How a defendant in Minnesota went free because of Justice Department turmoil [View all]

Source: Associated Press

How a defendant in Minnesota went free because of Justice Department turmoil

By RYAN J. FOLEY and JIM MUSTIAN
Updated 3:06 PM EST, February 19, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The federal prosecutor’s office in Minnesota has been gutted by a wave of career officials resigning or retiring over objections to Trump administration directives. Because of the turmoil, 12-time convicted felon Cory Allen McKay caught a break.

With a three-decade record of violent crime that includes strangling a pregnant woman and firing a shotgun under a person’s chin, McKay was scheduled to stand trial next month on methamphetamine trafficking charges that could have locked him up for 25 years. Instead, he walked free after the prosecutor on his case retired.

The Trump administration says its aggressive immigration enforcement in Minnesota has improved public safety. Left in its wake, though, is a greatly weakened U.S. attorney’s office, where many prosecutors resented the way President Donald Trump’s political appointees at the Justice Department managed them.

Offices in other states, from New York to Virginia, have also been affected by resignations as prosecutors object to what they see as the politicization of decision-making under Trump. But Minnesota has been hit especially hard.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-prosecutors-office-defendant-free-142f82b163a8b0d646ba6079251d32be