A federal judge has blocked six grand jury subpoenas issued by the Department of Justice to Minnesota officials. According to the U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, the subpoenas were part of unconstitutional efforts to pressure leaders into participating in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions.
“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,” the judge wrote.
“The moving parties argue that the subpoenas should be quashed for a number of reasons,” the ruling adds. “The Court need address only one of those reasons: the moving parties’ contention that the subpoenas were issued as part of an unconstitutional effort to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration laws and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so. The Court agrees with the moving parties.”
“The facts are clear: the Trump administration is targeting me because I’m standing up for the people of Minnesota,” Attorney General Ellison said in a statement. “In America, we settle our political differences at the ballot box, and it should disturb every American that Donald Trump is weaponizing the criminal justice system against people he disagrees with. No matter how much Donald Trump threatens, targets, and attacks me, I will never stop working to protect Minnesotans from Trump’s abuses of power.”
Walz said the ruling is 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,” he stated. “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.”
Walz faced a congressional probe in December following a fraud scandal.
