DENVER — Jason Dunn, who has served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado since October 2018, submitted his resignation to President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
Dunn said that he will resign effective Feb. 28 at the request of acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson. The Justice Department has asked many U.S. attorneys who were appointed by former President Donald Trump to submit their resignations, The Associated Press reported. It's customary for U.S. attorneys to step down when a new president comes into office.
"It has been the greatest honor of my professional life to serve as U.S. attorney and to lead the outstanding employees of this office," Dunn wrote in his resignation letter. "We fought violent crime, drug cartels and domestic terrorism, held accountable corporations and doctors for their careless distribution of opioids, and worked to better the lives of those in Indian Country."
> The video above originally aired Oct. 19, 2018 shortly before Jason Dunn was sworn in as U.S. attorney general for Colorado.
A U.S. attorney oversees the prosecution and litigation of federal crimes and civil matters in their district. Dunn, a native Coloradan and graduate of the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU-Boulder), was sworn in as Colorado's U.S. attorney on Oct. 26, 2018, according to his biography.
In his statement Tuesday, Dunn talked about the successes of the Colorado U.S. Attorney's Office under his leadership, which included addressing gun violence in the Denver metro area, taking down multiple drug rings and preventing the bombing of a Pueblo synagogue.
"When peaceful protests in Denver turned violent this summer, we stood with our fellow law enforcement officers in enforcing the rule of law," Dunn said in his statement. "Likewise, when violence hit our nation's Capitol building on Jan. 6, we did our part to ensure that Coloradans responsible for that violence were also held accountable."
Beginning on March 1, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Colorado will be led by acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Kirsch, who currently is the first assistant U.S. Attorney, Dunn said in his announcement.
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