Walz defends vote to pardon convicted sex offender

Gov. Tim Walz defends his vote to pardon Tou Lue Vang, a man convicted of molesting a 10-year-old child, despite Vang's subsequent deportation. The pardon was approved by Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, with Walz citing victim advocacy as a key factor. Homeland Security criticized the pardon as an attempt to block deportation, but Walz argued it did not release Vang from his supervised probation sentence, completed in 2019.