Doj Subpoenas Walz Amid Immigration Enforcement Crackdown In Minnesota

Federal prosecutors subpoenaed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, his office said Tuesday, amid the Justice Department’s investigation into the state’s response to President Donald Trump heightening immigration enforcement there.

The subpoenas escalate the growing conflict between Trump and Walz, which has swelled following the death of Renee Good, a Minnesota woman who was killed by a federal immigration officer earlier this month, days after Trump surged immigration officials to Minneapolis.

Walz’s office confirmed he received a subpoena, with the governor calling the investigation a “partisan distraction.”

“The State of Minnesota will not be drawn into political theater,” Walz said in the statement. “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.”

Fox News and The New York Times in part first reported the subpoenas. The Times reported additional subpoenas were sent to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County prosecutor Mary Moriarty.

POLITICO has not independently confirmed the additional subpoenas. Representatives for Frey, Her, Ellison and Moriarty did not respond to requests for comment.

Good’s death has sparked widespread protests against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities, and drove its leaders, Walz and Frey, to sharply criticize immigration officials. In response, Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and send military personnel to quell the protests.

The investigation into Minnesota officials’ resistance to Trump administration immigration enforcement further enmeshes the DOJ within Trump’s campaign against Minnesota Democrats.

The DOJ has refused to cooperate with Minnesota prosecutors on the probe into Good’s death, prompting Ellison and Moriarty to launch their own investigations into the shooting. The Trump administration has also signaled it will not look into the immigration agent who shot Good and instead investigated Good’s widow, which triggered the resignations of some federal prosecutors.

Walz, Frey and Her filed a lawsuit earlier this month asking a judge to formally block the Department of Homeland Security from surging immigration officials to the state.