A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
At least six federal prosecutors in Minnesota have quit.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The six have one big reason - Justice Department officials pressured them to twist the investigation of a shooting in Minneapolis. Rather than focus on the federal agent who shot Renee Macklin Good in the head, political leaders wanted an investigation to find dirt on Good's widow. The resignations have disrupted other federal probes, such as an investigation of Social Service fraud the Trump administration says it cares about.
MARTÍNEZ: Minnesota Public Radio's Matt Sepic has been covering both the fraud cases and the shooting death. Matt, why did the six attorneys resign?
MATT SEPIC, BYLINE: The attorneys aren't speaking publicly, but there are several reasons, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. That person asked that we use their name because they're not authorized to talk to the media. One of those reasons is tied to last week's fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Macklin Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Trump administration officials say the agent fired in self-defense, but many state and local officials are pointing to video taken from multiple angles that contradicts claims that Good posed any threat.
The person with knowledge of the situation I spoke with says there's pressure from DOJ leaders to investigate Good's widow, Becca Good, for ties to activist groups, which is not illegal. The group also objects to the DOJ's reluctance to investigate Agent Ross and to exclude state police from the investigation. And the same source tells me that the veteran prosecutors are concerned that Trump's focus on immigration has drawn resources away from the fraud investigations.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. You mentioned they're veteran prosecutors - been around a while. What's significant about their decision?
SEPIC: Well, it's a loss of big talent. The attorneys spent their careers with the Justice Department and prosecuted many major cases. One of them is Melinda Williams, an assistant U.S. attorney who led the criminal division here. Another is Joe Thompson. He's been key in the government's prosecution of fraud, particularly the infamous Feeding Our Future case. Thompson charged 78 people with stealing around $300 million from federal child nutrition programs during the pandemic. Fifty-eight have been convicted. Investigators also uncovered massive Medicaid fraud. Last month, Thompson estimated that around $9 billion may have been stolen.
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JOE THOMPSON: Taxpayers deserve to know the truth of the fraud. The fraud is not small. It isn't isolated. The magnitude cannot be overstated.
SEPIC: The convicted food fraud ring leader is white, but nearly all of the other defendants are Somali American. Even though the majority are U.S. citizens, President Trump is using the fraud as a pretext for his immigration crackdown.
MARTÍNEZ: I would imagine leaders in Minnesota have a lot to say about these resignations.
SEPIC: Yeah, they do. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, is calling the prosecutors heroes. In a statement, he adds, quote, "the people pushing to prosecute Renee's widow are monsters." And U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, also a Democrat and a former prosecutor herself, says DOJ is politicizing the investigation into Good's killing.
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AMY KLOBUCHAR: The first way they did it was cutting out the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. That was such a bad sign that there was more bad to come because our Minnesota bureau has seasoned professionals. They've always worked together, and they cut them out.
MARTÍNEZ: What about the Justice Department, Matt? What are they saying?
SEPIC: Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche says in a short statement, quote, "there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation." The DOJ tells me ICE is running its own investigation that's parallel to, quote, "any FBI investigation." But the same source, not authorized to speak on the record, calls that a lie and says ICE is not investigating the shooting.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio. Thanks.
SEPIC: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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