The now former U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen cleared out his desk after more than three years at the helm in the Eastern District of Missouri.
Jensen ended his tenure in office after a busy, and strange, ten months that included thrusting his office on to the front line of combating inceasing violence in the city of St. Louis and finding himself in the national spotlight involving the investigation of President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, while managing an office during the COVID-19 crisis.
“After a change in the administration, all of the U.S. attorneys are eventually asked to leave,” he told KSDK in his only interview since announcing he was stepping down.
"I know that I would be distracted working on my next move and I don’t think it’s good for the office or the taxpayers to have a U.S. Attorney in place who is working on other things.”
Jensen will return to private practice, but has not named the firm he is joining.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming, who in recent years has concentrated on prosecuting violent crime, will be acting head of the office, KMOV reported last week. It is not clear whether he will remain in the post after the Biden Administration takes over.
"Jeff Jensen brought unparalleled experience to the position of United States Attorney as a former FBI Special Agent, Assistant United States Attorney, and private attorney," said Attorney General William Barr, whose final day in office was last Wednesday Dec. 23.
"Since his first day in office, Jeff’s mission has always been the same: to save lives. The extraordinary number of federal prosecutions initiated during his tenure are a testament to that mission."
During his time in office, Jensen has made combatting violent crime a priroity, ramping up the number of gun crime cases his attorneys have prosecuted, many of which could have been handled by local prosecutors.
Jensen said it was the office’s involvement in local crime that impacted him the most.
He said community organizations, including the Urban League, Better Family Life, the Clergy Coalition and the Demetrius Johnson Foundation, do, and will, play a central in tamping down the violence.
“I’m very grateful to those leaders who are addressing the root causes of crime and I hope the district will continue both its extremely aggressive prosecutions and its support of these community partners who attack the root causes of crime,” Jensen said.
He also commended his fellow prosecutors, adding that the number doubled during his time and that his office achieved "the lowest recidivism rate in the U.S. for people coming out of federal prison."
“I’ve been absolutely honored every day of those three years to work next to most talented and dedicated professionals in the country,” he said.
Jensen concentrated on violent crime in Operation Legend, the high profile White House-driven initiative launched in selected cities.
The Department of Justice on Dec. 23 announced figures for charges under the operation.
In Eastern Missouri, 450 defendants were charged with federal crimes, including 193 wiith drug-related offenses, 231 with firearms-related crimes and 26 defendants with other violent acts.
AG Barr has claimed the initiative helped reduce the number of gun deaths in cities across the country, including St. Louis.
The number of gun deaths in St. Louis did drop from 76 in the eight weeks prior to the start of Operation Legend in early August to 41 in the following two months.
However, the numbers in June and July were the highest in years over that period, gun deaths normally decrease after summer, and the city ended the year after 262 murders, just five less than its worst in 1993.
"Jeff’s efforts were not only limited to the Eastern District of Missouri. Whatever requested of him by the Department of Justice, no matter how big or small, Jeff was always willing to serve," Barr said in his statement following the announcement Jensen was standing down.
In February, Jensen was tapped to review the investigation into Flynn, who pleaded guity to lying to the FBI over his contacts with the former Russian Ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kyslyak.
Flynn later attempted to retract the guilty plea, and Jensen recommended the Justice Department drop the case. The former White House aide was pardoned by President Trump.
“It was an honor to be given that responsibility and to work closely with Attorney General William Barr, for whom I have great respect,” Jensen told KSDK. "I look at it the same as any other case. You follow the evidence and do what’s right regardless of the consequences.”