Former federal prosecutor who quit amid Trump administration dispute now representing Don Lemon
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former federal prosecutor who resigned amid a dispute with the Trump administration is now representing former CNN host Don Lemon. disrupt a service At a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is the pastor.
A court filing Tuesday shows Lemon hired former interim U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson. leading the expanding investigation and prosecuting major fraud cases for the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office. until you resign last month.
Many prosecutors left office at a time of growing frustration with management. crackdown on immigration enforcement and the Justice Department’s response to the shooting deaths of two men by federal officers in Minneapolis.
Lemon had previously said through another lawyer: planned to plead not guilty with federal civil rights charges for his coverage of a church protest. He said that he had no connection with the group that disrupted the church service and that he was there as an independent journalist. The indictment alleges various actions by the group that entered the church, including what Lemon said while reporting on the incident for his live broadcast program.
Lemon was scheduled to return to St. Louis on February 13. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in St. Paul.
The Trump administration quoted: Minnesota fraud cases, most of the defendants come from the large Somali community in the state, as justification due to immigration pressure in the state. Thompson noted in December that he was estimating taxpayer losses from several fraud cases pending trial in Minnesota. The total could be 9 billion dollars.
Thompson recently started his own law firm with Harry Jacobs, another former federal prosecutor who resigned amid turmoil in the office. There was Jacobs chief prosecutor of the case It’s about Vance Boelter, who pleaded not guilty last year to the assassinations of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and the nonfatal shootings of a state senator and his wife.
The firm’s website describes them as “battle-tested and experienced” trial attorneys.
Thompson did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday.
