A federal judge has quashed six Justice Department (DOJ) grand jury subpoenas issued to Minnesota officials and concluded they were part of an unconstitutional effort to pressure state and local leaders into assisting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz ruled June 17 on subpoenas served on the offices of Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis and St. Paul mayor’s office, Minnesota attorney general’s office, and the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and Hennepin County Board of Commissioners.
“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 in his ruling.
A spokesperson for the DOJ told The Epoch Times in an email, “The Department takes the unlawful obstruction of federal law enforcement operations extremely seriously and will continue to act in full compliance with the law to investigate these matters.”
In a statement, Walz said, “The U.S. Justice Department is pursuing criminal investigations into the President’s political opponents.
“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 law.”
The subpoenas, served Jan. 20, sought broad categories of records related to federal immigration enforcement dating back to Jan. 1, 2025, including communications, policies, training materials, and interactions between state and local officials.
Schiltz agreed with Minnesota officials that the subpoenas were part of a broader effort to coerce Minnesota officials into cooperating with federal immigration enforcement despite constitutional protections that allow states and local governments to decline participation in federal regulatory programs.
“The Department has struggled—without success—to identify a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas,” Schiltz wrote.
The judge said the subpoenas were served not only on Walz and Ellison but also on the offices of the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the governing boards of Hennepin and Ramsey counties, describing the records requests as “extraordinarily broad” and directed at a large range of Minnesota’s political leadership.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Trump was abusing his power.
“The facts are clear: The Trump administration is targeting me because I’m standing up for the people of Minnesota,” 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.”
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