MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Three lawyers in the Federal orosecutors;s office in Minneapolis resigned their management posts and will return to prosecuting cases, the office said Friday.

Jeanne Cooney, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose, confirmed that John Marti, a first assistant U.S. attorney, Erika Mozangue, head of the office’s civil division, and James Lackner, who heads the office’s criminal division, have “decided to go back to being prosecutors,” Cooney said.

She said she didn’t have any further information about their decisions. Ms. Paulose wasn’t immediately available for comment.
<>Ms. Paulose, 34, had replaced former prosecutor Tom Heffelfinger after he resigned in early 2006. Prior to her appointment, she had served as senior counsel to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty.

The three resignations come as Congress investigates the Justice Department’s firing of eight Federal prosecutors attorneys last year and whether the moves were politically motivated. Its findings so far have torpedoed morale at Justice Department headquarters in Washington and in Federal prosecutors’ offices nationwide.

Mr. Heffelfinger, who has said he left of his own accord, was not among those eight. However, Ms. Paulose was one of 15 federal prosecutors appointed after Congress changed the USA Patriot Act to let the Justice Department fill vacant prosecutorial jobs without judicial review. She was confirmed by the Senate in December 2006.

Democrats and Republicans alike have called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign for the botched way the firings were handled and described to Congress. Additionally, Gonzales’ credibility has taken a hit over his own shifting explanations of how involved he was in planning the firings.

The Justice Department did not have an immediate comment Friday on the Minnesota resignations.

Officials from the Justice Department’s executive office of U.S Attorneys were sent to Minneapolis to deal with the situation, which is not uncommon, an aide in Washington said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Mr. Marti, Ms. Mozangue and Ms. Lackner did not immediately return phone messages Friday morning.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press, citing sources it said did not want to be identified discussing staffing changes, reported that the three were unhappy with Ms. Paulose’s management style.

Tim Anderson, a non-attorney who had been the acting administrator in the office, declined to discuss reports that he, too, had given up his management role.

“It’s something that I’m not able to comment on. Sorry,” Mr. Anderson told the AP.

Both of Minnesota’s Senators declined to comment on the resignations. Senator Schumer, a Democrat from New York and harsh critic of Mr. Gonzales, said the moves in Minnesota were an example of federal prosecutors being “deprofessionalized.”

“We wonder in how many other offices the same lack of confidence is taking its toll,” Mr. Schumer said.

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Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington contributed to this report.