Minnesota attorney general drops BAD NEWS for Trump & ICE

I'm joined now by the attorney general. of Minnesota, Keith Ellison. Thanks so. much for joining me. >> Thanks, Brian. Glad to be with you. >> So, we've just witnessed two. high-profile killings now in. Minneapolis. This is Renee Good and Alex. Prey. We've also seen that the. Department of Homeland Security seems. hellbent on making sure that state. investigators don't get access to any of. the evidence, any of the crime scenes, and on and on. How confident are you or. can you offer some commitment here that. state investigators will in fact be able. to investigate what's gone on despite.

the best efforts of DHS to prevent that? We will do every single thing we can and. we are doing every single thing we can. to do a full complete investigation and. that includes going to court last. Saturday and yesterday to get a court. order to preserve, protect and prohibit. from alteration uh any evidence secured. at the preddy crime scene. We're also. moving out and I can't go into detail, Brian, but I can tell you that we are.

moving to obtain more evidence in the. possession of the federal government and. uh that they have no legitimate basis to. state that they're not investigating the. death of Renee Good and then refuse us. access to the evidence. There's no. legitimate position that that could. justify that that behavior that speaks. to cover up. And in the United States. when somebody's is killed uh use of. force death investigation, it's normal,

natural, and regular for there to be a. joint investigation and for the federal. government uh at the Department of. Justice civil rights to do the. investigation along with state. authorities. They've refused to do that. Todd Blanch has said there will be no. investigation. So how now can they say. they're going to deny us access to that. information? So, I can assure you there. is nothing that can deter us from. getting to the bottom of this and. getting to the truth. >> You know, there were a number of. officials in the Department of Justice. at the US Attorney's Office in Minnesota.

who left the job in the aftermath of. DHS's refusal to investigate uh uh. Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who killed. Renee Good. Is there any cooperation. with these folks who are now out of the. DOJ? Is there any effort to bring them. in to to to the BCA or or or or or into, you know, any state office that's. investigating this so that they can. still use um some of the uh the. knowledge that they have? Um and and. obviously these are folks who were.

looking to take a righteous of enough. stand that they weren't willing to sit. back while the DOJ was engaged in a. cover up. So clearly they have some some. willingness to want to do good work. They just weren't going to be able to do. it at the DOJ. Well, let me tell you, I. mean, these are all very talented. people. I mean, to get a to even work at. the DOJ, you know, generally we expect. that folks who are there, it's it's a. pretty prestigious place to work. And. so, there's a lot of talent there. Whether or not they'll be integrated. into uh what what what their next move.

is, I I can't tell you right now. I can. tell you that when Trump started, there. was a exodus then and we ended up hiring. four people from Department of Justice. Uh, and we're very pleased that they're. with us right now. I've counted a number. about as many as 10 people who have quit. in connection with the failure to act. responsibly in the Renee Good matter. Where these people land, I don't know. But I can tell you they're gifted, talented, and you and I can see they got.

some integrity. in terms of the ability for state. investigators to continue with the with. a potential prosecution even though. they're not getting any access to any. evidence. I mean, if you were to bring. any information to a grand jury in the. state of Minnesota, the bar, if I'm not. mistaken, is is for to secure a grand. jury indictment is uh is probable cause. Is that correct? >> That is right. >> I mean, you've already got that with the. public videos that are available. So.

even if even if DHS isn't giving you. access to any of the evidence at the. crime scene, I mean, we've seen publicly. available videos that are certainly. certainly exceed that threshold. And so. is there going to still be an effort. even with the the evidence that we have. publicly available to secure um you know. to move forward with investigations and. possible prosecutions, you know, given. what we've got access to already? Well, Brian, I wouldn't agree that a.

videotape makes for a a prosecution. I. mean, I prosecuted the people who killed. George Floyd. And I knew based on my 36. years of being a lawyer that you. couldn't just push play and win. It. doesn't work like that. And and if. you're not a lawyer and you haven't. never tried a case, you may not quite. understand all the tricks that the. defense council can can pull. And and. they're not tricks. It's the due. process. Okay. But but I would say it's. a it's I would not agree that it's just.

some easy thing, easily done, push play. button, you win. That's not true. And. and so I'm I get a little nervous when I. hear people say that because it's like, oh, your job is nothing and you don't. really have this is enormously difficult. work to do and it's going to and and if. you really want to if you want to just. not do more than just get an indictment. or or or a charge and you actually want. to convict somebody, you got to give us. the room to work and saying that, oh, this is easy. This is nothing. Just, you.

know, just just use the video. We're going to use the video. And I also. want to correct one other thing which is. that we do have evidence other than I. mean it's not like we don't have any. evidence. We have a whole portal that. that that the Henipe County Attorney is. open and that the attorney general is. open and we are getting critical. evidence from the public every day. And. the BCA is cataloging and uh documenting. and storing evidence all the time. And.

