Good morning. Never assume a Monday is going to be quiet.
We’re awaiting more details on what led up to the arrest in Detroit Lakes of DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury. Police took her into custody early Monday on suspicion of burglary. Detroit Lakes Police Chief Steve Todd said Mitchell was taken into custody after a homeowner called in a report of an active burglary around 4:45 a.m. She was arrested without incident and no weapons were involved. According to Becker County property records, Mitchell has family members who own property on the street where she was arrested. Elected in 2022 to the Minnesota Senate, Mitchell is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. She’s also a former broadcast meteorologist for MPR News and local television station KSTP. Mitchell’s arrest could cause political complications as the Legislature enters its final month of the session. The DFL controls the Senate by a single seat.
A Republican candidate in the 2nd Congressional District has backed off his pledge to honor the party’s endorsement this weekend. Former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab is running against criminal defense attorney Tayler Rahm to secure the GOP endorsement in Rep. Angie Craig’s district. Delegates to the 2nd District GOP convention are poised to take up the endorsement of a candidate this weekend. Although Teirab previously said he would honor the endorsement process by stepping down if he fails to win it, he released a statement saying he would run in the August primary no matter this weekend’s endorsement. Teirab’s decision to remain in the race until August sets up a potential months-long inner-party GOP battle to come up with a candidate to run in the fall. Teirab currently enjoys a wide campaign cash advantage over Rahm, but Republicans tend to stick with the endorsed candidate in primaries. More from Mark Zdechlik here; it was first reported by Michael Brodkorb.
Minnesota will once again have a female majority on the Supreme Court. Gov. Tim Walz announced yesterday that Theodora Gaïtas and Sarah Hennesy will replace retiring justices Margaret H. Chutich and G. Barry Anderson. With their appointments, all seven members of the court will have been appointed by DFL governors. Hennesy will join the court next month; she is currently the chief judge of the Seventh Judicial District based in St. Cloud. Gaïtas will join the court in July. This new position is one step up from her current position as a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Hennesy and Gaïtas will be the 97th and 98th Supreme Court justices in Minnesota history. You can learn more about the judges here.
Trump’s hush-money trial opened in New York yesterday. A 12-person jury heard opening statements in a case that will unfold against the backdrop of an extremely competitive election between presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. It is the first criminal trial of a former American president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury. Prosecutors told jurors that Donald Trump illegally influenced the 2015 election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public. A defense lawyer said the case was baseless and attempted to discredit the prosecution’s witnesses. “President Trump is innocent. Trump did not commit any crimes,” said his attorney Todd Blanche. “He is also a man, a husband, a father, and just like me.”
Jury selection in the first Feeding Our Future trial began Monday. MPR’s Matt Sepic reports that the federal court calendar has eight weeks blocked off for the trial, but according to one filing, the two sides predict that the proceedings will take about six weeks. Jury selection is expected to last into Tuesday, with opening statements starting Wednesday. Because it’s a fraud case, jurors will see a lot of documents and hear supporting testimony from the FBI forensic accountants who sifted through the defendants’ bank statements, wire transfers and other financial records. The government alone has 1,000 items on its exhibit list. Between the prosecution and defense, there are more than 500 potential witnesses, which could range from neighbors and property managers to school district staff.
A new first responder training facility in Lakeville will receive $800,000 in federal funding. Mark Zdechlik reports that the funding will add to the $8 million in already approved state funding to build the training facility. The facility will house training areas, classrooms and resources for tactical training. There is currently no permanent training facility that fits all classroom and training needs. The facility will serve first responders throughout the south metro area. They will break ground next year. Can an Arbor Day tradition ease political tensions at the Capitol? For the past few decades, two Democrats and two Republicans in the Minnesota House have passed out trees on Arbor Day as a brief respite from the political divides at the Capitol. Some lawmakers have quite the collection. MPR’s Clay Masters visited Rep. Rick Hansen’s hobby farm in Harmony as part of our Talking Sense project to explore how the tradition has helped lawmakers extend an olive branch across a political divide that so often seems to be widening. On Thursday, lawmakers will pass out three wildlife-friendly species of trees: black cherry, cranberry bush and white oak. | 