U.S. Attorney leaves at Trump's request

DETROIT (AP) — Barbara McQuade says she has stepped down as U.S. attorney for eastern Michigan at the request of President Donald Trump.

McQuade has been head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2010. But it’s common for the job to change hands when a new president takes office.

She said recently it’s been an “incredible privilege” to work with other public servants as the government’s top law enforcer in a 34-county region.

Under McQuade’s leadership, her office successfully prosecuted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on corruption charges.

The case against a southern Michigan militia was one of the government’s few high-profile losses. In 2012, a judge cleared seven members of the Hutaree militia, who were charged with plotting war against the government.

McQuade was an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit, specializing in national security crimes, when President Barack Obama nominated her as U.S. attorney in 2009.