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Tag: U.S. Attorney's Office

  • At least 6 Minnesota federal prosecutors resign amid pressure to treat Renee Good killing as assault on ICE agent

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    At least six career prosecutors in the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney’s office — including Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson — have resigned as the office continues to face pressure to treat the investigation of the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer as an assault on a federal officer case.

    Thompson also previously served as the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota; he was appointed by President Trump in June and served in the position until October. He resigned from the attorney’s office along with Harry Jacobs, Melinda Williams, Thomas Calhoun-Lopez, Ruth Schneider and Tom Hollenhurst.

    CBS could not immediately confirm the reasons for all the resignations. The New York Times has reported that senior DOJ officials were seeking a criminal investigation into the actions of the widow and whether she had ties to “activist groups.”

    Thompson was the lead prosecutor in the Feeding Our Future case, a COVID-era $250 million scheme which targeted programs that were meant to feed schoolchildren. Since then he’s charged defendants for allegedly defrauding housing and autism service programs, claiming that fraud in Minnesota has topped $9 billion, a figure which Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has pushed back on.

    The NYT reported Tuesday that a number of people familiar with Thompson’s decision said he also objected to federal investigators refusing to cooperate with Minnesota state agencies in investigating Good’s killing. 

    Since the massive fraud scandal, Mr. Trump has lashed out at Minnesota’s large Somali-American community, as many of the Feeding Our Future defendants are of Somali descent. His administration cited the fraud scandal as impetus for deploying thousands of federal immigration agents to the Minneapolis area.

    Walz called Thompson’s resignation a “huge loss for our state.”

    “It’s also the latest sign Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the justice department, replacing them with his sycophants,” Walz said on X.

    Sen. Amy Klobuchar said on X that “these career public servants have served our state through multiple tragedies and critical investigations. We cannot allow prosecutors to be driven by politics. The family and loved ones of Renee Good deserve justice, not political attacks.” 

    Thompson also filed charges against Vance Boelter, the man accused of killing former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, as well as shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, who survived. 

    This is a developing story. Check back for details. 

    Eric Henderson

    contributed to this report.

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  • At least 6 Minnesota federal prosecutors resign amid pressure to treat Renee Good killing as assault on ICE agent

    [ad_1]

    At least six career prosecutors in the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney’s office — including Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson — have resigned as the office continues to face pressure to treat the investigation of the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer as an assault on a federal officer case.

    Thompson also previously served as the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota; he was appointed by President Trump in June and served in the position until October. He resigned from the attorney’s office along with Harry Jacobs, Melinda Williams, Thomas Calhoun-Lopez, Ruth Schneider and Tom Hollenhurst.

    CBS could not immediately confirm the reasons for all the resignations. The New York Times has reported that senior DOJ officials were seeking a criminal investigation into the actions of the widow and whether she had ties to “activist groups.”

    Thompson was the lead prosecutor in the Feeding Our Future case, a COVID-era $250 million scheme which targeted programs that were meant to feed schoolchildren. Since then he’s charged defendants for allegedly defrauding housing and autism service programs, claiming that fraud in Minnesota has topped $9 billion, a figure which Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has pushed back on.

    The NYT reported Tuesday that a number of people familiar with Thompson’s decision said he also objected to federal investigators refusing to cooperate with Minnesota state agencies in investigating Good’s killing. 

    Since the massive fraud scandal, Mr. Trump has lashed out at Minnesota’s large Somali-American community, as many of the Feeding Our Future defendants are of Somali descent. His administration cited the fraud scandal as impetus for deploying thousands of federal immigration agents to the Minneapolis area.

    Walz called Thompson’s resignation a “huge loss for our state.”

    “It’s also the latest sign Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the justice department, replacing them with his sycophants,” Walz said on X.

    Sen. Amy Klobuchar said on X that “these career public servants have served our state through multiple tragedies and critical investigations. We cannot allow prosecutors to be driven by politics. The family and loved ones of Renee Good deserve justice, not political attacks.” 

    Thompson also filed charges against Vance Boelter, the man accused of killing former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, as well as shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, who survived. 

    This is a developing story. Check back for details. 

