ILLINOIS (WAND) - U.S. attorneys set to be removed by President Joe Biden include one who is pursuing an investigation into a Commonwealth Edison scandal that implicated Michael Madigan.
As NBC News has reported, President Biden's administration is getting ready to remove all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys that were appointed during the era of former President Donald Trump.
There will only be two exceptions, according to a senior Justice Department official, including John Durham, who is investigating the origins of the Russia probe. He will continue this investigation, but not in the role of U.S. attorney for the district of Connecticut. Attorney General William Barr gave him extra protections for the inquiry when he was appointed as special counsel.
The second to stay in place is David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, who is involved in a criminal tax investigation into Hunter Biden, the president's son.
It is not uncommon for a new president to remove U.S. attorneys. Trump had ordered 46 of them, who were from the Obama era, to resign in 2017. Eight U.S. attorneys were fired under the George W. Bush administration in 2006.
In the removals President Biden will order, U.S. attorneys John Lausch of the Northern District of Illinois and John Milhiser of the Central District of Illinois are included. They and others will be asked to resign, with the process starting as soon as Tuesday, per NBC News.
Lausch is involved in the ComEd bribery scandal investigation, which implicated Madigan and led to the indictments of four other people. Madigan, who was the longest-serving legislative leader in modern American history as Illinois House Speaker, ended up suspending his campaign before the speaker seat was handed over to Emanuel "Chris" Welch.
Milhiser recently announced the indictment of Sam McCann, a former Illinois lawmaker. McCann is charged with fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.
Multiple Republican lawmakers from Illinois, including U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis (IL-13), Darin LaHood (IL-18) and Mary Miller (IL-15), issued a statement calling for Lausch and Milhiser to be able to stay in office until successors are confirmed. The lawmakers referenced the ComEd investigation and McCann case in their statement.
