DOJ subpoenas Minnesota Democrats in legal escalation

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at a memorial service for Renee Good

(Image credit: Stephen Maturen /Getty Images)

What happened

The Justice Department on Tuesday subpoenaed multiple Democratic officials in Minnesota, escalating tensions amid the Trump administration’s ongoing surge of immigration agents to the Twin Cities. Those served with grand jury subpoenas include Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Who said what

The federal investigation is “examining whether the Democratic leaders are impeding federal law enforcement officers — an unusual probe into elected officials,” The Washington Post said. Prosecutors are specifically looking at whether officials “obstructed ICE’s work at least in part through public statements they made,” The Wall Street Journal said. Minnesota officials dismissed the probe as a “bullying tactic meant to quell political opposition,” The Associated Press said.

“When the federal government weaponizes its power to try to intimidate local leaders for doing their jobs, every American should be concerned,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. Walz said Minnesota “will not be drawn into political theater” and the “partisan distraction” of “baseless legal tactics.” Families in the Twin Cities are “scared” and “kids are afraid to go to school,” he wrote on social media. “Small businesses are hurting. A mother is dead, and the people responsible have yet to be held accountable.”

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“What we do is legal, ethical and moral, and well-grounded in law,” Border Patrol operation leader Greg Bovino told reporters Tuesday. At a rival news conference, local police officials “criticized what they described as a heavy-handed federal approach,” The New York Times said. Immigration officers are “going to make mistakes sometimes,” President Donald Trump said in a lengthy White House press appearance. “ICE is going to be too rough with somebody,” and “I felt horribly” about an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of Renee Good. “Her father was a tremendous Trump fan. He was all for Trump, loved Trump,” the president added. “I hope he still feels that way.”

What next?

The Justice Department is seeking a “surge of prosecutors” to “parachute in” from other Midwestern states to help the “understaffed” U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis “for the next few weeks,” CNN said. Top DOJ officials “made the urgent requests to U.S. attorneys in more than a half-dozen states” as the administration “prepares for the possibility of filing charges against state officials and more protesters,” the Post said.

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.