A federal judge has blocked subpoenas the Justice Department served to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials, saying they were retaliatory and unlawful. According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz found the “dominant purpose” of the subpoenas was 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.” BREAKING: A federal judge has halted the Trump administration effort to subpoena Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others in an immigration enforcement probe. https://t.co/N8jb9vhA8p — The Associated Press (@AP) June 22, 2026 More from the Associated Press: Tensions between the Trump administration and Minnesota’s Democratic leaders escalated in January as federal immigration officers clashed with protesters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, especially after officers’ fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. President Donald Trump even threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell protests and accused Walz, who was Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, and others of encouraging protesters to disrupt Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. The subpoenas seeking records were served in January as part of an investigation into whether Walz and other officials obstructed or impeded law enforcement actions. They were sent to the offices of Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. The ruling is the latest rebuke by the federal judiciary of Justice Department efforts to aggressively implement the Trump administration agenda in courts and target the president’s political adversaries through subpoenas and similar demands. The judge ruled that there appeared to be “extremely weak to nonexistent” connections between the information sought in the subpoenas and any possible criminal violation. The subpoenas seek materials “that largely if not entirely relate to constitutionally protected conduct,” the judge wrote, noting that Minnesota has the legal right not to devote its resources to enforcing federal immigration law. Schiltz wrote using grand jury proceedings to pressure political opponents into taking official action that the federal government cannot directly require is “a blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand-jury process,” CBS News noted. “The only question, then, is whether the challenged subpoenas were issued for one of these forbidden purposes,” Schiltz wrote, according to the outlet. “The Court has no doubt that they were,” he added. BREAKING: Judge Patrick Schiltz has quashed several DOJ grand jury subpoenas aimed Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, saying they were part of a retaliatory effort over their refusal to aid Trump admin immigration enforcement efforts. https://t.co/RlGJNCrkuA pic.twitter.com/qCOSeujDjR — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 22, 2026 CBS News shared further: The judge also noted that the Justice Department “has struggled — without success — to identify a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas.” The ruling centers on Operation Metro Surge, a Trump administration immigration enforcement effort that prompted Minnesota state and local officials to file suit in an attempt to stop it. The subpoenas followed that legal challenge. Walz, in a statement, called the ruling “a victory for the rule of law and our democracy.” “The U.S. Justice Department is pursuing criminal investigations into the President’s political opponents,” said Walz, the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president. “This case was just one example of that, but 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.” The post Federal Judge Rules Justice Department Subpoenas Against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz And Other State Officials As Unlawful appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.