Judge blocks DOJ subpoenas for Tim Walz

A federal judge on Monday quashed subpoenas that the Department of Justice issued against Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., finding that the agency had issued them to punish Walz over his opposition to immigration enforcement in the state.

Walz was a leading opponent of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surge in Minneapolis, Minn., earlier this year and has been at the epicenter of a public welfare fraud scandal. The DOJ issued a litany of subpoenas to Walz and other Minnesota officials as part of its probe.

"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 the grand-jury process," the judge wrote. "The only question, then, is whether the challenged subpoenas were issued for one of these forbidden purposes. The Court has no doubt that they were."

The ruling is a victory for Walz, who opted against seeking reelection amid the state's fraud scandals, but has remained a prominent anti-Trump figure in the second administration.

It could also provide ammunition to skeptical senators when acting Attorney General Todd Blanche comes before the upper chamber for formal confirmation to the post.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.