Pam Bondi fires 6 Minnesota DOJ prosecutors because they ‘don’t like ICE' and wanted paid vacation

WASHINGTON, DC: Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed Wednesday, Jan 14, that she fired six Justice Department prosecutors in Minnesota because they no longer supported Immigration and Customs Enforcement and then asked taxpayers to foot the bill for what she described as an extended vacation.

Several federal prosecutors in Minnesota were formally terminated after notifying the Justice Department that they intended to resign amid internal disputes over how the DOJ handled a shooting investigation involving ICE.

According to two sources familiar with the matter, the DOJ fired five prosecutors from the US attorney’s office in Minnesota, including Joseph Thompson, the office’s second-in-command. Bondi later said the total number fired was six. Their resignations and the internal disagreements surrounding the ICE shooting probe were first reported by The New York Times.

Before being dismissed on Wednesday, the prosecutors were positioned to remain on paid leave for months, according to sources.

Pam Bondi defends firings on Fox News

Bondi laid out her reasoning during an appearance on Fox News with Sean Hannity, accusing the prosecutors of abandoning law enforcement while demanding paid time off.

"Six prosecutors suddenly decided they don't like ICE! One did a photoshoot with the NYT, while ICE risked their lives!" Bondi said.

She added that the group attempted to resign under conditions that would keep them on the payroll well into the spring.

"So they came, they said, 'we want to resign, but we want to use our annual leave up until April,' meaning they wanted the taxpayers to pay for them to go on vacation because they decided they didn't want to support law enforcement!" she continued.

Bondi said the DOJ rejected that proposal outright. "So, the breaking news tonight: I fired them all. They're fired from the office!" she remarked.

The firings reportedly stem from internal clashes over a federal investigation into the ICE shooting that left 37-year-old Renee Good dead.

Video footage of the incident shows an ICE agent opening fire at close range after Good appeared to accelerate her vehicle toward the agent while he was standing in front of it.

Critics have argued the agent improperly used deadly force, claiming Good had turned the wheels of her car away from the agent before accelerating.

The FBI is now handling the investigation and has excluded Minnesota prosecutors from the case. The Trump administration defended the move since the incident involved a federal officer. Minnesota leaders, however, slammed that decision and launched a parallel state-level investigation.

Prosecutor disagreements

Before his resignation, Thompson was leading a massive welfare fraud investigation in Minnesota.

His departure followed clashes with DOJ officials in Washington, DC, over the ICE shooting probe. According to a source familiar with a call held last week, Thompson told DOJ and FBI officials he supported investigating the ICE shooting as an assault on or obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

Another fired prosecutor, Melinda Williams (who was also involved in the fraud investigation) participated in the same call, the source said.

Thompson also indicated during the call that he believed the shooting was justified, according to two sources. At the same time, he had already been discussing the possibility of resigning prior to the shooting, those sources said.

While Thompson supported pursuing the investigation as an offense against law enforcement rather than as a civil rights case against the agent, he raised concerns about the DOJ’s strategy.

Specifically, Thompson had reservations during last week’s call about plans to investigate Renee Good’s widow and other potential co-conspirators, according to a source familiar with the discussion. 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey praised the prosecutors who resigned and framed their exits as a principled stand against the DOJ.

"These prosecutors are heroes, and the people pushing to prosecute Renee’s widow are monsters," Frey wrote on X.