U.S. President Joe Biden has requested the resignation of U.S. Attorney Don Cochran, who oversees the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee and who was appointed by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
This, according to a press release that officials at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee published this week. Cochran will leave his post at the end of this month, the press release said.
“Cochran leaves a legacy of partnerships with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that have come together to address a wide variety of critical issues, including violent crime. Under his leadership, the Project Safe Nashville initiative was formed in cooperation with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office and others, and quickly doubled the number of federal firearms prosecutions,” the press release said.
“This initiative was soon expanded to include the entire Middle District of Tennessee and has resulted in hundreds of dangerous, repeat offenders being removed from local communities and sentenced to federal prison. U.S. Attorney Cochran has also been successful in adding to the number of federal prosecutors in the Middle District, which has greatly expanded the bandwidth of federal prosecutions, including white collar crime, public corruption and organized criminal activity.”
Upon Cochran’s departure, First Assistant Mary Jane Stewart will take over as acting United States Attorney, the press release said.
As The Tennessee Star reported earlier this month, Biden also requested the resignation of U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant. Dunavant oversaw the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee. Trump also appointed him.
U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Cherri Green told The Tennessee Star in an email at the time that U.S. Attorneys “serve at the will and pleasure of the President.”
According to a press release, Dunavant led successful investigations and federal prosecutions of multiple criminal gang organizations.
The press release also said that Dunavant also aggressively prosecuted cases of, among other things, violent crime, child exploitation, immigration offenses, health care fraud, embezzlement, identity theft, public corruption, gang conspiracies and racketeering. Dunavant also prosecuted cases of unlawful firearms possession, according to the same press release.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
[…] February, Stewart took over as acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. This, after U.S. President Joe Biden […]
What was it that Andrew Jackson’s allies said….. To the victor belong the spoils!
And Trump can put them back in place just as fast after disclosure occurs. I see great days ahead for the U.S. and the rest of the world!