Judge quashes ‘unlawful’ subpoenas he says Trump administration was using to harass Minnesota Democrats

A federal judge has quashed subpoenas targeting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other officials, saying there was “no doubt” the subpoenas were issued to harass President Donald Trump’s political opponents and coerce them into taking official action.

Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote that “the evidence that the challenged subpoenas were issued for unlawful reasons is overwhelming” and that the Trump administration “struggled — without success — to identify a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas.”

The record is “replete with direct evidence of the Trump administration — including the highest-ranking officials of the Department — threatening and attempting to punish states and localities that have adopted ‘sanctuary’ policies, as well as attempting to coerce those states and localities to devote resources to assist federal immigration enforcement,” wrote the judge, a George W. Bush appointee.

A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement after the ruling that the DOJ “takes the unlawful obstruction of federal law enforcement operations extremely seriously and will continue to act in full compliance with the law to investigate these matters.”

The subpoenas were served in January while the administration was carrying out “Operation Metro Surge,” ramping up immigration efforts in the state. During protests spurred by the flood of immigration agents, two protesters were killed, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

The subpoenas were served shortly after Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, was slain by an ICE officer.

The state and city filed suit after the shooting, challenging the surge. Trump then posted on social media, complaining about the state’s lack of cooperation with immigration officers, and warned, “THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!”

The subpoenas were served about a week later.

The judge wrote that the sequence of events in and of itself “establishes beyond reasonable dispute that the subpoenas were a part of a broader campaign to coerce state and local officials in Minnesota to assist the Trump administration in its enforcement of immigration laws.”

“The Department has launched a significant incursion into matters that the Constitution reserves to sovereign states, and one would expect that the Department would not have done so unless it was aware of compelling evidence of criminal or at least suspicious behavior,” the judge wrote.

“The fact that connections between the information sought in the subpoenas and any possible criminal violation range from extremely weak to nonexistent only adds to the overwhelming evidence that these subpoenas were not issued to investigate, but to harass, coerce, and retaliate,” the judge wrote.

Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, said in a post on X that the ruling was “a victory for the rule of law and our democracy,” adding that the investigation was “politically motivated, unconstitutional, and meritless.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, also a Democrat, said in a post on X that he was “grateful” for the court’s ruling. He said the DOJ “investigation was never about justice, law and order, but the absence of it. Subpoenaing political opponents because they spoke on behalf of their constituents violates the core tenets of our democracy and human decency.”

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