Lemon, a former CNN host, will now be represented by Joe Thompson, a former federal prosecutor who quit amid a dispute with the Trump administration, according to a court filing reviewed by Associated Press. The filing indicates Thompson has hired to represent Lemon in federal civil-rights charges connected to an alleged disruption at a Minnesota church, where a U.S. immigration enforcement official was serving as a pastor.
Thompson’s hire follows his resignation from the Justice Department’s Minnesota office role, where he had been leading investigations and prosecutions tied to major fraud cases, Associated Press reported. Those departures came as some prosecutors left at a time of growing frustration with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown and the Justice Department’s response to fatal shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis.
The Associated Press report said the indictment describes roles attributed to nine people, including Lemon, tied to conduct alleged to have disrupted the church service. Lemon had previously said through another attorney that he planned to plead not guilty to the federal civil-rights charges, and he said he was not affiliated with the group that disrupted the church service, describing his presence instead as part of his work as an independent journalist covering the event for his livestream show.
According to the filing, Thompson hired former interim U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson after he had been leading the investigation and prosecution of major fraud cases for the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office until his resignation last month. Several other prosecutors also left the office around the same time, the report said, as internal tensions intensified around the administration’s immigration enforcement approach and federal responses to shootings in Minneapolis.
Thompson’s work is intertwined with a broader federal-state conflict over immigration enforcement, the Associated Press said. The Trump administration has cited the Minnesota fraud cases, in which most defendants have come from the state’s large Somali community, as justification for its immigration crackdown in the state.
The filing also points to the shifting legal landscape as Thompson and other former prosecutors continue to form new professional relationships. Thompson recently formed his own law firm with Harry Jacobs, another former federal prosecutor who resigned during the upheaval in the Minnesota office, Associated Press reported. The firm’s website describes Thompson and Jacobs as “battle tested and seasoned” trial lawyers.
Thompson’s estimate last December, as reported by Associated Press, put potential losses to taxpayers from several Minnesota fraud cases as high as $9 billion. Thompson did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment Tuesday, the report said.