Attorney General Pam Bondi is in full damage-control mode after Democrats accused her of trying to strong-arm a key swing state into handing over sensitive election data — using federal immigration enforcement as leverage.
The controversy erupted after Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) revealed a letter Bondi sent to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over the weekend, demanding a sweeping set of concessions from the state. At the center of the uproar: a request for access to Minnesota’s voter registration data, paired with pressure to roll back so-called sanctuary policies and cooperate more fully with ICE amid ongoing unrest.
Democrats say the message reads less like a routine intergovernmental request and more like a threat.
Murphy, speaking on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki and later on X, said the letter amounted to a quid pro quo — ease up on immigration enforcement only if the state turns over its voter infrastructure. “Pam Bondi just sent a letter to Minnesota officials saying ICE will leave if the state turns over its voter database to Trump,” Murphy wrote. “Guess what? This has never been about safety or immigration. It’s a pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states.”
Bondi’s office flatly denied that characterization, accusing Democrats of lying about the letter’s contents. A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “These politicians are shamelessly lying. This is what happens when you’re on the side of criminal illegal aliens.”
But the blowback hasn’t slowed.
The letter landed as Minnesota is already on edge following an aggressive federal immigration crackdown that has triggered protests, unrest, and multiple violent confrontations — including two separate incidents in which immigration officers shot and killed U.S. citizens during chaotic encounters. Against that backdrop, Bondi’s demands set off alarm bells across the state.
“You and your office must restore the rule of law, support ICE officers, and bring an end to the chaos in Minnesota,” Bondi wrote to Walz. “Fortunately, there are common sense solutions to these problems that I hope we can accomplish together.”
Those “solutions” included three specific demands. First, Bondi asked Minnesota officials to grant the DOJ Civil Rights Division access to voter registration lists. Basic voter registration lists, also known as voter rolls, are typically publicly accessible, but the DOJ has demanded from Minnesota and many other states a wealth of sensitive data associated with the voter rolls that Minnesota has resisted giving up. Those disputes are already being litigated nationwide.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) didn’t mince words in her response. “‘ICE will leave Minnesota if you hand over your voter rolls’ tells you everything you need to know. … It was always about rigging elections,” she wrote on X.
In court on Monday, Minnesota attorney Lindsey Middlecamp described the letter as sounding like a coercive “ransom note” during a hearing over ICE’s broader operations in the state.
Bondi insists otherwise. “I am confident that these simple steps will help bring back law and order to Minnesota and improve the lives of Americans,” she wrote.
For Democrats, the issue isn’t tone — it’s intent. They argue the letter exposes a strategy of using federal power to muscle into state election systems under the cover of immigration enforcement, particularly in states that could decide the next election.
Watch Murphy’s video below:
Pam Bondi just sent a letter to Minnesota officials saying ICE will leave if the state turns over its voter database to Trump.
Guess what? This has never been about safety or immigration. It’s a pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states. pic.twitter.com/BHrQJUECJY
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 25, 2026
