First came the questions surrounding the accuracy — and lies — surrounding Gov. Tim Walz’s military service.
Now, a shocking investigative report on Kamala Harris’ running mate reveals his team may have covered up a serious drunk driving arrest in an attempt to help secure his run for Congress back in 2006.
According to a CNN report, when Walz first ran for Congress in 2006, his campaign repeatedly made false statements about the details of his 1995 arrest for drunk and reckless driving.
According to court and police records connected to the incident and cited in the CNN report, Walz admitted in court that he had been drinking when he was pulled over for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone in Nebraska.
Walz was then transported by a state trooper to a local hospital for a blood test, which revealed that he had a blood alcohol level of .128, well above the state’s legal limit of 0.1 at the time.
But in 2006, his campaign told the press on multiple occasions that he had not been drinking that night.
They claimed that his failed field sobriety test was due to a misunderstanding related to hearing loss from his time in the National Guard.
The Walz campaign also claimed that he was allowed to drive himself to jail that night.
However, a CNN KFile review of the statements made by the Walz campaign at the time revealed numerous discrepancies between how the campaign described the events and the facts of what actually took place that night.
“The DUI charge was dropped for a Reason: it wasn’t true,” Walz’s then-campaign communications director told local news in 2006.
“The trooper had him drive to the station and then leave on his own after being at the station. Tim feels bad about speeding and has paid the ticket and apologized to his family at the time it happened.”
According to the CNN report, the incident’s police report clearly states that Walz was transported by police to a local hospital for blood alcohol testing after being arrested.
And this week, Nebraska state police confirmed to CNN that Walz was taken by a state trooper to jail.
“Under NSP procedure, a person suspected of impaired driving is not allowed to continue driving,” Cody Thomas, a spokesman for the Nebraska State Patrol, told CNN. “In this case, the suspect was transported by the trooper and was lodged in Dawes County Jail.”
Walz has subsequently acknowledged the facts of the case, admitting during his 2018 campaign for governor of Minnesota that he had been drinking and driving.
On Tuesday, the Daily Beast published an interview with the state trooper who arrested Walz who disputed claims that Walz had not been drinking and noted that sobriety test had nothing to do with hearing.
The Harris-Walz campaign declined to comment on the CNN story.