MILWAUKEE — Matthew Kruger calls his service as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin the honor of a lifetime.
So why is he giving up the job? The post, a political appointment, usually changes hands when a new party takes power in the White House.
"It is customary for a new president to ask for the resignation of U.S. Attorneys and to replace them," Krueger explained. "To that extent, there will be a change in personnel."
Despite the change, for many of us here in Southeast Wisconsin, the work of the U.S. Attorney's office will not look significantly different.
"A lot of the work of our office is not political, in that sense. It's things that I've just talked about. Fraud cases. Public corruption. Violent crime. Drug prosecutions. I expect those to keep going."
Krueger is a Milwaukee Native. He was appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by Congress to serve as U.S. Attorney for Wisconsin's Eastern District in February of 2018. While there are many efforts for which Krueger is proud, he specifically cited work on human trafficking.
"Human trafficking is this horrific crime because of the implications it has for the victim," Krueger said. "It's dehumanizing. This was an area of focus for us before and it continued to be for us. It's an area, that I want to say a huge thank you to the federal agents, to the prosecutors in our office, and to the victim-witness coordinators because human trafficking cases are some of the hardest to put together."
Krueger specifically cited the case of Christopher Childs. After a lengthy investigation, the Hartford man was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Krueger's last day on the job is Friday. He is planning to go into private practice.
