Judge quashes grand jury subpoenas used to pressure Minnesota officials

A federal judge has quashed six grand jury subpoenas the Trump administration served against Minnesota state and local government offices — including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — ruling the subpoenas were retaliatory and unlawful.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz found that the Justice Department issued the subpoenas to coerce Minnesota officials into cooperating with immigration enforcement after those officials sued to block Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration operation.

The subpoenas had been served against the Minnesota governor’s office, the Minnesota attorney general, two Minnesota mayors’ offices, Ramsey County’s Board of Commissioners and Hennepin County’s Board of Commissioners.

In his ruling, Schiltz wrote that 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.”

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

The judge also noted that the Justice Department “has struggled — without success — to identify a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas.”

The ruling centers on Operation Metro Surge, a Trump administration immigration enforcement effort that prompted Minnesota state and local officials to file suit in an attempt to stop it. The subpoenas followed that legal challenge.

Walz, in a statement, 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,” said Walz, the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president. “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.”

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

The subpoenas “a politically motivated retaliation against our city for lawfully standing up to ICE and fighting for our residents,” Her said in a statement, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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,” he said.

Frey also observed 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. Elected officials have both the right and the responsibility to speak honestly about how government decisions affect the people they serve,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.