Prosecutors Subpoena Minnesota Democrats as Part of Federal Inquiry

The move is a significant expansion of the Justice Department’s investigation into the state’s leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis.

Federal prosecutors issued subpoenas on Tuesday to at least five Democratic officials in Minnesota, ramping up the Justice Department’s investigation into their response to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in the state, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The subpoenas sought documents from Gov. Tim Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and Mayor Kaohly Her of St. Paul related to their policies on immigration enforcement efforts in the state. Two Minnesota prosecutors, Keith Ellison, the state attorney general, and Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, were also sent similar subpoenas.

The subpoenas, all of which were formally served on the officials’ offices, represent a significant expansion of the inquiry into Minnesota leaders that was disclosed late Friday. The investigation was initially said to have focused on Mr. Frey and Mr. Walz, who have both criticized the crackdown. But it now appears that prosecutors will also scrutinize other public officials, including Mr. Ellison and Ms. Moriarty, who could open their own inquiries into the fatal shooting in Minneapolis this month of a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, by a federal immigration agent.

While the subpoenas did not cite a specific criminal statute, the inquiry as a whole was said to center on whether elected officials in Minnesota had conspired to impede the thousands of federal agents who have been in the state since last month looking for undocumented immigrants. But the investigation is likely to run up against stiff pushback for examining political speech and conduct that is traditionally protected by the First Amendment.

The shooting of Ms. Good, an unarmed mother of three, has led to sustained protests against federal agents in Minneapolis. In the immediate aftermath of Ms. Good’s death, Mr. Frey used an expletive to demand that agents leave the city. Mr. Walz has also sharply criticized the agents’ conduct, asking residents to monitor their efforts.

Justice Department leaders, in turn, have vowed to arrest anyone impeding the agents’ mission. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, recently accused Mr. Frey and Mr. Walz of “encouraging violence against law enforcement” and referred to their actions as “terrorism.” But there is no evidence that either man has incited violence — let alone engaged in acts of terrorism.

The investigation into the elected Democrats comes as the Justice Department has all but announced that it will not bring charges against Jonathan Ross, the agent who killed Ms. Good. Instead, the department has signaled that it intends to scrutinize possible connections between Ms. Good and her partner, Becca Good, and left-wing protesters in Minnesota.

That decision led to the resignation last week of six prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis. Among those who quit was Joseph H. Thompson, the office’s second in command, who oversaw a sprawling fraud investigation that President Trump and his allies have repeatedly used to criticize Democratic leaders in the state.

Federal investigators have refused to cooperate with state and local officials like Mr. Ellison and Ms. Moriarty, who have the power to open their own inquiries into Ms. Good’s killing. But the subpoenas they received could further complicate their efforts.

In recent days, the Trump administration has started enlisting prosecutors and agents from other states to travel to Minnesota to assist in pursuing criminal cases against protesters they claim have impeded the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Over the weekend, Attorney General Pam Bondi pressed U.S. attorneys in Midwestern states to provide personnel.

Ten federal prosecutors from Michigan have been assigned to work in Minnesota for the time being, according to people familiar with the matter. Additional prosecutors are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

Administration officials have repeatedly said that ICE agents have been under sustained assault from protesters. But prosecutors have only filed a handful of criminal cases related to the protests since Ms. Good was killed.

The Justice Department needs additional personnel in part because so many senior prosecutors left the Minneapolis office rather than follow orders from the department’s leaders to conduct a criminal investigation into Ms. Good. The office already faced a significant staff shortage because many prosecutors had left last year as the Trump administration offered buyouts and encouraged prosecutors to quit.

To try to address the shortage, Justice Department leaders plan to draw staff from six states: Michigan, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin, according to people familiar with the matter and internal department communications.

The Trump administration has also vowed to thoroughly investigate social services fraud in Minneapolis after a yearslong series of prosecutions that have recently caught the attention of Republicans.

Senior Justice Department officials have pushed for federal prosecutors and agents to investigate whether any of the people engaged in such fraud made suspicious campaign donations to Minnesota politicians.

To assist in those efforts, Justice Department officials have also been working on plans to send auditors from the Defense Department to Minnesota, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

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