we may yet get the cooperation from the. feds that we need. We don't know. We're. not going to foreclose the possibility. But what I don't want to but I wanted to. say is that one this is not easy. Two it. is worth doing right the first time. Three however happy you feel when. there's an indictment or a charge if we. get there. And as a prosecutor I have to. put it like that. Okay. You will be much happier if we convict. the person. >> Yeah. >> And so let's stay in the long game. I'm.

telling you, from the moment that George. Floyd was killed till the time that we. got the conviction was not an overnight. thing. >> Yeah. >> But it but but I think everybody in. retrospect would say it was worth. getting it right. So what I'm saying is. that when it comes to prey and good, no one has ever accused me of being. afraid or reluctant to pursue justice. And I'm absolutely going to do that. And. I'm going to do it with the partnership. of the Henipin County Attorney's Office,

Mary Morardi, and with the help of the. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal. Apprehension, and I hope uh with the. help one day of uh people in the FBI. should they change course. >> Have you had conversations with Christy. Gnome or or Pam Bondi or anybody in in. the DOJ or DHS or um or ICE? No. you. know, since this is since this has taken. place, since they've kind of st uh. stonewalled you, >> you know, well, let me tell you, one.

time I talked to J JD Vance one time. I've called Pam Bondi twice and didn't. get a call back. And I've called the. local US attorney appointed by Trump and. have received no return call. So, uh, that's about it. Do you think that the Trump. administration right now is engaged in a. cover up to protect their ICE officers. who they've already publicly pre. preclared? >> I would say that that is a very. reasonable conclusion to come to when. you see the president, the vice.

president, and Christy Gnome all saying, "Oh, you know, these these victims of. shooting deaths, right? these these. victims that they were the domestic. terrorists that they and and exonerating. the people who shot and killed them. I. think that that is and then when you do. that, you say you're not going to. investigate the Renee Good matter and. then you preclude the state from having. access to certain items of evidence, not.

all, certain items of they've precluded. us from any evidence they have, but that. doesn't mean they've precluded us from. all the evidence. So yeah, I think that. amounts to a cover up. And if they don't. like me saying cover up, prove me wrong. >> Yeah. >> Open open up the file. Uh and and let's. have a joint investigation. I've spoken uh I've spoken to folks who. have raised the prospect of the public. officials right now who are and you know. pre-claring these ICE agents who are.

coming out and saying and offering bogus. justifications for this shooting saying. um that that the victims here were. domestic terrorists that they that they. were you know charging these ICE. officers that they were brandishing. weapons all of the lies that we've seen. thus far. I I've heard I've heard folks. say that that accessory after the fact. is a possibility because these people. are publicly not only verbally. pre-claring all of the the the the. perpetrators of these crimes, but. refusing investigations even though they.

have the ability to do so. Can you speak. on the prospect of, you know, once these. people are out of office, uh, the. prospect of accessory after the fact for. the people at the top of the DOJ, at the. top of the Trump administration who are. engaged in this process of of, you know, uh, uh, obuscating the facts? >> Well, let me just say this. I've charged. that charge in the state of Minnesota. before. and um I will say that uh anyone who is.

obstructed or assisted in the assisted a. person who committed a felony offense. uh should should should stand and face. you know judgment for what they did. Uh. I now in the in this particular matter, it's just not right for a prosecutor to. say I'm going to charge that person, right? So I'm not going to do that. But. what I will say is that the the conduct. is is concerning to me as a as just a.

citizen of Minnesota in the United. States and nobody should think that. their crimes are going to simply be. forgotten later. Now, one thing I would. not do and would never do and I think is. disgusting and loathome is to use the. criminal justice system to get after a. political opponent. But when somebody. breaks the law and it's clear, I think. they should be held accountable for.

uh accessory after the fact or whatever. it is. Greg Bovino had come out. yesterday and uh and spoke about the. fact that they're not releasing any. information about the ICE agent who. committed the crime of killing Alex. Prey. >> Imagine that. >> And and and basically likened it to. doxing, which of course, you know, these. are public officials. I remember a world. where we can actually see these people's. faces. Uh and of course that world is. long gone. But can you can I have your. reaction to this idea that any effort to.

to allow people to know who this public. official was is tantamount to doxing? >> That is that is horse uh crap. It's just. a lie. >> Yeah. I mean, look, police officers, state troopers, national guardsmen, all. types of law enforcement, sheriff's. deputies, they walk around with not not just their. face uncovered, but badge numbers and. name plates, >> right?

>> And on the side of their vehicles, you. know, the what a what department they're. from. >> Now, why do they do that? It's an. important part of what we call. procedural justice. You're more likely to comply with law. enforcement if you consider law. enforcement legitimate. So, I may not think I was speeding and. officer, you may think I was, but. because I know who you are. I see your. face. I see the insignia on your car and.

you've written me this ticket. I had the. prerogative of showing up and telling. the judge, well, I don't think I really. was speeding, but I'm not gonna like run. from the officer or anything like that. because I know that this is normal. This. is the processes of the state. I'm not, you know, this is this is how justice is. done. This is how public safety is. achieved. And so, when you don't want to. do that, you're suspect straight up. When you don't want to say what your.

