Sources say Andrew Luger in final step of U.S. attorney nomination in Minnesota

The FBI is conducting a final background check on former U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger to return to the job he held from 2014 to 2017, according to multiple sources, who say this is typically the final step before the White House formally announces a nomination.

Such investigations, called special inquiries, generally carry a short deadline for agents to complete their work. But it is unclear when the White House would make any public announcement on the nomination.

Sources with knowledge of the process described the final stages of Luger's candidacy on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Luger was one of three finalists for the job, along with former assistant federal prosecutors Surya Saxena and Lola Velazquez-Aguilu. It is uncommon for more than one candidate to reach the final background check phase. Sources tell the Star Tribune that Luger has since emerged this week as the expected nominee, barring complications.

Minnesota U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith led a search committee for the job, which also included law enforcement officials and prosecutors from around the state.

Luger would succeed Erica MacDonald, a Donald Trump appointee who stepped down earlier this year at Biden's request. MacDonald has since joined the Faegre Drinker law firm. Luger could not be reached for comment.

While the FBI must complete its work in a short time frame, it can still take months for the White House to announce nominations: The Star Tribune first reported that agents were conducting a final inquiry into MacDonald's candidacy in February 2018, but Trump did not nominate her for the job until two months later.

Luger was ordered to resign soon after Trump took office in 2017. If nominated by the White House and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Luger would be at least the fourth U.S. Attorney to return for a second term. He has been working in private practice as a partner in the law firm Jones Day in Minneapolis since leaving office.

Klobuchar has long been a supporter of Luger and in 2017, she urged Trump to renominate him shortly after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a sweeping wave of resignations of Obama holdovers.

While serving as Minnesota's top federal law enforcement official during the Obama administration, Luger oversaw major prosecutions such as the nation's largest terrorism recruitment trial and the prosecution of the man who admitted to kidnapping and killing Jacob Wetterling, decades after the boy's disappearance.

The Minnesota County Attorneys Association gave Luger its meritorious service award in 2018, citing his work leading the investigation and prosecution of Danny Heinrich, which led to the recovery of Wetterling's remains.

Luger's record of prosecuting nearly a dozen Somali-Americans who left home to join the terror group ISIS — and his office's counter-extremism initiatives during his tenure — prompted some opposition to his candidacy when his name emerged as a finalist earlier this year.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations sent a letter to the White House in March opposing Luger's potential appointment. The letter was also signed by two dozen DFL state lawmakers and scores of community groups.

Bringing Luger back, they wrote, "signals to our historically overpoliced and oversurveilled communities that we do not care about rebuilding trust or repairing the harm done."

The Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers endorsed Velazquez-Aguilu for the position earlier this year. "We are disappointed the senators did not select her for this important role at a crucial point in our history," association president Frank Aba-Onu said Friday, adding that the association hoped the office would build "meaningful trust with communities of color."

"Assuming Mr. Luger is reappointed, we encourage, implore him to strive to build meaningful relationships with communities of color and to show the leadership and integrity that engenders respect for the office," Aba-Onu said in a statement.

Velazquez-Aguilu, who now works as an attorney for Medtronic and also helped Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecute Derek Chauvin for George Floyd's killing, attracted support from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus earlier this year. The Washington Post reported in April that Rep. Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat who leads the caucus, sent a letter to Biden calling for him to appoint her as U.S. Attorney in Minnesota.

Luger would inherit the high-profile federal prosecutions of the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's killing, which sparked a national uprising. The office is also prosecuting members of the far-right Boogaloo Bois extremist group.

Thomas Heffelfinger, who also served two terms as U.S. Attorney, said prior experience leading the office will help Luger "hit the ground running" upon his return.

"You get experience right off the bat and not someone who will spend the next year and a half learning," Heffelfinger said. He said Luger "worked very hard at establishing connections with a lot of community groups" during his first term, but added that doing so again won't be easy.

"He's got a challenge if you look at lack of credibility the police have in many minority communities — he's going to have to work with those communities and he is also going to have to work with those police," Heffelfinger said. "The best way to do that is to have face time with both of them."

Staff writer Andy Mannix contributed to this report.

Stephen Montemayor • 612-673-1755