Judge blocks DOJ subpoenas targeting Minnesota officials

A federal judge has thrown out six grand jury subpoenas the Trump administration served on Minnesota state and local officials, ruling that the Justice Department unlawfully used the grand jury process to pressure them over immigration enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed subpoenas issued to offices including those of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, the Minnesota attorney general, two Minnesota mayors, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. The subpoenas followed a lawsuit by Minnesota officials seeking to block Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration enforcement effort.

Schiltz found that the subpoenas were not supported by a legitimate criminal investigation. Instead, he wrote, their main purpose was to “coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration law and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so.”

Using grand jury proceedings to pressure political opponents into taking official action — particularly action the federal government cannot directly require — is “a blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand-jury process,” Schiltz wrote.

“The only question, then, is whether the challenged subpoenas were issued for one of these forbidden purposes,” he wrote. “The Court has no doubt that they were.”

The judge said the Justice Department “has struggled — without success — to identify a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas.” According to the Associated Press, he also wrote that the connections between the information sought and any possible criminal violation appeared “extremely weak to nonexistent,” and that the materials sought largely, if not entirely, related to constitutionally protected conduct.

The Guardian, citing AP reporting, said the subpoenas were part of a Trump administration investigation into alleged obstruction of deadly ICE raids in Minnesota earlier this year. The Guardian reported that those raids led to the killings of Minneapolis residents Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good.

Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate in the 2024 election, called the ruling “a victory for the rule of law and our democracy.”

“The U.S. Justice Department is pursuing criminal investigations into the President’s political opponents,” Walz said in a statement. “This case was just one example of that, but we are seeing daily reminders of this administration’s lawlessness – in Minnesota and around the country. We all must continue to seek justice and uphold the rule of law.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said “it should disturb every American that Donald Trump is weaponizing the criminal justice system against people he disagrees with.”

Frey said the 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,” Frey said. He added that criticizing government action is not a crime.

“One of the defining strengths of our democracy is the ability to challenge those in power without fear of retribution,” Frey said. “Elected officials have both the right and the responsibility to speak honestly about how government decisions affect the people they serve.”

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her called the subpoenas “a politically motivated retaliation against our city for lawfully standing up to ICE and fighting for our residents.”

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, CBS News reported.