Steven D'Antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, formally announced his retirement from federal service last week, The Epoch Times reported.

The timing of his departure from federal law enforcement is awfully convenient, given that he had just recently been specifically named by House Republicans as a top FBI official that they would very much like to question under oath in the next Congress.

Now officially retired

"After a 26-year, 10-month career with the FBI, I chose to retire. Yesterday was my last day," D'Antuono wrote in a Dec. 2 LinkedIn post, according to The Epoch Times.

"Deciding to retire was not easy, it is extremely difficult to say farewell to the mission and the wonderful people I work with, but in making my decision I knew it is time to hand the reins over to the next generation of FBI employees," he added.

The outlet noted that when pressed for comment about D'Antuono's retirement, the FBI declined to divulge any additional details and simply confirmed in a statement, "ADIC Steven D’Antuono has chosen to retire after nearly 27 years of service with the FBI."

House GOP wants D'Antuono to testify

The timing of D'Antuono's retirement has raised eyebrows in light of the fact that he was one of nine senior FBI officials who had been specifically named in a Nov. 18 letter from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee to FBI Director Chris Wray as someone who the committee wanted to hear testimony from in the next congressional session.

"Over the past twenty-one months, we have made several requests for information and documents concerning operations and actions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," the GOP members wrote in the letter.

"To date, you have ignored these requests, or you have failed to respond sufficiently," they continued. "Please be aware that if our requests remain outstanding at the beginning of the 118th Congress, the Committee may be forced to resort to compulsory process to obtain the material we require."

The House Republicans went on to express their expectation that Wray would provide his "unfettered cooperation" in arranging for the "prompt testimony" of the nine named FBI officials, of which both Wray himself and D'Antuono were included.

Replacement already announced

D'Antuono's retirement was not a complete surprise, as it had been informally announced just a week prior to that House GOP letter to Director Wray, according to a report at that time by the Daily Wire.

His plans to retire at the end of the month were mentioned in a memo from Wray that announced D'Antuono's replacement in the role of assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office as David Sundberg.

Given the prominent role that D'Antuono had played in a few major FBI cases in recent years, his sudden impending departure prior to the end of the year was viewed by some as an attempt to dodge having to deliver congressional testimony.

Wray's "hatchet man"

According to Julie Kelly of American Greatness, D'Antuono had served as Wray's "hatchet man" in that he was front and center in several of the FBI's blatantly anti-Trump actions, both as head of the Washington Field Office as well as in his prior assignment as head of the Detroit Field Office.

That would include his overseeing of the alleged "fednapping" case involving the FBI-manufactured supposed plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), his alleged role in shutting down investigations of the Hunter Biden laptop, overseeing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigations -- including the mysterious alleged pipe bomber who was never caught -- and, finally, involvement in the controversial raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.