Article by: RANDY FURST

A former assistant U.S. attorney who specialized in white-collar crime will be the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, taking over an office that has been without a full-time leader for more than two years.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Andy Luger on Wednesday. Luger has strong ties to the DFL Party and has been in private practice since 1995, representing some of the area’s major corporations as a defense attorney.

While his confirmation was expected, it followed a series of pleas from U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who said she told her colleagues she planned to address the Senate all night this week if they tried to adjourn without voting on Luger.

She also spoke about the Luger nomination five times on the Senate floor in the past two weeks, her office said.

Klobuchar said she campaigned hard to have Luger’s nomination pushed to the forefront of the 200-some nominations pending in the Senate because the office had gone so long without a permanent manager. “I will never forget the U.S. attorney from Minnesota,” Klobuchar quoted Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mc­Connell as saying.

Sen. Al Franken also supported Luger’s confirmation.

Luger replaces B. Todd Jones, who did double duty as U.S. attorney and acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for two years, until he was confirmed in July. John Marti has been acting U.S. attorney.

The vote in the Senate was unanimous, but Klobuchar said there were only six or seven senators present. That is because the nomination had been “hotlined,” that is, cleared with all senators ahead of time.

“I look forward to working with the extraordinarily talented public servants at the U.S. attorney’s office,” Luger said Wednesday. “I am very grateful to Sen. Klobuchar for her diligent efforts to make sure this confirmation got done.”

Michael Davis, the chief federal judge in Minnesota, will swear in Luger at the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis on Feb. 21.

Randy Furst • 612-673-4224