Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing harsh criticism after sending a letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on the same day ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed by ICE in which she demanded Walz turn over Minnesota's voter registration database to President Donald Trump if he wants to “restore the rule of law, support ICE officers, and bring an end to the chaos in Minnesota."
Bondi argued that the federal government needs access to Minnesota’s voter rolls to verify that the state’s registration practices comply with federal law. The Justice Department has been pressing Minnesota and other states for voter registration data for months and sued Minnesota over access last year, though it has not previously linked that effort to immigration enforcement actions in the state.
In her letter, she said Walz should "allow the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to access voter rolls to confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law as authorised by the Civil Rights Act of 1960."
She added:
“Fulfilling this common sense request will better guarantee free and fair elections and boost confidence in the rule of law.”
Bondi's letter garnered significant attention after Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy posted a video response on X in which he referred to Bondi's request as a “pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states."
Murphy added:
"Minneapolis is a much less safe place today because ICE is there. This is likely an attempt to rig and steal the election. Donald Trump is widely unpopular, he's not committed to democracy, and he knows the only way his movement is to retain power, the only way his corporate allies retain power, billionaires retain power, is for Trump this November to steal the election."
"He's saying to Minneapolis, 'If you don't give me control of the voter rolls, then ICE isn't leaving,' and you can see if he's likely to get away with it in Minnesota, then he's going to try it in Philadelphia, in Phoenix, other key cities in swing states." ...
"The underlying game here may be to steal the 2026 election and no senator, particularly no Democratic senator, should play a part in that."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Bondi was swiftly condemned.
Bondi also demanded that Minnesota turn over records related to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) saying the data was necessary for the federal government to “efficiently investigate fraud.”
The request comes as the Trump administration intensifies its focus on alleged fraud in Minnesota’s public assistance programs. She further called for Walz to repeal “sanctuary policies” that she says “have led to so much crime and violence” in Minnesota.
Walz said during a press conference the same day he received Bondi's letter that the “federal occupation” of the state is “a campaign of organized brutality” against the people of Minnesota.
He added:
“As I told the White House in no uncertain terms this morning, the federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation [into the death of Pretti]. The state will handle it. Period."
"They think they can provoke us into abandoning our own values. They are wrong. We will keep the peace. We will secure justice for our neighbors. And we will see this occupation end."
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said Minnesota will not comply, called Bondi's letter "an outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota into giving the federal government private data on millions of U.S. Citizens in violation of state and federal law," and said it followed "repeated and failed attempts by the DOJ to pressure my office into providing the same data."
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