Federal judge quashes subpoenas against Walz, Frey in DOJ criminal investigation

ST. PAUL — A federal judge nullified six subpoenas issued by the U.S. Department of Justice back in January — during the height of Operation Metro Surge — as part of a criminal investigation into whether Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other state and city officials impeded federal immigration enforcement.

In an order unsealed Monday, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz — an appointee of President George W. Bush — wrote that the “information sought in the subpoenas and any possible criminal violation range from extremely weak to nonexistent (and) only adds to the overwhelming evidence that these subpoenas were not issued to investigate, but to harass, coerce and retaliate.”

On Jan. 20, the Department of Justice issued subpoenas seeking a broad range of records related to immigration enforcement — dating back to January 1, 2025, — from the offices of Walz and Frey, as well as the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, the St. Paul Mayor’s Office, and the Hennepin and Ramsey County boards of commissioners.

Schiltz in his order said that the incursion of 3,000 federal agents into Minnesota, along with the Trump administration’s statements and social media posts, show that the subpoenas were issued for the unlawful purpose of harassing political opponents and coercing them into action.

“The court has no doubt that they were,” Schiltz wrote, adding that the Department of Justice has “struggled — without success — to identify a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas.”

Schiltz is also a one-time clerk for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative icon.

The Schiltz order is another instance of federal judges rapping the Trump administration on the knuckles this year. Schiltz and his Minnesota colleagues accused the administration of repeatedly violating court orders to release immigration detainees. Judges also ordered the Trump administration to ensure proper access to counsel and freedom of worship at the Henry Whipple Federal Building, which is the state headquarters of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Walz in a statement said the criminal investigation is another example of President Donald Trump investigating his political opponents.

“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 said.

The Trump administration has used the Department of Justice and other levers of power in the government to go after Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, former FBI Director James Comey, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, among others. The Trump administration has been unsuccessful for the most part, but the ordeal can be expensive and emotionally taxing for the targets.

Frey in a statement said no one should be punished for questioning the actions of elected officials, and that “no community should be expected to accept harmful policies without objection.”

“This Department of Justice 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,” Frey said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Minnesota declined to comment about Schiltz’s order and whether it intends to appeal it.

Schiltz in his order wrote that the Constitution prohibits the federal government from forcing state and local governments to enforce federal immigration laws. He wrote that Minnesota has the right to decline to allocate resources to “furthering the Trump administration’s enforcement of federal immigration laws.”

The Department of Justice claimed that the subpoenas were part of an investigation into whether Minnesota elected officials violated a federal law that criminalizes concealing undocumented immigrants while knowing or disregarding the fact that they are in the U.S. illegally, Schiltz wrote in the order. The DOJ was also investigating whether elected officials were obstructing a governmental function.

As evidence, Schiltz said the DOJ cited four examples of how elected officials violated those laws, including actions from two Minneapolis City Council members, who were not issued subpoenas. (“So half of the examples of suspicious activity cited by the department involve people whom the department did not subpoena,” Schiltz wrote.)

The DOJ said that Ramsey County sent out internal guidance instructing employees to refrain from providing documents to federal agents, while Hennepin County issued training materials instructing county workers about how they should respond if an agent presents them with a warrant. The Hennepin County guidance instructed employees to contact their supervisor, and the DOJ said both counties engaged in illegal actions.

“None of this is itself unlawful, nor does any of this encourage unlawful behavior,” Schiltz wrote.

The judge said he agreed with the DOJ that a subpoena doesn’t need to be supported by probable cause, but they can’t be issued for an unconstitutional or unlawful purpose.

“Because the court finds that the dominant purpose of the challenged subpoenas is to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration law and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so, the court grants the motions to quash,” Schiltz wrote.

Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.