Tim Walz was arrested and booked for driving under the influence of alcohol in Nebraska in 1995.
Minnesota’s progressive governor, chosen Tuesday as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, no longer drinks alcohol or coffee.
Although he was initially charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding, Walz reached a plea agreement where the charges were reduced to a single count of reckless driving.
The incident resurfaced during his first run for Congress in 2006, prompting a campaign manager to dismiss the allegation and claim that Walz “was not drunk.” “They attributed the misunderstanding to Walz’s deafness.”
An image of Walz’s mugshot is reportedly circulating on conservative social media in an attempt to smear the new Democratic vice presidential nominee.
The governor is a big fan of Diet Mountain Dew, but he doesn’t drink coffee and stopped drinking alcohol some time after his arrest in Nebraska.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was arrested and booked on a DUI charge in 1995 in Nebraska.
Nearly three decades ago, Walz was a newly married teacher living in Nebraska when he was pulled over for driving 96 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone. At the time, he was serving in the Army National Guard.
According to the September 25, 1995 police report, he failed the field sobriety test and breathalyzer test administered by the officer.
“A strong odor of alcoholic beverages was detected emanating from Mr. Walz’s breath and person,” the Nebraska State Police report reads.
Walz was taken to Chadron Hospital for blood tests and was booked into the Dawes County Jail.
According to a court transcript, Walz had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.128.
But the governor’s team insisted he suffered hearing problems during his time in the National Guard that led to a lack of communication and that the deafness caused “balance issues” that could be the reason he failed the sobriety test.
An article from the Rochester Post Bulletin It is one of the only reports about Walz’s DUI and says that in the years since the arrest his hearing problems have been “surgically corrected.”
At the time of his arrest, Walz was teaching and living in Nebraska with his new wife Gwen, with whom he is still married and has two children. He was also serving in the Army National Guard.
A police report of the incident says Walz failed a field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test before being taken to Chadron Hospital for a blood test on Sept. 23, 1995.
“He couldn’t understand what the officer was saying to him,” Walz’s campaign manager said in the 2006 article.
But the state police report and court transcript make no reference to any hearing issues.
It appears that because the officer failed to recognize Walz’s deafness, the blood test results were suppressed during the proceedings and could not be used as evidence against him had the case gone to trial.
But the results were still mentioned at a plea agreement hearing on March 13, 1996.
