When President Donald Trump was re-elected last fall, Jesse Laslovich, Montana’s chief federal law enforcement officer, assumed his job security was tenuous at best. That’s because U.S. Attorneys are commonly asked to resign when a new president takes office.
It’s how he found out last Friday that caught him off guard.
“While I was working, my computer just automatically signed me out. My work phone shut down and I couldn't log into it. All my access to the office was removed,” Laslovich says.
He says he didn’t receive official word he’d been terminated until Sunday.
He tells MTPR he’s proud of the relationships he helped build between tribes, local, state and federal jurisdictions, and in addressing Montana’s growing drug and violent crime offenses.
“The number of people we’ve indicted were the most in our district’s history. I’m not going to take a back seat to anybody when it comes to fighting crime,” Laslovich says.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Racicot is now Montana’s Acting U.S. Attorney until the Trump administration nominates Laslovich’s replacement and the U.S Senate confirms that person.
When that happens, Laslovich says the average Montanan probably won’t know anything has changed.
He says Montanans will see a noticeable impact if the federal job cuts continue unabated.
“I'm talking FBI agents, ATF, DEA, all of our federal partners. You need people to do the work to prosecute these cases, to investigate these cases. Immigration enforcement is such a top priority for them. They need the bodies. It's just reality,”
