Picking a New Lawyer for the State

Democrats and Republicans Jockey for New US Attorney for Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn.- There is another partisan competition brewing in Minnesota, this time over who should be the next U.S. attorney for the state.

According to the Star Tribune, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Al Franken have been interviewing candidates for the position, while Minnesota’s Congressional Republicans, Erik Paulsen, Tom Emmer, and Jason Lewis lobby the White House for support in choosing a candidate. Often it is the case that US Senators will work with the President in order to appoint a person to a US attorney position, however, when the Senator and President are of a different party it is not uncommon for the President to work with Congressional members of their own party from the state.

The previous holder of the position was Andrew Luger, who resigned in March per the request of the Trump administration for all Obama holdovers to give up their positions. Nevertheless, the office of the US Attorney of Minnesota continues to work on the many cases which the position is responsible for. These include the death of popular Minnesota singer Prince from a fentanyl overdose and much of the coordination with local law enforcement on the opioid epidemic in Minnesota. Other outreach efforts from the office will also continue under the offices head, Greg Booker.

Luger has been responsible during his time as US attorney for multiple important cases and operations around the state. Luger oversaw the largest terrorist prosecution in the United States and was also played a role in multiple trafficking sting operations. However, Luger has accepted a position in the Investigation and White Collar Defense Practice at Jones Day’s Minnesota office, according to their website.

While Klobuchar and Franken have been pushing the White House to reappoint Luger according to the Star Tribune, Republicans have been pushing for Kevin Magnuson to be appointed to the position. Magnuson handles mostly business and antitrust litigation, though he has also defended in white collar crime cases. Magnuson has been given high marks as an attorney and has been given the recognition from Super Lawyer, a reputable lawyer evaluation site. Magnuson is also part the legal team assembled by the House and Senate in their lawsuit against Gov. Mark Dayton.

At the end of the day the appointment will be the choice of President Donald Trump, who has shown interest in proposals by both Democrats and Republicans.

Henry Carras