Ex-prosecutor fears Trump DOJ will help 'hide' ICE agent facing criminal charges

A former federal prosecutor raised the alarm Friday that the Trump administration may intervene to help a charged ICE agent dodge accountability after a Minnesota county issued a nationwide arrest warrant — and the agent had not yet been taken into custody.

Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, was charged Thursday with two felony counts of assault after pointing his service weapon at two Minneapolis residents sitting in their car during a traffic dispute in February. Morgan was driving an unmarked rented SUV on a highway shoulder when a motorist partially blocked his path. After the car returned to the legal lane, Morgan pulled alongside and drew his gun.

The victims, who had no idea they were dealing with a federal agent, immediately called 911.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who called the charges the first of their kind against a federal immigration agent in the country, issued a nationwide arrest warrant. As of Thursday, there was no word on Morgan's whereabouts or whether he had been taken into custody.

That detail alarmed former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, who publicly raised the possibility that the Trump administration could "hide him out" and help Morgan "evade being taken into custody by Minnesota state authorities."

"ICE agents don't have the power or the authority to enforce state traffic laws," Kirshner noted.

"There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota," Moriarty insisted.

Kirschner warned that once Morgan is taken into custody, his attorneys will almost certainly attempt to move the case to federal court, where the Trump administration would have far more influence over the outcome.

Moriarty said more charges against other federal agents are expected.