U.S. Attorney In Wolverine Watchmen, UAW Corruption Cases Resigns

DETROIT, MI — A U.S. attorney involved in several key federal cases in Michigan is resigning.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider submitted his letter of resignation to President Joe Biden Wednesday shortly after the president was sworn into office, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday. Schneider's resignation is effective Feb. 1.

Schneider will be joining Honigman, a private law firm in Detroit, in February as a partner and co-leader of the firm's White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice, the law firm confirmed to Patch Thursday.

“It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve the people of Eastern Michigan, alongside the incredibly hard-working team at the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Schneider said Thursday in a statement. “In the last three years, this team has overcome tremendous challenges, from the longest federal government shutdown in American history, to an enormous rise in violent crime, the greatest increase in civil unrest since 1967, and a global pandemic.

"Through it all, the lawyers and support staff of this office have faithfully enforced the law, supported our law enforcement partners, and protected our fellow citizens, and I could not be more proud of the work that they have accomplished.”

Saima Mohsin will immediately assume office as Acting United States Attorney. Mohsin has served as the First Assistant United States Attorney since March 2018. She is a career prosecutor, according to the Justice Department, having served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2002, and prior to that as a Deputy New Jersey Attorney General and an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan.

“It is a great honor to serve the citizens of the Eastern District of Michigan as Acting United States Attorney," Mohsin said in a statement. "I am deeply committed to fulfilling our core mission to faithfully enforce the law and seek justice for all.”

Schneider has served as the chief federal law enforcement official in Eastern Michigan since Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed him in January 2018. In May 2018, the judges of the United States District Court voted to continue his term in office. In January 2019, following his nomination by former President Donald Trump, the United States Senate unanimously confirmed his appointment.

While in office, Schneider hired more than 100 federal employees and contractors, including around 40 Assistant United States Attorneys, which is around one-third of the office’s attorneys.

Some of the significant cases Schneider has worked on while in Detroit include a largescale corruption investigation into the UAW. He also worked on the federal investigation into people with ties to the Wolverine Watchmen who prosecutors said were plotting to kidnap and potentially kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.