name is, where you're from, the agency, when you don't want to show your face, you're trying to hide something. What. are you trying to hide? Well, in case of. Operation Metro Surge and all the. behavior of these ICE and border agents, bad illegal conduct, >> everything I mean everything from. misdemeanors. to to to arguably homicide related. charges. And so that's what this masking. is. This masking is is is is the tactic.

of authoritarianism. The masking is 180. degrees away from legitimate. constitutional law enforcement. And you. can't get a law enforcement officer on. this show who does who is who is trained. and is professional and has gone through. the rigor of doing constitutional. policing to say that that's okay. They. all will say, "No, we don't do that.". And so they they actually ICE and border. agents are a stain on the good name of.

law enforcement who tries to do a good. job every day. And and and so I that's. what I have to say about it. It is. deeply disturbing that they're wearing. these masks and that they cover up their. identity and they're also an open. invitation to kidnappers. >> Right. Right. And and we've seen we've. seen that play out, by the way. We've. seen people posing as ICE agents because. now it's become the norm that these. people just show up in masks without.

having to identify themselves. And and. and we've become accustomed to this idea. that that's how law enforcement works in. the Trump administration. >> Well, it's it's and and so and then you. got Christy Gnome. and Boying. to the American people. I mean, just. say, "Oh, he attacked uh the pretty. attacked the agent." That's clearly not. true. I mean I mean there just so many. things that are manifestly just. ridiculously absurdly untrue. And but.

they say it they they must know that. they're lying straight to the face of. the American people. So why are they. doing it? I think it is if you go along. with my lie, you're a good loyal. maggite. If you don't go along with my. lie, you're a sympathizer for, I don't. know, domestic terrorists or something, right? >> You know what I mean? It it is a a. Orwellian. uh sort of uh worldview that these.

people are perpetuating by openly lying. to us and telling us uh what we know. isn't true. It It's not just dishonesty. And it might not even be proper to call. it lying because maybe it is maybe it's. something else. Maybe it's something. like it's, you know, like like. disinformation, a loyalty test of some. kind. >> I don't know. >> Think about it. >> Last question here. How concerned are. you that when we see these these surges. of violence as we just saw with, you.

know, the ICE killing of Renee Good and. then Alex Py. >> that this is all just a pretext for. Trump to be able to say, "Look at all. this violence. We have to send more. troops in or in fact, we have to invoke. the Insurrection Act here.". >> Right. Well, I'm very concerned about. it. Um, they provoked the violence and. then justify the insurrection act based. on that violence that they provoked. >> Yeah. >> It's really, really, really remarkable. and crazy. They have no basis for the. invocation of this insurrection act. It's not true. Local authorities, though.

taxed, are certainly in control. We've. had I mean, our our our local officers. deal with protesting all the time. It's. nothing new. I mean, you we deal with. crowd control all the time. That's. nothing new. And so, uh, but so I do. think it is a pretext, but I think. there's another pretext going on here. And I, and I bet Brian, you you might. agree with me on this one. I think that. ICE is not really really intended to.

deal with immigration enforcement. I. think their job is bigger than that. I. think they are a paramilitary force who. operates at the behest of one person and. it ain't Greg Bravino. It is Donald J. Trump. Unlike local police who are loyal. and and connected to local communities. who have chiefs and sheriffs and. deputies that they have to answer to who. are subject to processes. these ICE. agents me masked get you know of of.

course they're like a ptorian guard. they're like a paramilitary ptorian that. the president could deploy anywhere he. wants on anybody he wants and so our. lawsuit our civil lawsuit against uh. Christine Gnome and ICE that we argued. on Monday morning of the 26th of January. basically we were this whole thing says. is we're saying that look under the 10th. amendment we're a sovereign state. We.

don't have to do the business of the. federal government. They can't. commandeer the resources of our state. And so what the federal government under. Trump seems to be saying, "Oh yeah, you. say that you don't have to do what we. say? Well, what if we go from 80 ICE. agents to 4,000 and we raise hell in. your state? Do you think you might want. to comply with us then? And my thought, Brian, is that, you know, if if if Trump.

couldn't do it with a executive order, how could he do it with 4,000 masked. armed men? I mean, it's really. remarkable. If we believe in state. sovereignty. and dual sovereignty with the state and. the federal government and the federal. government through Congress or the state. leg or or the through the Congress or. the president cannot issue an executive. order or a law that commandeers the. resources of our state, how can they do. it by flooding our state with armed men?

>> Yeah. >> I mean, it's literally at the barrel of. a gun that they're trying to get things. that they could never get through a. courtroom. Yep. >> So, we stand against it and we're going. to fight. And I got to I hope it's okay. to tell you that, man. I really admire. you and your show. You're doing a good. job out here, man. You're so good at. this law stuff that I thought you were a. lawyer. And you're still a young man. You might want to go to law school, brother, cuz you could probably help a. lot of people doing that, too. >> Well, we'll leave it there. Attorney. General Keith Ellison, thank you so much.

for the time. Thanks for uh thanks for. the fight you're uh you're waging here. I appreciate it. >> Keep it up, Brian. Thanks.