Defense officials say dozens of military lawyers may be assigned to assist with prosecutions in Minnesota as the Justice Department expands enforcement and fraud investigations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Pentagon is preparing to deploy dozens of military attorneys to Minneapolis to support federal prosecutions tied to immigration enforcement and fraud investigations, according to reporting by CBS News.
The request, which seeks attorneys with “significant experience in criminal prosecution, civil litigation, administrative law, immigration law, general litigation, or other related fields,” would place military lawyers in Minnesota beginning in March, according to details cited by CNN.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the deployment aligns with its ongoing enforcement priorities. “The Justice Department is laser focused on rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, and has already charged dozens of defendants from Minnesota who’ve defrauded the American people,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “Ensuring fraudsters, including refugees laundering American tax dollars, are held accountable is a top priority for this Administration, and this whole-of-government approach will continue until justice is served.”
The move comes as Minneapolis has seen an increased federal law enforcement presence tied to an immigration enforcement crackdown. Federal officers have conducted operations aimed at apprehending individuals identified as criminal immigration violators, actions that have drawn public demonstrations and heightened tensions in parts of the city.
The Department of Homeland Security has described the deployment of approximately 3,000 federal law enforcement officers to the Minneapolis area as its largest immigration operation to date. The city is among several Democratic-leaning jurisdictions that President Donald Trump has targeted for expanded federal enforcement.
Trump has said the actions were motivated in part by fraud investigations involving government benefit programs in Minnesota. The Pentagon’s request for military attorneys did not specify which cases the lawyers would handle but coincides with multiple federal probes into alleged fraud schemes connected to state and federally funded programs.
Minnesota has been under federal scrutiny for years over large-scale fraud cases, including a $300 million pandemic-era scheme involving the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors have described that case as the largest COVID-19-related fraud prosecution in the country, alleging defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program intended to provide meals for children.
According to federal court records, 57 individuals connected to the Feeding Our Future case have been convicted through guilty pleas or trial verdicts. Prosecutors have said many of the defendants in that case were of Somali descent.
Defense officials have not publicly detailed how many military attorneys will ultimately be assigned or the duration of their deployment, but the Pentagon request underscores the administration’s use of interagency resources as federal investigations and prosecutions in Minnesota continue.
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