An acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana has been appointed to temporarily run the Baton Rouge-based office following former U.S. Attorney Walt Green’s resignation, effective March 10.
Corey R. Amundson, a federal prosecutor in the district for the past 15 years, will run the office until Green’s permanent successor is appointed, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today.
Amundson previously served as first assistant United States attorney and chief of the office’s criminal division, among other positions. Amundson also is an adjunct professor at the LSU Law Center, where he teaches a course on corporate and white collar crime.
In a statement, Amundson calls his appointment humbling and says the office will continue to aggressively pursue criminals. “Crime has not stopped and neither will we,” he says. “Our aggressive pursuit of criminals and our efforts to resolve pending matters will continue without pause.”
It’s still unclear when President Donald Trump will appoint a permanent U.S. attorney for the district. Green was one of 46 Obama-era U.S. attorneys ordered to resign on Friday. On Monday, Green announced that he had submitted his resignation.
Louisiana’s two other U.S. attorneys—Kenneth Polite in the Eastern District and Stephanie Finley in the Western District—also were Obama-era appointments who were ordered to relinquish their posts. Polite announced his resignation on Friday while Finley said she would retire.
It’s customary for new presidential administrations to appoint their own U.S. attorneys, but Trump drew criticism for the abrupt nature of the order.
