Governor Walz is again under scrutiny for a 1995 drunk driving arrest

(FOX 9) – Governor Tim Walz's 1995 drunken driving arrest is currently coming under renewed scrutiny as he campaigns as Kamala Harris's running mate.

What happened?

According to an Associated Press report, Walz was stopped near Chadron, Nebraska, on the night of September 23, 1995, while driving 96 miles per hour in a 55-mile zone.

During the stop, the officer smelled alcohol on his breath and Walz failed a breathalyzer test. A blood test later showed that Walz had a blood alcohol level of 0.128. The legal limit in Nebraska at the time was 0.10. Walz was taken to the county jail.

The following March, Walz's lawyer admitted in court that the future governor had been drinking alcohol while arguing for a fine because his alcohol consumption was only slightly over the limit.

Consequences of the arrest

Walz was eventually fined $200 and lost his driver's license for 90 days.

In court records, his defense attorney said Walz, then a teacher in Nebraska, informed his school principal of the arrest and resigned from his coaching position.

How did the arrest come about again?

According to two different reports from the time, the arrest first came to light during Walz's 2006 run for Congress through the conservative blog site Minnesota Democrats Exposed, founded by Minnesota GOP official Michael Brodkorb. In a twist, Brodkorb made some headlines Last week when he announced that he would support the Harris-Walz campaign.

Twin Cities-based conservative news website Alpha News uncovered a court transcript of Walz's drunken driving arrest in October 2022 as he was running for re-election as governor.

Recently, the arrest has been the subject of renewed criticism on social media and has been picked up again by major news outlets such as CNN, the New York Times and the Associated Press.

Did Walz's campaign team lie about the 2006 arrest?

The transcript obtained by Alpha News directly contradicted statements made by Walz's campaign team in 2006.

According to a 2006 report in the Rochester Post Bulletin, Walz's campaign told the newspaper that the arrest was based on a “misunderstanding.” Campaign manager Kerry Greeley told the Post Bulletin that Walz was speeding, but claimed he was not drunk. Instead, Greeley attributed confusion and loss of balance during the arrest to Walz being hard of hearing due to his service in the National Guard.

“He couldn't understand what the officer was saying to him,” Greeley told the newspaper.

The report adds that Greeley also said the drunken driving charge was dropped and the judge “blamed the officer for not realizing that Walz was deaf.” KEYC-TV in Mankato also quoted a campaign spokesman as saying, “The drunken driving charge was dropped for one reason: It wasn't true.”

However, as stated above, Walz's attorney admitted in the court records that his blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.

According to the transcript, the judge actually reprimanded Walz – and not the police officer – for driving under the influence of alcohol as a teacher. Among other things, he said: “For me, it is a real problem when a teacher is arrested for this offense, because you have to be a role model.”

The judge finally told Walz that he hoped to learn from this experience.

In 2018, Walz told the Star Tribune that the arrest was a reason for him to quit drinking.