DOJ subpoenas Minnesota Democrats who opposed federal immigration raids

Federal prosecutors have targeted at least five Minnesota Democrats — including Gov. Tim Walz — with grand jury subpoenas, escalating the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) highly political investigation into state officials over their opposition to President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration raids. 

The department is seeking documents related to the officials’ policies on immigration enforcement efforts in the state, the New York Times reported.

The subpoenas, which did not cite a specific criminal statute, represent a significant expansion to the department’s probe into whether state officials violated federal law by allegedly conspiring to impede immigration officers.

Last week, news outlets reported  that the DOJ was specifically looking into Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

But Tuesday, the DOJ also served subpoenas to the offices of St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

The department’s decision to target Ellison and Moriarty came after they asked the public to submit evidence related to the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, by a federal immigration agent. 

Senior DOJ officials have said the department would not open an investigation into the conduct of Jonathan Ross, the agent who killed Good. Instead, the department appears to be investigating Good and her family members.

Separately, Ellison filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to end its immigration operation in the state.

State and federal officials have denounced the DOJ’s probe as an assault on their protected political speech and a continuation of Trump’s efforts to weaponize the department against his political enemies. 

“Let me be absolutely clear: The State of Minnesota will not be drawn into political theater. This Justice Department investigation, sparked by calls for accountability in the face of violence, chaos, and the killing of Renee Good, does not seek justice. It is a partisan distraction,” Walz said in a statement Tuesday.

Legal experts have also warned that the department could be attempting to create a pretext for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy the military to Minneapolis, which the president threatened to do last week.

The department issued the subpoenas at a moment when Minnesotans continue to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration raids through sustained and largely peaceful protests across the state.

Federal agents carrying out Trump’s mass deportation agenda in Minnesota have conducted multiple no-warrant arrests, at times conducting door-to-door raids in residential neighborhoods. Agents have been recorded making immigration stops based on a person’s skin color or accent.

They have also repeatedly used aggressive tactics in responding to protesters, such as indiscriminately releasing tear gas, pointing guns at people’s faces and shooting people with less-than-lethal munitions at close range.

Local police authorities Tuesday said they had received “countless” complaints from residents of civil rights violations committed by federal agents, including arbitrary stops and demands to show paperwork to prove their citizenship or residency status.

Brooklyn Park police chief Mark Bruley said off-duty police officers were among those targeted by federal immigration agents.

“Every one of these individuals is a person of color,” Bruley said of the police officers. “If it is happening to our officers, it pains me to think of how many of our community members are falling victim to this every day. It has to stop.”