Joe Thompson is a deputy Minnesota attorney appointed by President Donald Trump to help unravel massive fraud in the state.
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Joe Thompson, the acting Minnesota attorney appointed by President Donald Trump to lead an investigation that uncovered massive fraud in the state, has resigned from his position, according to reports.
“It has been an honor and honor to represent the United States and this office,” Thompson wrote in the email, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune, which obtained the email. The Star Tribune reported that Thompson did not specify a reason for his resignation in the email.
The New York Times reported that Thompson, along with two other federal prosecutors, resigned over the Justice Department’s push to investigate the widow of Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis woman killed by ICE agents on January 7.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross shot Good, 37, at close range during an immigration check in a residential area near downtown Minneapolis.
The Trump administration and local state officials have been at loggerheads ever since. Federal authorities have pointed to Minnesota’s recent welfare fraud scandal and refused to allow state investigators to examine evidence. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other local officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, called for an independent investigation into the shooting.
Mr. Thompson was appointed to the position last June and led fraud investigations into 14 state-run Medicaid programs. He estimated in December that more than $9 billion in federal funds that have supported the program since 2018 may have been stolen. He did not say how authorities calculated this number. This figure exceeds the amounts charged by people previously charged with theft.
Walz and Minnesota Department of Human Services officials denied estimates that the total fraud could exceed $9 billion, saying the fraud could exceed $1 billion.
The Department of Justice indicted 98 defendants in fraud-related cases in Minnesota, resulting in 64 convictions.
Contributors: Phillip M. Bailey and N’dea Yancey-Bragg
