Because PowerLine's based in Minnesota, it tends to focus on that state's woes, but I have no doubt that these tales of corruption and ineptitude are being repeated across the country

(I keep reusing using this GIF just because it’s so much fun, and because it captures the nature of the man so perfectly)

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Bill Glahn in Crime, Minnesota

A baker’s dozen

From the Associated Press (AP),

How a defendant in Minnesota went free because of Justice Department turmoil.

The AP wants you to be angry at Donald Trump for enforcing immigration laws. AP reports,

The federal prosecutor’s office in Minnesota has been gutted by a wave of career officials resigning or retiring over objections to Trump administration directives. Because of the turmoil, 12-time convicted felon Cory Allen McKay caught a break.

As far as I can piece together, Mr. McKay’s dozen previous felony convictions all were acquired in state courts. Yet, not a single state prosecutor, not a single state judge thought to put Mr. McKay behind bars. His release is all laid at the feet of Pres. Trump.

McKay was scheduled to stand trial next month on methamphetamine trafficking charges that could have locked him up for 25 years. Instead, he walked free after the prosecutor on his case retired.

I am all but certain that meth dealing is against state laws. Regardless, not once in its 180-year existence has the AP cared about putting criminals behind bars.

The AP gloats at the exodus of federal prosecutors,

Over the past year, the number of assistant U.S. attorneys in Minnesota has fallen from more than 40 prosecutors before Trump retook office to fewer than two dozen. 

But they give away the game,

The exodus began last year as several prosecutors “saw the writing on the wall” that their jobs — and the government’s definition of justice — were going to be different under the new administration, the former federal prosecutor said.

The definition of “justice” never changed, what changed was a determination that all of the nation’s laws would be enforced, not just laws popular with Democrats.