We have more on the phone call that took place today between Donald Trump and Minnesota governor Tim Walz, which we covered per Trump’s perspective earlier.
According to a statement from Walz’s office, the two held a “productive” call where the president “agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals”.
Trump also agreed to talk to the Department of Homeland Security “about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case”, the statement says.
Per my colleague Hugo Lowell, Trump’s call with Walz comes amid widening public backlash to the aggressive immigration operation in Minnesota, which could be compounded with further bad news if a federal judge finds as early as today that Operation Metro Surge was broadly illegal.
Minnesota officials and the justice department are now squaring off in court over local and state law enforcement’s request that federal agents preserve evidence in Alex Pretti’s killing.
A judge issued a temporary restraining order late Saturday requiring that federal agents retain evidence. This temporary restraining order came after the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension and Hennepin county attorney’s office alleged that federal agents were stymying access to evidence.
A justice department attorney said in court that federal agents had “preserved everything they have collected,” the New York Times reports, echoing Department of Justice court papers that claimed the TRO and request were non-starters.
More developments soon …
Republican Senator Rand Paul, who chairs the homeland security and governmental affairs committee, has requested that the leaders of US immigration agencies, including ICE and CBP, testify.
Paul is requesting that the testimony take place at an open hearing by 12 February.
Good afternoon and thank you for reading our live coverage today.
Most of Monday’s political news stems from the aftermath of Alex Pretti’s death at the hands of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this weekend. State officials are trying to stop Donald Trump’s deployment of 3000 immigration agents to Minneapolis. Some local law enforcement are claiming that the feds are already blocking investigation of Pretti’s killing.
Here is a quick recap of where things stand.
Two federal judges are weighing cases that involve the legality of federal agents’ activity in Minneapolis. One case, which was argued this morning, challenged the legality of this surge. Another case, which will be argued at 2pm local time, involves local officials’ claims that federal agents are getting in the way of their investigation of Pretti’s death.
Donald Trump is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota on Monday night. “He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” the president said in a Truth Social post.
Chris Madel, an up-and-coming Republican gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota, dropped out of the race because of the GOP’s “stated retribution on the citizens of our state”. In what the Minnesota Star Tribune described as a “stunning exit”, Madel also said: “United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear. United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship. That’s wrong.” That Madel said this is, in fact, stunning: He provided legal counsel to Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who earlier this month shot and killed Renee Good.
Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic leader, ramped up his request to separate Department of Homeland Security funding from a six-bill package. “Senate Democrats have made clear we are ready to quickly advance the five appropriations bills separately from the DHS funding bill before the January 30th deadline,” Schumer said in a statement. “The responsibility to prevent a partial government shutdown is on Leader Thune and Senate Republicans … If Leader Thune puts those five bills on the floor this week, we can pass them right away. If not, Republicans will again be responsible for another government shutdown.”
Minnesota governor Tim Walz’s office said in a statement that he and Trump had a “productive” phone call where the president “agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals”. In the statement, Walz’s team said Trump agreed to talk with the Department of Homeland Security about making sure the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension is able to investigate.
In Maine, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has arrested “more than 200 illegal aliens” in the past five days, assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Guardian in a statement.
Once again, DHS said that it was targeting the “worst of the worst” but highlighted the same four arrests of immigrants with criminal convictions that it shared when the immigration enforcement operation started last week in the Pine Tree state.
Trump administration officials are fighting a court order issued late Saturday that requires federal agents to preserve evidence in Alex Pretti’s death.
The temporary restraining order stemmed from a request from the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension (MBCA) and Hennepin county attorney’s office. They alleged that feds had stymied their investigative efforts of Pretti’s death at the hands of federal agents.
Trump’s justice department claimed in court papers that they “fail to establish that they will be irreparably harmed absent a temporary restraining order”.
They claim that federal agents “are already obligated to preserve the evidence at issue here under their own policies”.
They contend that the FBI gathered evidence from the scene of Pretti’s death “using appropriate collection and handling procedures, and that evidence is currently preserved and stored in a secure evidence room at the Minneapolis field office”.
“The evidence is being preserved; nothing has been destroyed or altered. [Customs and Border Protection] has preserved all relevant body-worn camera footage from the incident and will do so for 75 years.” They also said that ICE was in possession of “limited evidence and follows stringent requirements for the documentation, retention, and accountability of its investigative records and evidence”.
The justice department insists that Minnesota and Minneapolis officials don’t have a right to steer the feds’ evidence-handling procedures, “particularly procedures involving an immigration-enforcement incident”.
A court hearing on the TRO is scheduled for 2pm local time.
Leavitt says, “The president supports the second amendment rights of law abiding American citizens. Absolutely.”
She goes on to caveat this by repeating the administration’s suggestions that Alex Pretti, who was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry, was at fault. [A reminder that Pretti had a gun on his person but video footage shows he was holding his phone, not a weapon, when he was confronted by law enforcement.]
Leavitt says:
There has been no greater supporter or defender of the right to bear arms than President Donald J Trump. So while Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, Americans do not have a constitutional right to impede lawful immigration enforcement operations. And as any gun owner knows that when you are carrying a weapon, when you are bearing arms and you are confronted by law enforcement, you are raising the assumption of risk, and the risk of a force being used against you. And again, that’s unfortunately what took place on Saturday.
Leavitt is asked how many shots were fired, how many guns were discharged, and whether Alex Pretti’s gun went off or only the federal agents’ guns.
She says the investigation is ongoing and includes interviews with the agents involved.
Leavitt is asked if Tom Homan’s deployment to Minnesota should be taken as a sign that Trump is “dissatisfied” with the officials on the ground who handled the incident.
Leavitt says, “No,” adding that Kristi Noem “still has the [president’s] utmost confidence and trust” and says Noem is continuing to oversee the Department of Homeland Security and immigration enforcement across the country.
Trump is calling on Congress to “immediately pass legislation ending sanctuary cities once and for all”, Leavitt says.
“That’s why President Trump spoke with Governor Walz directly this morning, and he has outlined a clear and simple path to restoring law and order in Minnesota,” Leavitt says.
Number one, governor Wallace, Mayor Frey and all Democrat leaders should turn over all criminal illegal aliens currently incarcerated in their prisons and jails to federal authorities along with any illegal aliens with active warrants or known criminal histories for immediate deportation.
Number two, state and local law enforcement must agree to turn over all illegal aliens who are arrested by local police.
And then thirdly, local police must assist federal law enforcement in apprehending and detaining illegal aliens who are wanted for crimes, especially violent crimes.
If Governor Walz and Mayor Frey implement these common sense, cooperative measures, that I will add, have already been implemented in nearly every single other state across the country, Customs and Border Protection will not be needed to support Ice on the ground in Minnesota.
Leavitt goes on to accuse Walz and Frey of “using their platforms to encourage leftwing agitators to stalk, record, confront and obstruct federal officers who are just trying to lawfully perform their duties”.
This, she claims, “has created dangerous situations, threatening both these officers and the general public and Minnesotans alike”.
“This is precisely what unfolded in Minneapolis on Saturday morning,” she adds.
“But let’s be clear about the circumstances which led to that moment on Saturday,” Leavitt goes on.
This tragedy occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota for weeks. Governor Walz and the mayor, Jacob Frey, and other elected Democrats were spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers who are risking their lives daily to remove the worst criminal, illegal aliens from our streets.
Leavitt says Saturday’s [fatal] shooting [of Alex Pretti] remains under active investigation by the FBI, homeland security and customs border officials.
“The administration is reviewing everything with respect to the shooting, and we will let that investigation play out,” she says.
The Guardian
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