U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz has thrown out Justice Department grand jury subpoenas targeting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and several allied officials across the state.
The subpoenas had also named Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties.
The Trump administration alleged that the Minnesota officials were encouraging protesters to disrupt Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the state.
Judge Schiltz found the “dominant purpose” of the subpoenas 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.”
In a forceful ruling, the judge said there was “no doubt” the subpoenas were issued to damage Walz as part of a broader pattern of conduct by the administration.
Schiltz, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, wrote that the subpoenas formed part of what he described as the Trump administration’s use of criminal process to punish political adversaries.
“Initiating a criminal investigation in order to harass political opponents or to coerce them into taking official action — particularly official action that the federal government cannot directly require those political opponents to take — is a blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand-jury process,” Schiltz wrote.
The judge also pointed to Trump’s repeated public vows of retribution, writing that they “establishes beyond reasonable dispute” that the subpoenas were part of a coordinated campaign against Minnesota officials.
Schiltz further connected the subpoenas to what he described as “the Trump administration’s well-established history of using criminal investigations to retaliate against and pressure the President’s political and personal adversaries.”
Governor Walz responded to the ruling with a brief but pointed statement, calling it a “victory for the rule of law.”
The decision represents a significant legal setback for the administration’s approach to pressuring state and local governments that have declined to cooperate with its immigration enforcement priorities.
The ruling underscores ongoing tensions between the federal government and Democratic-led states and cities over the scope of immigration enforcement responsibilities under the Trump administration.