DOJ Moves to Dismiss or Transfer Minnesota's Evidence-Access Suit, Arguing the State Skipped Touhy Procedure and Has No Tenth Amendment Right to Federal Investigative Files

On September 28, 2026, the Justice Department asked Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to dismiss or, alternatively, transfer to the District of Minnesota the suit by the State of Minnesota, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and BCA Superintendent Drew Evans over federal withholding of evidence in the Renee Good, Alex Pretti and Julio Sosa-Celis shootings. The grounds below are the government’s, not findings.

Grounds. DOJ says that the State “failed to comply with Defendants’ respective Touhy regulations” (the agencies’ rules for demands for official information), so compliance was a condition precedent. It adds that the Tenth Amendment does not require federal agencies to hand investigative materials to state authorities. In the alternative it seeks transfer to Minnesota.

The Good-specific record DOJ recites. ICE answered Hennepin County’s Good letter in the spring, saying the DHS regulations “do not apply” to disclosure to law enforcement for criminal investigations. The remaining letters were answered June 4, 2026; the U.S. Attorney’s Office denied each, among other reasons because “the federal government has an open investigation into the incident”.

Date kinds. The memorandum is dated September 28, the filing date. Moriarty’s July words, “we have all the evidence,” appear in its recital of the facts. The State’s sworn filings of the following month say the sharing then stopped and name what was never turned over, including the shooting agent’s cellphone: 2026-10-13–minnesota-sworn-filings-doj-usao-stopped-evidence-sharing-good-pretti-after-july-13-indefinite-sept-10.

Related: 2026-03-24–ellison-moriarty-evans-sue-doj-dhs-evidence-blockade-good-pretti, 2026-10-01–renee-good-family-files-two-federal-lawsuits-ftca-civil-rights-metro-surge.