National Guard does not know if Walz disclosed DUI arrest, former JAG calls incident “bizarre”

The National Guard claims it does not know if Tim Walz disclosed his DUI charge and reckless driving guilty plea to the military after the 1995 incident, deepening the mystery that surrounds the Minnesota governor’s National Guard service. 

Last month, the Minnesota Guard told Just the News that it does not know whether Walz, now the Democratic vice presidential nominee, had disclosed his drunk driving charge and guilty plea to the military at the time of the incident. The Guard’s spokesperson did not respond to several follow-up emails seeking clarification. 

The Nebraska National Guard, where Walz was serving during the arrest, did not respond to a request for comment.

Sean Timmons, a former military lawyer who reached the rank of Army Captain in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps and now works in a private military law practice told Just the News that in his experience such a charge and guilty plea would normally result in a mandatory reprimand and likely spell the end of an otherwise promising career. 

Despite that, Walz was later promoted and was in the process of becoming a Command Sergeant Major—the highest enlisted rank in the service—when he resigned to run for Congress. 

“I find it very bizarre he was allowed to stay in the guard and even get promoted,” said Timmons, a managing partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC where he focuses on military law, drawing on experiences from his years of service. “In the Army today whether guard, reserve or active duty. a DUI for driving while intoxicated is usually a career ending event unless you are acquitted fully or the charges are dropped entirely,” he said. 

Timmons confirmed the rules on this haven’t changed since Walz’s arrest in 1995, saying the norm should apply equally to that incident. “His guilty plea should have been a career ending event. He was later promoted so, that is uniquely strange and demonstrative that he likely had political connections unavailable to most of the regular force.” 

The tale of the Walz's drunk driving arrest resurfaced after Vice President Kamala Harris chose Walz to be her running mate on the Democratic ticket, catapulting the governor of the the midwestern state into the national spotlight of a contentious election, which includes expected opposition research into a candidate's history. 

Shortly before midnight Sept. 23, 1995, Walz—a schoolteacher and National Guardsman—was caught speeding 40 mph above the speed limit by a Nebraska state trooper. Walz was driving 96 mph in a 55-mph zone, according to the trooper. 

When he stopped Walz, the trooper detected “a strong odor of alcoholic beverage” and the future governor later failed a breathalyzer test. His blood alcohol level clocked in at 0.128, higher than the state’s legal limit of 0.10 at the time. After he failed the breath test, Walz was taken to a local hospital for a blood evaluation and was later booked into the county jail. 

During his plea hearing, Walz’s lawyer at the time said he thought someone was chasing him so he sped up, alleging that the officer didn't turn his light bar on fast enough. The defense also argued that his blood alcohol level was only "slightly" above the legal limit and argued for a fine, saying his client “felt terrible about this, was real disappointed, I guess, in himself.”

Walz lost his license for 90 days and was given a fine of $200, the Associated Press reported. 

Public reporting mentions that Walz reported the arrest to his principal, offered to resign from being a member of the high school football team's coaching staff and offered to resign from his teaching post as well. However, the principal reportedly talked him into staying. 

No reports mention whether Walz informed the National Guard about the arrest. The Guard, which makes up part of the United States military, operates under the Uniform Code of Military Justice which requires punishment for drunk driving while active. 

“Any person subject to this chapter who operates any vehicle while drunk, or in a reckless or wanton manner, or while impaired by a substance described in section 912a(b) of this title (article 112a(b)), shall be punished as a court-martial may direct,” the UCMJ says. 

At a minimum, Walz should have faced “a mandatory reprimand” and a referral to a separation board, Timmons told Just the News. A referral would not have guaranteed separation from the military, but he said the board “likely would have tossed [Walz] out with a less than honorable discharge.” 

“Back in the 1990’s the Guard unit slid a lot of things under the rug for people they liked. That is one reason Congress has changed the laws considerably on the handling of sexual assault cases, precisely because guard units were notorious for protecting people like Governor Walz from accountability when the member was politically connected or well liked,” Timmons said. 

The issue of corruption and lack of transparency in the National Guard is not new. Several recent reports, and others dating back decades, show that the National Guard has a history of misconduct, lack of accountability, and even retaliation against whistleblowers. 

“It’s a structural deficit of accountability,” Dwight Stirling, a California National Guard attorney and director of the Center for Law and Military Policy, told USA Today in 2021. “What you get there is one thing—corruption.” 

Walz has also come under scrutiny for other aspects of his National Guard service during the campaign. For example, Walz misrepresented his military record for years, claiming that he retired in 2005 with the rank of Command Sergeant Major—the highest enlisted rank. 

In fact, his resignation in 2005 just months after being notified that his unit was being deployed to Iraq came before Walz had completed the requirements for his promotion. Walz was serving as a Command Sergeant Major in an interim capacity until his resignation, but was demoted to a master sergeant "for benefits purposes,” the Minnesota National Guard previously told Just the News. 

That was not the first time that Walz's military records have caused controversy. During his campaign for governor in 2018, two retired senior officials in the Minnesota National Guard criticized Walz for retiring as soon as he learned his battalion was set for a deployment to Iraq.

The two retired Command Sergeants Major in the guard wrote in an open letter posted to Facebook that they felt it was their "duty and responsibility to bring forth the truth as we know it concerning his service record." Thomas Behrends, one signer of the letter, was chosen to replace Walz. 

In early 2005, Walz's battalion was ordered to mobilize for an active duty deployment to Iraq. Shortly after, in May 2005, Walz "quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war,"  according to the two Command Sergeants Major. 

In a Harris campaign ad on social media about gun control, Walz claimed in 2018 to have carried weapons of war in combat. The Associated Press, among others, revealed that Walz was never in a combat zone. The Harris campaign brushed aside the fabrication, saying "that Walz misspoke in the 2018 video" used by the Harris campaign.