# September 1, 2021 *Date on which Michael Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, announced that he would not seek re-election.* September 1, 2021 is the date on which [[Michael Freeman]], then the [[Hennepin County Attorney]], announced that he would not seek re-election.[^1] At the time he was in his second tenure in the office, which had begun on January 3, 2007. His first tenure ran from January 7, 1991 to January 5, 1999.[^1][^2] The second tenure ended on January 2, 2023, when [[Mary Moriarty]] succeeded him.[^1] One item in the project's at-issue record, item 097, is built on this date. It states that Freeman announced his retirement "five months after the Chauvin conviction his office was disqualified from, and four months after the Department of Justice opened its pattern-or-practice investigation of the police department his office charged from."[^4] The item gives no exact dates for either earlier event. The material assembled for this date carries no court filing, docket number or Department of Justice release for the disqualification or the investigation, so both are reported here only as the item states them.[^4] The item presents the dates in order and does not assert a cause. Its anchor note reads: "the sequence is in the record and is stated as sequence, not causation."[^4] The record shows the order of these events. It does not establish a reason for the announcement.[^1][^4] ## Who Freeman was born in [[Minneapolis]] on May 7, 1948. He attended Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and received a B.A. from Rutgers in 1970. He earned a J.D. from the [[University of Minnesota Law School]] in 1974.[^1][^2] From 1982 to 1991 he represented District 40 in the [[Minnesota Senate]]. In his second term there he was Majority Whip.[^3][^1] He first became county attorney in 1991, succeeding [[Tom Johnson]]. [[Amy Klobuchar]] succeeded him in 1999.[^1][^2] He was elected to the office again in 2006, when Klobuchar went to the Senate. His two tenures total twenty-four years.[^1] Between the two tenures, Freeman sought the office of [[governor]] twice:[^1] - In 1994 he lost the DFL endorsement to [[John Marty]].[^1] - In 1998 he won the DFL endorsement but lost the primary to [[Skip Humphrey]], the son of [[Hubert Humphrey]]. Humphrey then lost the general election to [[Jesse Ventura]].[^1] As county attorney, Freeman declined to bring charges in the [[Jamar Clark]] matter (2016) and the Thurman Blevins matter (2018). He charged [[Mohamed Noor]] in 2018. In 2020 he charged [[Derek Chauvin]] and three other officers.[^1] ## When - **September 1, 2021:** Freeman announced that he would not seek re-election as Hennepin County Attorney.[^1] At-issue item 097 describes the announcement as a retirement.[^4] - **Five months earlier, by the item's count:** the [[Chauvin conviction]]. The item states that Freeman's office was disqualified from that prosecution.[^4] - **Four months earlier, by the item's count:** the Department of Justice opened a pattern-or-practice investigation of a police department. The item describes it as the department "his office charged from" and does not name it.[^4] - **January 2, 2023:** Freeman's tenure ended, and Mary Moriarty succeeded him.[^1] ## In the at-issue record - **Package: Hennepin.** Item 097 is also catalogued as AI-Hennepin-097. It has rank 97 and shock 41, and it sits in Block H, "The Closing Ledger."[^4] - The item reports two sources, of the kinds "docket" and "record," from clearinghouse.net and en.wikipedia.org. Its listed anchor is a March 2025 White House presidential action.[^4] - The full entry is at [[At issue 097 - Michael Freeman announced his retirement on September 1]]. ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Michael O. Freeman* (retrieval date not given; dossier grade F) — cited in the research dossier for Freeman's birth, education, Senate service, Hennepin County Attorney terms (Jan. 7, 1991 – Jan. 5, 1999; Jan. 3, 2007 – Jan. 2, 2023), the September 1, 2021 announcement, the 1994 and 1998 DFL endorsement contests, and the charging decisions named. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O._Freeman [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Finding aid 00531* (n.d.; dossier grade S) — cited in the research dossier alongside the biographical and office record of Michael O. Freeman. https://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00531.xml [^3]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Legislator record, id 10197* (n.d.; dossier grade S) — cited in the research dossier for Freeman's Minnesota Senate service, District 40, 1982–1991. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=10197 [^4]: White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — the anchor URL listed for at-issue item 097. The order itself does not address Freeman, the Chauvin prosecution or the Department of Justice investigation. The sequence statements in this article rest on the text of item 097. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/