    Eric Henderson

    contributed to this report.

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    Aki Nace

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  • Walz, Minnesota officials question U.S. Attorney’s Office claim that fraud could reach $9 billion

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    Federal prosecutors said the total fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid programs could be as much as $9 billion, but DFL Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials disputed the amount of taxpayer money stolen is that high.

    First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson on Thursday, during a news conference about new federal charges, noted that 14 programs deemed “high-risk” had billed $18 billion collectively since 2018 and suggested a “significant” amount could be fraudulent.

    “I don’t make these generalizations in a hasty way,” Thompson said. “When I say a significant amount, I’m talking on the order of half or more,” he said without providing more specifics. “But we’ll see. When I look at the claims data and the providers, I see more red flags than I see legitimate providers.”

    At an unrelated press event on Friday, Walz was asked if he had seen evidence of that claim and said no. He praised the work of federal prosecutors and the criminal charges they’ve filed against accused fraudsters, but called Thompson’s statement “sensationalism” and that it doesn’t “help” the state tackle the problem that he vowed to fix.

    “You should be equally outraged about $1 or whatever that number is, but they’re using that number without the proof behind it,” Walz said.

    Department of Human Services officials agreed that they had not seen data showing that the fraud reached multiple billions. What they have seen is tens of millions in fraud at this point, said John Connolly, deputy commissioner of DHS and state Medicaid director. 

    “We don’t have evidence in hand to suggest that we have $9 billion in fraud in these benefits over the last seven years. And if there is evidence, we need it so that we can stop paying. That’s a very alarming number,” Connolly explained. 

    James Clark, the inspector general at DHS, said the agency is more aggressively stopping payments to providers at the first signs of fraud. He told reporters he has sent letters to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to more closely collaborate.

    “That’s how this system should work. We investigate. We suspend payments. We refer cases to law enforcement. And to the extent there is information about massive fraud in our programs, billions or nine billions worth of fraud, I desperately want to see that evidence,” Clark said. 

    This summer, Walz agreed with a previous estimate from Thompson that fraud across all programs, including the Feeding Our Future scheme, which is not a DHS-administered program, could total $1 billion. 

    Thompson told reporters that there are federal investigations into all 14 of the Medicaid programs deemed “high risk” for fraud, which are also subject to a third-party payment audit.

    Among the individuals charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday are two men from Philadelphia who Thompson said have no ties to Minnesota, but started companies here because of what he called “fraud tourism.” 

    He added that what makes the state’s fraud problem unique compared to other states is that many providers are shell companies —entirely fraudulent entities providing zero services. 

    “What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It’s a staggering industrial-scale fraud,” Thompson said. “It’s swamping Minnesota and calling into question everything we know about our state.”

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    Caroline Cummings

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  • Walz, Minnesota officials question U.S. Attorney’s Office claim that fraud could reach $9 billion

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    Federal prosecutors said the total fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid programs could be as much as $9 billion, but DFL Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials disputed the amount of taxpayer money stolen is that high.

    First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson on Thursday, during a news conference about new federal charges, noted that 14 programs deemed “high-risk” had billed $18 billion collectively since 2018 and suggested a “significant” amount could be fraudulent.

    “I don’t make these generalizations in a hasty way,” Thompson said. “When I say a significant amount, I’m talking on the order of half or more,” he said without providing more specifics. “But we’ll see. When I look at the claims data and the providers, I see more red flags than I see legitimate providers.”

    At an unrelated press event on Friday, Walz was asked if he had seen evidence of that claim and said no. He praised the work of federal prosecutors and the criminal charges they’ve filed against accused fraudsters, but called Thompson’s statement “sensationalism” and that it doesn’t “help” the state tackle the problem that he vowed to fix.

    “You should be equally outraged about $1 or whatever that number is, but they’re using that number without the proof behind it,” Walz said.

    Department of Human Services officials agreed that they had not seen data showing that the fraud reached multiple billions. What they have seen is tens of millions in fraud at this point, said John Connolly, deputy commissioner of DHS and state Medicaid director. 

    “We don’t have evidence in hand to suggest that we have $9 billion in fraud in these benefits over the last seven years. And if there is evidence, we need it so that we can stop paying. That’s a very alarming number,” Connolly explained. 

