By Max Nesterak | Deputy Editor
Good morning, Reformers.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar served up one of her signature say-nothing statements when asked if she supports Gov. Tim Walz’s ban on nonferrous mining near the Boundary Waters and would continue it if elected governor. Her statement said she has concerns about mining near the Boundary Waters — and opposed lifting a 20-year moratorium — but supports mining broadly.
GOP candidate Rep. Lisa Demuth’s response to Walz’s order was, essentially, drill baby drill.
The next governor has the power to undo Walz’s order, though it’s hard to imagine a Democrat doing so, even under pressure from labor unions. Among Democratic voters, 80% oppose mining near the Boundary Waters, according to a 2020 Star Tribune poll. (Among all voters in that same poll, 60% oppose.)
Walz boxed Klobuchar in, so if she wins, he will be remembered as a great conservationist who saved the Boundary Waters.
There’s more to come as Walz looks to burnish his legacy in the twilight of his political career.
“I still have 10% of my final term here for doing a lot of good work. This is called foreshadowing,” Walz said during a news conference Tuesday.
(Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
By Madison McVan
On the hot tarmac of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, a man in a gray sweatsuit slowly climbed the steps to board an Eastern Airlines flight bound first for Alexandria, Louisiana, then El Paso, Texas.
He was chained at the ankles, wrists and stomach — and he was the 5,000th immigrant detainee shipped out of Minnesota’s flagship airport since November, according to independent tracking.
Nick Benson watched from the top floor of an airport parking garage. The database he built late last year has provided some of the most accurate, timely information to the concerned public during Operation Metro Surge.
By Michelle Griffith
Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth said Tuesday that if elected governor in November, she will tackle Minnesota’s fraud crisis by banning transfers of public dollars to foreign countries, recouping public dollars lost to fraud and firing all current agency heads and deputy commissioners.
Demuth, who gave her first press conference since winning the GOP nomination last week, said she would implement the proposals in her first 90 days as governor as part of an updated fraud prevention plan. The plan was light on details, however.
She sought to make Klobuchar look weak on fraud by printing out over 1,000 press releases that don’t mention fraud.
Demuth was asked about federal investigators engaging in wide-ranging surveillance of labor unions and progressive groups — including at churches — during Operation Metro Surge. Demuth refused to answer.
By Madison McVan
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, alleging that Abbott is holding up the extradition of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with assault in the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis on Jan. 14.
The agent, Christian Castro, was arrested in Cameron County, Texas, on May 29 by the Texas Rangers, a state law enforcement agency. He is still incarcerated in Texas.
“Christian Castro is not above the law, and Greg Abbott isn’t either,” Ellison said.
After initially declining to comment, Abbott’s office sent a statement: “While they’re making demands, I got a demand of my own, and that is, it’s time for Minnesota to step up and repay the United States of America and Americans for all the fraud that they have committed in their state under federal programs.”
By Madison McVan
Unions, progressive organizations and churches that were the subjects of a wide-ranging surveillance operation by the Department of Homeland Security are presenting a unified message: We will not be intimidated.
The leaders spoke at a press conference Tuesday morning alongside three of the 15 people indicted in an alleged conspiracy to impede or assault federal agents.
“The (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and Border Patrol agents who murdered Renee Good and Alex Pretti have been hidden away and protected, while DHS turns its attention towards spying on union members, civil rights organizations, churches and individuals who stood up for their community in whatever ways they were able,” said Gabriel Van De Water, an artist and community organizer who was among the 15 people indicted in June.
IN OTHER NEWS
Minnesota grant cancellations political, Trump administration concedes | Forum News Service
The legal war over prediction markets is getting crazier | The New Republic
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