DIGGING UP DIRT

Republicans Resurface Tim Walz’ 1995 Mugshot as Attacks Heat Up

The Minnesota governor gave up alcohol after the incident in 1995.

Tim Walz’ mugshot from a 1995 DUI arrest went viral Tuesday just as Kamala Harris announced the Minnesota governor was joining her presidential ticket.

That booking photo shows Walz facing forward while wearing glasses, a hunter’s cap, and a black sweatshirt. He’s not smiling while holding up a placard.

The three-decades old snap was first shared by the GOP political operative Dustin Grage on Monday night, as Harris’ veepstakes appeared to be centering on Walz.

Walz’ arrest has been previously reported, but his mugshot has largely remained out of the public eye. He was arrested at 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 23, 1995, after he was pulled over for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone, said a police report obtained by The Daily Beast.

“A strong odor of alcoholic beverage was detected emitting from Mr. Walz’ breath and person,” the report said.

Walz failed a field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test, the report said, with the then-Nebraska teacher’s blood-alcohol level being recorded at .128, above the legal limit. Walz was charged with a DUI and speeding, but had the charges reduced to reckless driving in a plea deal.

A lieutenant in the Nebraska State Patrol told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that his agency could not confirm the mugshot’s veracity, despite it being Nebraska troopers who arrested Walz. The sheriff’s office in Dawes County, where Walz was booked, did not respond to inquiries about the mugshot. Dawes County, in Nebraska’s rural northwest, has just 8,200 residents.

There appears to be some paper trail of the mugshot, however. A 2008 article in The Winona Daily News described a booking photo for Walz that was similar to the one that went viral, seemingly confirming that it’s legitimate.

“The National Republican Congressional Committee, which recently unearthed a 13-year-old booking photo of a disheveled Walz wearing a hunters cap...” the article said of the booking photo.

Walz, a former high school teacher, coach, and national guardsman, had moved to Minnesota by the time that article was published. He was running for re-election during his first term in the U.S. House and was mere weeks from Election Day. His then-spokesperson skewered the GOP for digging out the mugshot when it did, the News’ article said.

“We want to be talking about the issues,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying. “That’s what people want to hear about.”

The DUI appeared to have a marked impact on Walz’ life, with him citing his arrest as the reason he gave up drinking alcohol entirely. Now, he gets by on copious amounts of Diet Mountain Dew, which, aside from also having two kids, just might be his only common ground with his Republican counterpart J.D. Vance.

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Josh FialloBreaking News Reporter

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