STEVE KARNOWSKI
Tue, February 10, 2026 at 5:30 PM MST
Journalist Don Lemon, talks to the media after a hearing at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
FILE - Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joe Thompson speaks to reporters at a news conference July 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Journalist Don Lemon, waves to the media after a hearing outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former federal prosecutor who quit amid a dispute with the Trump administration is now representing former CNN host Don Lemon, who was one of nine people indicted for their alleged roles in disrupting a service at a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official was a pastor.
A court filing Tuesday shows that Lemon has hired former interim U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who had been leading the sprawling investigation and prosecution of major fraud cases for the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office until he resigned last month.
Several prosecutors have now left the office at a time of growing frustration with the administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown and the Justice Department’s response to fatal shootings of two people by federal officers in Minneapolis.
Lemon had previously said through another attorney that he planned to plead not guilty to federal civil rights charges over his coverage of the church protest. He has said he was not affiliated with the group that disrupted the church service, and that he was there in his capacity as an independent journalist. The indictment alleges various actions by the group that entered the church, including what Lemon said as he reported on the event for his livestream show.
Lemon is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 13 in federal court in St. Paul.
The Trump administration has cited the Minnesota fraud cases, in which most defendants have come from the state’s large Somali community, as justification for its immigration crackdown in the state. Thompson estimated in December that the losses to taxpayers from several fraud cases being prosecuted in Minnesota could total $9 billion.
Thompson recently formed his own law firm with Harry Jacobs, another former federal prosecutor who resigned amid the upheaval in the office. Jacobs had been lead prosecutor in the case of Vance Boelter, who has pleaded not guilty in last year's assassination of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the nonfatal shootings of a state senator and his wife.
The firm's website describes them as “battle tested and seasoned” trial lawyers.
Thompson did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Don Lemon hires federal prosecutor who resigned over Minnesota probes
Zach Schonfeld
Tue, February 10, 2026
Don Lemon has brought on an attorney who recently resigned from the office prosecuting the former CNN anchor, according to a new court filing.
Joseph Thompson informed the judge Tuesday that he will represent Lemon ahead of his next court appearance, which is slated for Friday.
Until last month, Thompson served as the No. 2 official in the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota. He helped lead the office’s investigation into social services fraud that has emerged as a national scandal.
Thompson resigned alongside several colleagues last month as reports emerged that the Justice Department was reluctant to investigate the federal agent who killed Renee Good in Minneapolis and was seeking to investigate her partner.
Thompson will now represent Lemon as he looks to fend off federal civil rights charges.
The indictment stems from Lemon’s coverage of a Jan. 18 demonstration in which protesters interrupted a St. Paul church service to oppose a pastor who reportedly serves as a federal immigration officer.
Lemon maintains he was acting as a journalist and denies wrongdoing.
Thompson joins what was already a high-profile legal team for the former CNN anchor.
Lemon is also represented by Abbe Lowell, a Washington lawyer whose client list has included Hunter Biden, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook.
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