A federal prosecutor investigating an ICE officer is fired
A federal prosecutor in Minnesota who was investigating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer for possible civil rights crimes has been fired, on the account of four sources familiar with the matter, and is himself now under Justice Department investigation on the account of three.
What happened
The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans. The source names the ICE officer he was investigating as Christian Castro, over the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant earlier this year, and says the Justice Department charged Castro this week with making false statements about the incident, with the indictment still sealed. Two sources place the Justice Department's investigation of Evans on allegations of leaking; no source states a reason for the firing itself, and no source dates it.
Why it matters
A prosecutor removed while investigating a federal agent changes who is able to open the next such case, whatever the stated reason was. The reason is exactly what is missing here: the source establishes the sequence and not the cause, and a record that treated the sequence as the cause would be asserting more than anyone has shown. The one reason on the record attaches to the separate investigation of Evans, which two sources place on allegations of leaking, and not to the firing.