Minnesota Job Goes to Career Prosecutor

Frank Magill, a career prosecutor, will become acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Justice Department officials announced yesterday. The move places an uncontroversial veteran in charge of an office that has been roiled by staff rebellions and a federal investigation.

Magill, 48, will succeed Rachel Paulose, an outspoken conservative with little management experience, who created turmoil during nearly two years as the nation's youngest U.S. attorney. Paulose announced in November that she would step down to return to a lower-profile job in the Justice Department's Washington headquarters.

Paulose figured in the furor that engulfed Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales last year -- and ultimately cost him his job -- after he fired nine federal prosecutors and dispatched more than a dozen Bush administration insiders, including Paulose, to run U.S. attorney's offices around the country.

Both of Minnesota's senators had urged Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, who was narrowly confirmed by the Senate less than two months ago, to consider internal candidates to succeed Paulose. Magill became top assistant in the Minnesota office last June, when three senior managers returned to prosecuting cases because they no longer wanted to work closely with Paulose.

Magill was the office's chief of economic crimes for nine years and became an assistant U.S. attorney in 1990.

According to Justice spokesman Peter Carr, Magill will take over Sunday and, under federal rules, can serve in an acting capacity for 210 days. Neither Carr nor a White House spokeswoman would say whether President Bush intends to nominate Magill as U.S. attorney on a permanent basis.