# William Nash *Hennepin County Attorney removed from office by the governor in 1920 after acquittal by a federal jury* William Nash was [[Hennepin County Attorney]] in [[Minnesota]] when he was indicted on April 6, 1920, in the Winnipeg liquor case and arrested on May 13, 1920.[^1] A federal jury acquitted him on July 3, 1920.[^1] Twenty-eight days later, on July 31, 1920, Governor J.A.A. Burnquist removed him from office. The [[Minnesota Supreme Court]] upheld the removal on December 17, 1920.[^1] His assistant, [[Floyd B. Olson]], succeeded him as county attorney in 1920.[^2] Olson later served as [[Governor of Minnesota]] from January 6, 1931, until his death in office on August 22, 1936.[^2] The record of who held the office before Nash is incomplete. Wikipedia's list of the office's holders states that information before 1918 is "scattered".[^3] ## Who Nash held the office of Hennepin County Attorney at the time of his 1920 indictment, acquittal and removal.[^1] The sources cited here do not establish when Nash took office or how he came to hold it.[^1][^3] Olson had been hired as an assistant [[county attorney]] in 1919.[^2] He became Hennepin County Attorney in 1920 after Nash's removal.[^2] The succession around Nash is only partly documented. Wikipedia's *List of county attorneys of Hennepin County* is explicitly partial. It states that "information about the position prior to the beginning of William Nash's scandals in 1918 is scattered".[^3] The project's dossier cites that list together with a Minnesota Legislative Reference Library file and a Minnesota courts library guide.[^3][^4][^5] On that basis, the dossier states that the office's full 1852–1955 succession is not reconstructible from public sources. It adds that reconstruction would require the Hennepin County Law Library or Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.[^3] ## When - **1919:** Floyd B. Olson was hired as an assistant county attorney.[^2] - **April 6, 1920:** Nash was indicted.[^1] - **May 13, 1920:** Nash was arrested.[^1] - **July 3, 1920:** A federal jury acquitted Nash.[^1] - **July 31, 1920:** Governor J.A.A. Burnquist removed Nash from office.[^1] - **1920:** Olson became Hennepin County Attorney after Nash's removal.[^2] - **December 17, 1920:** The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the removal.[^1] - **1922 and 1926:** Olson was re-elected county attorney. He served until 1930.[^2] - **January 6, 1931:** Olson became Governor of Minnesota.[^2] - **August 22, 1936:** Olson died in office.[^2] ## What The record documents three outputs of the episode: - a federal criminal prosecution of the sitting county attorney, which ended in acquittal; - an executive removal of the same official from office; - a state supreme court ruling that left the removal in place.[^1] The removal followed the acquittal by twenty-eight days.[^1] ## Where The office was the Hennepin County Attorney's office in Minnesota.[^1] The criminal case was tried before a federal jury. The removal was reviewed by the Minnesota Supreme Court.[^1] ## Why The record shows the sequence of indictment, arrest, acquittal, removal and affirmance. It does not establish the governor's reasons for removing Nash after the jury acquitted him.[^1] ## How The governor carried out the removal. The Minnesota Supreme Court then reviewed it and upheld it on December 17, 1920.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The pair appears twice in the at-issue record, under the identifiers AI-Hennepin-017 (Hennepin package) and AI-017. Both entries are ranked 17 in the block titled *The Prosecutorial Chair* ([[At issue 017 - Hennepin County Attorney William Nash was acquitted by]]). The pair sets Nash's July 3, 1920, federal acquittal beside his removal by the governor twenty-eight days later. It also cites the Minnesota Supreme Court's affirmance of that removal.[^1] The pair is anchored to the March 2025 presidential action *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*.[^6] That anchor is cited for the pair's framing. It is not a source for the 1920 events.[^6] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Winnipeg Liquor Conspiracy* — establishes that Hennepin County Attorney William Nash was indicted April 6, 1920, arrested May 13, 1920, acquitted by a federal jury July 3, 1920, and removed from office by Governor J.A.A. Burnquist July 31, 1920, and that the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the removal December 17, 1920. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/winnipeg-liquor-conspiracy [^2]: Wikipedia, *Floyd B. Olson* — establishes that Olson was hired as an assistant county attorney in 1919 and became Hennepin County Attorney in 1920 after Nash's removal. Also establishes his re-election in 1922 and 1926, his service to 1930, and his service as Governor of Minnesota from January 6, 1931, until his death in office August 22, 1936. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_B._Olson [^3]: Wikipedia, *List of county attorneys of Hennepin County* — an explicitly partial list, stating that information before Nash's scandals in 1918 is "scattered"; cited by the project dossier for its finding that the full 1852–1955 succession is not reconstructible from public sources. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_county_attorneys_of_Hennepin_County [^4]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *10183_StribObit_1-8-16.pdf* — file cited in the project dossier's note on the incomplete succession record; its contents are not excerpted in this record. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/articles/10183_StribObit_1-8-16.pdf [^5]: Minnesota State Law Library, *LibGuide: scott* — guide cited in the project dossier's note on the incomplete succession record; its contents are not excerpted in this record. https://mncourts.libguides.com/scott [^6]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — the presidential action cited as the anchor for at-issue pair 017. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/