Wave of Resignations Hits Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office

(KNSI) — Six prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, including former acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, are resigning.

The resignations are among a larger wave of resignations from states across the country. The group is upset over how the Department of Justice is handling last week’s fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Thompson says the DOJ has cut state investigators, including the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, out of the picture and instead is pressuring them to go after Good’s widow for charges and possible federal prosecution.

Thompson also cited frustration with the Trump administration’s surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, which he said “eclipsed” fraud investigations despite the president’s claims the activity would crack down on fraud. Thompson was the lead prosecutor for the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.

Thompson has been with the office since 2014. Joining him in leaving are Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Jacobs, who heads the criminal division and is in charge of the prosecution of Vance Boelter, the alleged killer of Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda Williams, who led the case against GOP bundler Anton Lazzaro for sex trafficking, is also out. Thompson, Jacobs, and Williams are the top three prosecutors in the office next to current U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen.

Governor Tim Walz jumped on the resignations, even though he has publicly questioned their motivations in regards to the fraud investigations currently roiling state government recently. Walz says, “Joe Thompson is a principled public servant who spent more than a decade achieving justice for Minnesotans. This is a huge loss for our state.”

Walz says the departures are another example of President Trump pushing out attorneys from traditionally nonpartisan positions in favor of political loyalists.

___