The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday issued subpoenas for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D), accusing them of standing in the way of federal law enforcement officer’s abilities to carry out their jobs, The Washington Post reported.
Both were given subpoenas as part of an investigation at the DOJ, the Post reported.
“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin,” Walz said in a statement obtained by The Hill’s sister network NewsNation. “Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.”
NewsNation partner The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for comment.
“This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, our local law enforcement, and our residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our streets,” Frey said in a statement obtained by NewsNation. “I will not be intimidated. My focus will remain where it’s always been: keeping our city safe.”
“America depends on leaders that use integrity and the rule of law as the guideposts for governance,” he added. “Neither our city nor our country will succumb to this fear. We stand rock solid.”
The Post added that Walz and Frey are being investigated in connection with a federal statue on conspiracy to impede a federal investigation.
Prior to the subpoenas being issued, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller was asked on “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Thursday if the federal government was looking at possible charges against Minnesota officials “abetting and encouraging” protests. Miller said the decision was up to the DOJ but claimed that there was “an insurgency against the federal government” coming from Minnesota.
The Trump administration has set its sights on Walz and Frey after deploying thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to Minnesota. Part of the focus has been on a growing welfare fraud scandal involving some members of the state’s Somali community. In November, President Trump ended the temporary protected status of Somalis in the state.
During one operation in Minneapolis last week, ICE officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Minneapolis resident Renee Good. The shooting led to outrage, with Frey telling ICE to “get the f— out of Minneapolis.” Outrage grew after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Good tried to run over Ross with her car and that he defended himself. Noem accused Good of attempting an act of “domestic terrorism.“
Good’s death led to thousands of protests across the country, with Frey and Walz asking demonstrators to keep protests peaceful. Some protests resulted in clashes with ICE and law enforcement. After the Trump administration said there would be a surge of federal immigration officers to be sent to Minnesota, the state’s Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) sued the administration to block the surge.
Walz called on Trump to “turn the temperature down” after the president initially threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota to squash protests, a threat the president later stepped away from.
“I am making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down,” Walz said in a post Thursday on the social platform X. “Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are.”