    James Clark, the inspector general at DHS, said the agency is more aggressively stopping payments to providers at the first signs of fraud. He told reporters he has sent letters to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to more closely collaborate.

    “That’s how this system should work. We investigate. We suspend payments. We refer cases to law enforcement. And to the extent there is information about massive fraud in our programs, billions or nine billions worth of fraud, I desperately want to see that evidence,” Clark said. 

    This summer, Walz agreed with a previous estimate from Thompson that fraud across all programs, including the Feeding Our Future scheme, which is not a DHS-administered program, could total $1 billion. 

    Thompson told reporters that there are federal investigations into all 14 of the Medicaid programs deemed “high risk” for fraud, which are also subject to a third-party payment audit.

    Among the individuals charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday are two men from Philadelphia who Thompson said have no ties to Minnesota, but started companies here because of what he called “fraud tourism.” 

    He added that what makes the state’s fraud problem unique compared to other states is that many providers are shell companies —entirely fraudulent entities providing zero services. 

    “What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It’s a staggering industrial-scale fraud,” Thompson said. “It’s swamping Minnesota and calling into question everything we know about our state.”

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  • Tren de Aragua leader known as

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    Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Thursday against Tren de Aragua leader Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores in the Southern District of New York. Up to a $5 million reward was offered for his arrest and/or conviction by the U.S. State Department.

    Guerrero Flores, 42, known by the nickname “The Unspeakable,” or “The Big Eyebrow,” ran the multinational crime syndicate for more than a decade, growing the organization from a prison-based gang, prosecutors allege, into a terrorist organization responsible for drug trafficking and violence worldwide. He is charged with participating in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and cocaine importation conspiracy, among other charges.

    U.S. Federal prosecutors unsealed charges against Tren de Aragua leader Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores

    U.S. Department of State


    “Guerrero Flores operated Tren de Aragua like a multinational crime syndicate—laundering money through cryptocurrency, trafficking drugs by the ton, selling weapons of war, and orchestrating acts of terror across borders,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Louis A. D’Ambrosio said in a statement. “He ran this empire from prison, shielded by corruption, and in collaboration with a narco-state cartel intent on flooding the United States with cocaine.”

    Prosecutors allege Guerrero Flores operated from Tocorón Prison, where he directed members to commit a wide array of crimes, including murders, sex trafficking and money laundering. Alongside other top leaders, he collected “causa” or income fees from these crimes. HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel said a statement that the leader “grew TdA from a Venezuela-based prison gang to the vile, vicious organization it has become.”

    Gang members and associates left Venezuela and spread throughout North, South, and Central America and Spain, prosecutors allege. In recent years, the gang has expanded, recruiting from among the more than 7.7 million Venezuelans who have fled economic turmoil in their homeland and migrated to other Latin American countries or the U.S. 

    In January, President Trump labeled Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization, alongside other gangs and cartels and his administration has since ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro. In recent months, the U.S. has amassed a large military presence in the Caribbean and carried out multiple strikes on boats it claims are carrying drugs from Venezuela. 

    Former Director for the FBI’s MS-13 National Gang Taskforce Robert Clifford sees the indictment as an evolution in how U.S. law enforcement “pursues a transnational criminal organization like TdA.” Clifford said that for years local law enforcement investigated MS-13 as a prison gang instead of viewing the members as part of a multi-national criminal organization. 

    In the years since, the law enforcement approach to investigating transnational criminal organizations has shifted and Thursday’s indictment is “a model of state, local and federal cooperation and that is the only way to defeat a well-entrenched organization like TdA,” Clifford said. 

    Some lawmakers have questioned whether the strikes are legal, and the first in that string of attacks, a deadly strike in early September, has prompted new concerns from Congress that a follow-on strike, despite there apparently being survivors in the water, which may constitute a war crime.

    Mr. Trump called for a “total and complete blockade” Tuesday on all sanctioned oil tankers that enter or depart Venezuela. The Trump administration has also accused Maduro of sending drug shipments to the U.S.

    Emily Mae Czachor

    contributed to this report.

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