Thomas B. Heffelfinger (born 1948) is an attorney in private practice in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He was the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota from 1991 to 1993 and from 2001 to 2006. He served as

assistant U.S. Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

from 1982 to 1988 and assistant

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

Attorney from 1976 to 1982.

Early life

Heffelfinger received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1970, and his J.D. from the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Pa ...

in 1975.

U.S. Attorney

Indian Affairs

Investigation of the shooting deaths of 10 people at a school at the

Red Lake Indian Reservation The Red Lake Indian Reservation () covers in parts of nine counties in Minnesota, United States. It is made up of numerous holdings but the largest section is an area around Red Lake, in north-central Minnesota, the largest lake i ...

on March 21, 2005, absorbed much of his time in the subsequent 11 months.

Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy

Heffelfinger resigned on February 28, 2006, for personal reasons, and he was replaced by

Rachel Paulose Rachel Kunjummen Paulose (born March 12, 1973) is an American attorney. She was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as a United States Attorney. She was the youngest person and the f ...

. The ''Minneapolis Star-Tribune'' reported that it was unusual that "the former U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Thomas Heffelfinger, was not invited" to Paulose's swearing-in ceremony. Paulose's spokesperson, Jeanne Cooney, said, "It was a public event. Anybody who wanted to go could have gone." The article speculates that Heffelfinger, a moderate Republican, could have been a candidate for dismissal had he not stepped aside to make way for a more conservative candidate. Heffelfinger was angry at the Department of Justice for targeting him for dismissal because of his preoccupation with Indian affairs issues. Heffelfinger strongly defended that work: "The fact that some allegedly responsible official or officials in Washington at main Justice now believe that I should have been removed for spending too much time focused on the public safety of Native Americans is outrageous, and it's shameful." Circumstantial evidence suggests that Heffelfinger was targeted for dismissal as a consequence of his positions on tribal voting in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Heffelfinger's appearance on potential dismissal lists at the Department of Justice apparently fits a pattern associating the dismissed attorneys and voting issues. The names of

Bradley Schlozman Bradley Joseph Schlozman (born February 6, 1971) is an American attorney who served as acting head of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. A member of the Republican Par ...

and Hans A. von Spakovsky also appear in this case; Schlozman was a central figure in a voting and elections controversy in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Private practice

After his resignation as U.S. Attorney, Heffelfinger was hired by the law firm Best and Flanagan, where he focuses on white-collar criminal defense and American Indian law.

Opposition to President Donald Trump

In October 2020, Heffelfinger signed a letter, along with 19 other Republican-appointed former U.S. Attorneys, calling President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

"a threat to the rule of law in our country" and endorsing

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

References

External links

Heffelfinger's biography at Best and Flanagan.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffelfinger, Thomas B. Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy Living people University of Minnesota Law School alumni Stanford University alumni United States attorneys for the District of Minnesota 1948 births