New letter to DOJ Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility questions improper and politically motivated decision by DOJ and FBI to close use-of-force investigation

Washington, D.C. - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter on Wednesday urging the Department of Justice's Inspector General and the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility to open an investigation into FBI Director Kash Patel and other senior DOJ officials' decision to shut down a civil rights investigation into the January 7 killing of Minneapolis resident Renée Good.

According to reporting from the New York Times, Director Patel and senior DOJ officials blocked a use-of-force investigation by FBI agents and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota because the Trump-appointed officials worried that a civil rights investigation would contradict President Donald Trump's false claims that Ms. Good "violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer" who fired at her.

"As you know, it is standard procedure for federal prosecutors and the FBI to conduct a use-of-force investigation when a law enforcement officer kills or injures someone, especially in cases of immense public scrutiny such as this one. Even Minnesota defense attorney Chris Madel, who provided Agent Ross with legal advice after the shooting, said, '[i]n the absence of an independent use-of-force investigation, you lead the public to believe that there must be something to hide.' Local, state, and federal law enforcement officers have called for an independent investigation into Ms. Good's killing," wrote Whitehouse and Durbin.

"In light of these press reports, credible whistleblower information received by the Committee, and the mass resignation of career prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, we request that DOJ's Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility investigate the end of the civil rights probe into Ms. Good's death, including who ordered the closure of the investigation and why," added the senators.

Director Patel's and senior DOJ officials' decision to shutter the civil rights probe prompted the resignation of First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson and an FBI supervisor in the Minneapolis field office. Thirteen additional attorneys at the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney's Office also resigned. At Main Justice, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon's refusal to open a civil rights investigation into ICE Agent Jonathan Ross's actions spurred the resignations of several Civil Rights Division prosecutors.

Ranking Member Durbin received credible whistleblower information supporting the New York Times reporting that career FBI agents were ordered to stand down because FBI Director Patel wanted a warrant to access evidence to not include language referencing Ms. Good as the victim but instead to portray her as the subject of an investigation into the assault of a federal law enforcement officer. The whistleblower's account also supported the public reporting that FBI personnel were informed the civil rights investigation must be closed.

The text of the letter is below and a PDF is available here.