Joseph H. Thompson has been appointed by President Donald J. Trump as the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota. Thompson, a seasoned federal prosecutor with sixteen years of experience, expressed his commitment to tackling issues such as violent crime and fraud in state government programs.
“I am honored and humbled to be asked to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota,” Thompson stated. He emphasized his focus on combatting “violent crime, the scourge of fentanyl and other deadly drugs, and the shocking and unacceptable levels of fraud in our state government programs.”
Thompson’s career as a federal prosecutor began in the Northern District of Illinois before he moved to Minnesota in 2014. He has handled numerous significant cases, including leading efforts against fraud targeting state and federal government programs. Notably, he was the lead prosecutor in the Feeding Our Future investigation, recognized by the Department of Justice as the largest Covid-19 fraud case in the country.
Between 2023 and 2024, Thompson contributed to a Special Counsel team investigating mishandling classified documents associated with President Joseph R. Biden.
Thompson’s prosecutorial experience includes work against street gangs, drug cartels, corrupt politicians, and domestic terrorists during his tenure in Chicago from 2009 to 2014. He has tried over twenty jury trials across various areas of federal law and argued more than a dozen cases before appellate courts.
His contributions have earned him several accolades, including the 2024 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service related to an elder fraud case.
In addition to his prosecutorial work, Thompson has taught law at universities and trained new Assistant United States Attorneys at the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center.
Before becoming a federal prosecutor, Thompson practiced privately in Chicago and clerked for Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer and at the Supreme Court of Palau.
A native Minnesotan, Thompson holds degrees from Gustavus Adolphus College and Stanford Law School.
