Top Minnesota lawmakers are subpoenaed in DOJ investigation as Trump praises Operation Metro Surge

As President Donald Trump and command leaders of Operation Metro Surge spent Tuesday, Jan. 20, praising the unprecedented immigration enforcement action that has targeted Minnesota for six weeks, the Department of Justice issued subpoenas to Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her in a widening investigation alleging disruption of ICE operations in the state.

In a statement, Walz said Minnesota “will not be drawn into political theater.”

Ellison said his office had received a subpoena for records and documents “related to my office’s work with respect to federal immigration enforcement.”

Both Walz and Ellison said the federal government should be investigating the shooting death of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, instead of investigating Minnesota’s elected leaders.

At a Tuesday news briefing in Washington, D.C., Trump touted the federal government’s accomplishments in Minneapolis, showing photos of what the administration has called “the worst of the worst” and repeating Department of Homeland Security claims that 10,000 migrants have been arrested. The number of arrests and severity of criminal allegations has proved difficult to verify amid a flood of law enforcement activity and court filings.

“Because Minnesota’s so much in the fray, I say to my people all the time, they’re so busy doing other things, they don’t say it like they should, they’re apprehending murderers and drug dealers and a lot of bad people,” Trump said.

“Do you want to live with these people?” he asked, while rifling through a stack of mug shots. “These are all out of Minnesota, just Minnesota.”

They took the stage shortly after Trump’s news conference ended.

Bovino said 3,000 arrests had been made “of some of the most dangerous offenders in Minneapolis” in the last six weeks during Operation Metro Surge. He alleged that three people had been arrested since yesterday and they had committed criminal sexual acts, including against children.

He said Walz and Frey had created an environment where criminals had exploited “gaps in enforcement, gaps at the state and local level” and that ICE and several other federal agencies were filling that gap. He did not give any timeline for when the surge of federal law enforcement in Minnesota would end.

“The mission continues,” he said.

The flood of news marked the latest in what has been an endless stream of accusations between federal and state leaders as Operation Metro Surge continues in Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security has said that 3,000 federal agents have been deployed to the state to aid in arrests and detainments.

“All ICE wants to do is get them out of our country, bring them to prisons and jails and mental institutions from where they came,” Trump said at the White House. “That’s all they want to do.”

As Trump was speaking, Ellison, Frey, Her and Walz confirmed they had been issued subpoenas, amplifying what has become daily legal accusations between state and federal politicians.

On Jan. 17, Ellison filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the state and the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, alleging that the surge is unconstitutional and violates the First and 10th Amendments, among other legal challenges. Ellison asked the court to halt the federal operation. On Jan. 18, the Justice Department confirmed it had opened an investigation into whether Walz and Frey had impeded federal immigration enforcement. That investigation widened on Tuesday.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty was also reportedly sent a subpoena but office spokesman Daniel Borgertpoepping said the Justice Department sent the subpoena to Hennepin County.

“The Civil Division of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office represents Hennepin County in legal matters and will be advising the County on the subpoena,” Borgertpoepping said.

”Let’s be clear about why this is happening: Donald Trump is coming after the people of Minnesota and I’m standing in his way," Ellison said. “I will not be intimidated, and I will not stop working to protect Minnesotans from Trump’s campaign of retaliation and revenge.”

Moriarty and Ellison have been conducting an independent investigation into Ross’ killing of Good after the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension withdrew from what had been a joint federal investigation into the shooting on Portland Avenue earlier this month.

On Sunday, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department and its civil rights division are not conducting an investigation into Ross’ use of deadly force. He added that the attorney general does not conduct investigations “every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody or putting his life in danger.”

Sources told the Minnesota Star Tribune that U.S. Attorney of Minnesota Dan Rosen made the decision that local law enforcement would not be part of the investigation or have access to crime scene materials, breaking with common norms.

Last week, several of the leading prosecutors in Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney’s Office resigned — including Joe Thompson, the lead federal prosecutor and public voice on uncovering rampant fraud in Minnesota.

“The people that we’re dealing with as police chiefs are the people that are scared to death, that are afraid to go outside,” said St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry, “not because their status is in question, but because they’re hearing, they’re seeing, they know people that are getting stopped by the way that they look. And they don’t want to take that risk.”

At a news conference at the Minnesota Capitol, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said one of the city’s officers, a person of color, was stopped after driving past federal immigration agents while off duty.

“When they boxed her in, they demanded her paperwork,” Bruley said, “of which she’s a U.S. citizen and clearly would not have any paperwork.”

Bruley said the officer tried to record the interaction, but federal agents knocked her phone from her hands. He said it was impossible to know whether the agents represented Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection or another federal agency.

“If it is happening to our officers, it pains me to think of how many of our community members are falling victim to this every day,” Bruley said.