Mass resignations in US Attorney's office in Minnesota
-
A majority of the leadership team at the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office resigned on Jan. 13 over the direction of the Justice Department under the Trump administration.
The departures of several prosecutors stemmed from directives from top federal officials to staff members after the killing of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, according to sources familiar with the decision. That included blocking the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) from the investigation into the shooting and a request from the Justice Department to investigate Good’s widow for possible federal charges. A source also said the resignations resulted from a general frustration that a surge of immigration enforcement in Minnesota ordered by the Trump administration has “eclipsed” fraud investigations by the office.
-
Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis this week questioned the U.S. attorney over the lack of any civil rights investigations into two fatal shootings by immigration agents, and warned that more people could resign in protest if things don't change, multiple sources told CBS News.
In a somber meeting on Monday between Minnesota U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen and assistant U.S. attorneys in the criminal division, prosecutors expressed concern that they were not allowed to investigate the federal officers who shot and killed Renee Good or Alex Pretti, sources familiar with the meeting said.
They also told Rosen they are worried about how President Trump's immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota is being handled by the office, warning that they are facing pressure to rush to file criminal charges against people accused of assaulting federal officers without conducting a formal investigation, and that the intense focus on such cases is interfering with their ability to complete other important work.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prosecutors-minneapolis-warn-more-could-resign-renee-good-alex-pretti/
-
A new wave of departures is rippling through the U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota, where additional federal prosecutors are leaving at a time of mounting frustration with the Trump administration's stepped-up immigration enforcement and the Justice Department's response to fatal shootings of civilians by federal agents, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
The latest departures are on top of a half-dozen attorneys who left the office last month amid disagreements over the Justice Department's response to the shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. At least one supervisory agent in the FBI's Minneapolis office is known to have resigned last month as well.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported Monday evening that eight lawyers have since departed the office or announced plans to do so. A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss non-public personnel moves, confirmed that this number was correct and that more departures were likely. Another person also confirmed a new wave of departures in the office.
-
I have a warm spot in my heart for Minnesota as I was born there many years ago. Didn’t live there long, but we used to go back and visit relatives from time to time and I remember them as being good solid Midwestern people.
I’m very glad to see them standing up for their values.
