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The top federal prosecutor who helped uncover a massive fraud in Minnesota has resigned from the U.S. attorney’s office, according to media reports.
Joe Thompson served as Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota after being appointed by President Donald Trump in May 2025. He led the office until Daniel Rosen took over as U.S. Attorney in October.
“It has been an honor and privilege to represent the United States and this office,” Thompson, 47, wrote in an email obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune.
He did not reveal the reasons for his departure or what he planned to do next. Fox News Digital has contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota and the Department of Justice.
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First Assistant United States Attorney Joe Thompson describes a wide-ranging fraud investigation involving state-run programs in Minnesota during a news conference Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Minneapolis. Thompson reportedly resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota. (AP Newsroom)
A New York Times report says Thompson and other prosecutors resigned over the Justice Department’s approach to the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota by a federal immigration agent last week.
Thompson reportedly rejected the DOJ’s refusal to include state officials in the investigation and the desire to investigate Good’s widow.
Thompson was the lead prosecutor who helped uncover the massive $250 million Feeding Our Future food fraud case tied to the state’s Somali community.
The fraud resulted in dozens of indictments and convictions, and highlighted fraud problems in Minnesota. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz opted not to seek a third term amid the scale of the scandal.
“Our state is now by far the leader in fraud and everyone sees it,” Thompson told the Minnesota Star Tribune editorial board last year.
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The Justice Department said the agency was reestablished after the Biden administration. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Additionally, Thompson has been involved in several other high-profile cases, including filing federal charges against Vance Boelter for his alleged shooting spree that killed Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and seriously injured Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, according to the newspaper.
Besides Thompson, at least four senior lawyers in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division have resigned in recent days, Reuters reported.
The departures were motivated in part by the decision to sideline their unit from the investigation into Good’s shooting death, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the division and was appointed by Trump, informed the unit last week that it would not be involved in the investigation, one of the sources said. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive internal matter.
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The Trump administration has said Good was trying to ram a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, while critics say she was trying to evade authorities.
