The Department of Justice is pushing back on claims from prominent Democrats that a demand letter Attorney General Pam Bondi sent to Minnesota this weekend amounted to a quid pro quo - ending immigration enforcement in exchange for access to voter rolls.
A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Democrats were "shamelessly lying" about the contents of Bondi's letter, which was addressed to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
Bondi's letter came as unrest has plagued the state, spurred by an immigration crackdown there and multiple destructive and violent incidents, including two incidents involving immigration officials shooting and killing two U.S. citizens during chaotic, heated altercations.
"You and your office must restore the rule of law, support ICE officers, and bring an end to the chaos in Minnesota," Bondi wrote. "Fortunately, there are common sense solutions to these problems that I hope we can accomplish together."
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Bondi made three requests, which she said would improve cooperation between Walz and the DOJ and "help bring back law and order."
Democrats framed her letter as a nefarious bargain designed to affect the battleground state's elections.
One of Bondi's requests was that Minnesota state officials give 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. Disputes over voter rolls between states and the federal government are now the subject of lawsuits across the country.
"'ICE will leave Minnesota if you hand over your voter rolls' tells you everything you need to know. … It was always about rigging elections," Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., wrote on X.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., misstated on X that Bondi's letter said ICE would "leave if the state turns over its voter database to Trump."
Murphy said the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota was a "pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states."
Democratic strategist Matt McDermott made similar claims about Bondi's letter in a social media post that has racked up more than seven million X views. "It's true. … They're openly using state violence as a bargaining chip to seize election infrastructure," McDermott wrote.
Democratic voting rights lawyer Marc Elias' Democracy Docket claimed Bondi was using the killing of Alex Pretti as "blackmail" for voter rolls.
The DOJ vehemently rejected those characterizations.
"These politicians are shamelessly lying. This is what happens when you're on the side of criminal illegal aliens," the department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
In a federal court hearing Monday over ICE's broader operations, Lindsey Middlecamp, a lawyer for Minnesota, argued to a judge that Bondi's letter sounded like a coercive "ransom note."
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Bondi in her letter also asked for all Medicaid and food assistance program records as part of the federal government's welfare fraud probe in the state.
Bondi's third demand was that Minnesota leadership end its so-called sanctuary policies, which many blue states and cities have in place. The policies typically prevent local law enforcement from notifying federal law enforcement about anyone who has been detained in the state who has a questionable immigration status.
"I am confident that these simple steps will help bring back law and order to Minnesota and improve the lives of Americans," Bondi wrote.
