posted a meme on X at 7:07 p.m., just hours after his resignation was submitted: a GIF of Ron Burgundy from the movie “Anchorman” with a caption that read: “Boy, that escalated quickly.” The meme was a subpost to a photo and caption of his swearing in to his role as U.S. attorney just over a month prior.
Gilbert had not yet been confirmed by the U.S. Senate but was working in the role as an interim. The power to appoint a new U.S. attorney belongs to President Donald Trump, subject to Senate confirmation. Trump nominated Gilbert, of Shenandoah County, to be the next top federal prosecutor for the western half of the state on July 1.
Gilbert had been one of two attorneys recommended to the president by Virginia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, which is the standard procedure for such positions. The other candidate was Tracci, a former Albemarle County commonwealth’s attorney and a former deputy U.S. attorney general who worked in the state attorney general’s office before he took on the role as first assistant U.S. attorney. He was second in command to Gilbert.
The three Republican congressmen who represent territory covered by the Western District — Ben Cline of Botetourt County, Morgan Griffith of Salem and John McGuire of Goochland County — initiated their own nominating process before Trump formally nominated Gilbert, but did not disclose who they recommended to the White House.
Dwayne Yancey contributed information to this report.
