REGIONAL— St. Louis County officials, on Tuesday, complied with a judge’s order, releasing a slew of emails that suggest County Commissioner Peter Stauber may have used his official office to advance his run for Congress.

Stauber’s email communications with representatives of the National Republican Congressional Committee show the commissioner seeking political advice from GOP operatives and opposition research on current Eighth District Congressman Rick Nolan, who had indicated early on that he intended to seek re-election, but later changed his mind. Stauber is currently locked in a contentious race with DFLer Joe Radinovich.

While Stauber’s emails don’t appear to contain a “smoking gun,” they do show Stauber relying on the NRCC for political messaging and logistical arrangements for a visit that Stauber and Commissioner Keith Nelson made to Washington, D.C. apparently representing the county. The emails also suggest that Stauber’s office assistant played at least some role in facilitating an interview between a Fox News reporter and Stauber back in 2017, for a story on the Eighth District race. In addition, they show Stauber forwarding an email from then-DFL candidate Kirsten Kennedy, in which Kennedy criticized some of those in attendance at a DFL function for dismissing Stauber’s on-duty injuries as a Duluth police officer, which could have been incorporated into an attack ad.

In response to the case, Stauber spokesperson Caroline Tarwid referred any questions to the NRCC,, but did issue a one-sentence statement indicating that Stauber “respects the court’s decision and the process just as he did when the county looked into this matter and found no wrongdoing.”

In fact, county officials have not weighed in on the question of wrongdoing but issued a statement last month indicating that the county found no reason for further investigation. The political nature of the emails suggest that Stauber may have run afoul of St. Louis County’s ethics policy, which, among other things, states that elected officials “will not use St. Louis County equipment in support of their own campaigns for re-election, other candidates for public office, or political organizations.”

The state DFL Party, which had sued St. Louis County for access to the emails, took a tougher line on the contents of the emails. “Beyond abusing the public trust, Stauber disregarded state law and violated St. Louis County ethics policy by using county resources to advance his political ambitions, and then lying about it,” said DFL Party Chair Ken Martin in a statement issued after the release of the emails. “Over the course of this campaign, Stauber has tried to convince Minnesotans that he would stand up to Washington Republicans and put Minnesota first. These emails show that was never his intention. Months before he was even an official candidate, Pete Stauber was plotting and strategizing with party bosses in D.C. at the expense of his constituents at home.”

International Falls attorney Joe Boyle, who heads the DFL Party in Koochiching County, said the emails show Stauber as overly-reliant on GOP leaders. “Stauber’s just lazy. Not only does he not think for himself, he’s a hypocrite,” said Boyle. He also took issue with the apparent use of his county aide to arrange a campaign-related interview. “As a county employee, she shouldn’t be arranging anything of a political nature,” Boyle added.

The emails, according to Boyle, reflect a candidate who would be highly dependent on GOP party leaders for his political directions, which runs counter to Stauber’s promises to be an independent voice in Washington.

Judge’s decision

The release of the emails came after District Court Judge Stoney Hiljus issued an order on Tuesday, finding that the emails in question were public information under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and giving the county until noon on Oct. 31 to release them. County officials had maintained for months that the emails were private because they involved communication between an elected official and an individual, but the judge rejected that argument, noting in a lengthy explanation that the county’s interpretation of the law would preclude the release of almost any email to or from an elected official.

The judge’s ruling was consistent with the Oct. 16 opinion of the Minnesota Commissioner of Administration, who had also concluded that the emails were public. The Star Tribune newspaper had requested the advisory opinion after St. Louis County refused to provide the emails between Stauber and the NRCC. When the county still refused to comply, the DFL filed suit last week. Judge Hiljus held a hearing in the case last Friday and had promised to issue his ruling by Tuesday.