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.
February 25, 2026
Don R. Berthiaume
Acting Inspector General
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Inspector General
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
Counsel
Office of Professional Responsibility
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 3266
Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Mr. Berthiaume and Office of Professional Responsibility Counsel:
We write to request that the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility open an investigation into the decision to block a use-of-force investigation into the January 7 killing of Minneapolis resident Renee Good.
On January 7, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Ms. Good in her vehicle.[1] On February 7, 2026, the New York Times reported that senior officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told career prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota to stop pursuing a civil rights investigation into Agent Ross’s use of force in the days following Ms. Good’s death.[2]
According to that reporting, shortly after Ms. Good’s death, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson informed the office that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI would conduct a joint effort to determine whether the federal government had violated Ms. Good’s rights.[3] Within the week, FBI agents equipped with a signed warrant prepared to record blood splatter and bullet hole evidence in Ms. Good’s vehicle for the use-of-force investigation.[4]
However, according to the Times, before federal agents could act on the warrant, FBI Director Kash Patel and other senior DOJ officials ended the investigation because the officials worried that a civil rights investigation would contradict President Trump’s claim that Ms. Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer” who fired at her.[5] Instead, senior DOJ officials suggested that prosecutors open an alternative investigation into whetherMs. Good criminally assaulted Agent Ross, or whether Ms. Good’s widow was connected to protest groups.[6] Further, DOJ and FBI barred the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from conducting its own investigation.[7]
Ranking Member Durbin received credible whistleblower information further supporting this public reporting. The information indicates that members of the FBI’s Forensic Response Section, who were called to the crime scene in Minneapolis, were originally tasked with gaining access to Good’s vehicle to document and assess the evidence, including shooting reconstruction. This effort was predicated on a warrant that originally included language referencing violations of Good’s civil rights. The whistleblower described how agents were told to stand down after they arrived in Minnesota because FBI Director Patel wanted the warrant not to include language referencing Good as the victim but instead to portray her as the subject of an investigation into the assault of a federal law enforcement officer. Weeks then passed in which the forensic team was unable to process the evidence while they waited for a second warrant. The whistleblower’s account also supports public reporting that FBI personnel were informed the civil rights investigation must be closed.[8] The whistleblower described multiple subsequent failed attempts by the federal government to seek a second warrant targeting Good’s cell phone based on a charge of conspiracy to commit assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
As reported by the Times, Director Patel’s and senior DOJ officials’ actions prompted the resignation of First Assistant U.S. Attorney Thompson and an FBI supervisor in the Minneapolis field office.[9] Thirteen more attorneys at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including the chiefs of the criminal division, civil division, and violent and major crimes unit have followed suit and resigned.[10] Additionally, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon’s refusal to open a civil rights investigation into the officer’s actions hastened the departures of several career Civil Rights Division prosecutors.[11]
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.”[12] Local, state, and federal law enforcement officers have called for an independent investigation into Ms. Good’s killing.[13]
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.
Sincerely,
###
[1] Tim Stelloh, Renee Good Was Shot in the Head, Autopsy Commissioned by Her Family Finds, NBC News (Jan. 21, 2026), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/renee-good-was-shot-head-autopsy-commissioned-family-finds-rcna255335.
[2] Ernesto Londoño, Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop., N.Y. Times (Feb. 7, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/us/renee-good-investigation-minnesota-trump.html.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.; see also Ernesto Londoño, Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow, N.Y. Times (Jan. 13, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/us/prosecutors-doj-resignation-ice-shooting.html.
[7] Ernesto Londoño, Once Again, Federal Officials Exclude Minnesota From Investigation of a Fatal Shooting, N.Y. Times (Jan. 25, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/us/federal-exclude-minnesota-shooting-investigations.html.
[8] See Ernesto Londoño, Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop, supra note 2.
[9] Londoño, Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow, supra note 6; Alan Feuer & Glenn Thrush, F.B.I. Agent Who Tried to Investigate ICE Officer in Shooting Resigns, N.Y. Times (Jan. 23, 2026).
[10] Id.; Jeffrey Meitrodt, Sarah Nelson & Deena Winter, Another Wave of Departures in Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, Minn. Star Trib. (Feb. 2, 2026), https://www.startribune.com/another-wave-of-departures-in-minnesotas-us-attorneys-office/601575569; Jonah Kaplan & Scott MacFarlane, With Latest Minnesota Fraud Case Looming, the Lead Prosecutors Have Quit, CBS News (Feb. 4, 2026), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minnesota-fraud-case-prosecutors-quit.
[11] Ernesto Londoño, Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow, supra note 6.
[12] Ernesto Londoño, Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop, supra note 2.
[13] Rebecca Beitsch, Law Enforcement Officers Call for Independent Investigation into Killings of Pretti, Good, Hill (Feb. 5, 2026), https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5723326-law-enforcement-calls-independent-investigation.
