DULUTH—St. Louis County’s recent decision to withhold email communications between Commissioner Pete Stauber and the National Republican Congressional Committee, has attracted its first lawsuit.

The Minnesota DFL, on Tuesday, served a lawsuit contending that the county is in violation of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act by refusing to hand over the emails.

Stauber’s use of his county email for communications that may have been related to his race for the Eighth District congressional seat, appears to have been a violation of a county policy prohibiting officials from using county resources to advance their political careers. Moreover, depending on the contents of the emails, they could reveal evidence of illegal coordination between the Stauber campaign and the NRCC, which makes independent expenditures on behalf of Republican candidates. Those expenditures can be unlimited, but the committees are not allowed to coordinate their messaging with candidates, and any communication between candidates and such organizations is typically considered a highly-risky activity given the legal stakes. The Timberjay did inquire with St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin about whether he had reviewed the emails in question to see whether they could constitute a violation of federal law. Rubin indicated by email that he would look into it, but did not respond further as of presstime.

While Stauber’s actions are the primary issue, the matter has now clearly embroiled St. Louis County, which has come under increasing fire since the Minnesota Commissioner of Administration issued an advisory opinion last week that found the emails in question are public and should be released under state law.

County officials, including Rubin, argue that the law makes communications between elected officials and “an individual,” private, unless one of the parties involved agrees to release the emails. So far, however, Stauber has refused calls, including by two fellow county commissioners, for him to release the communications in order to spare the county the cost of litigation.

The Commissioner of Administration rejected the county’s argument, finding that the definition of “individual” does not apply to representatives or agents of an organization like the NRCC.

The Republican Stauber is engaged in a heated political contest with DFLer Joe Radinovich, and Stauber has been the beneficiary of more than $6 million in outside money that has paid for thousands of attack ads against Radinovich over old parking tickets and other traffic citations, which Radinovich has since paid.

Now, Stauber is facing questions that he abused his office for political purposes.

“The public has the right to know what is in the emails Pete Stauber sent from his taxpayer-funded county email account while he was on county time,” said DFL Executive Director Corey Day in a press statement announcing the lawsuit. “Transparency and accountability are vital in maintaining trust in government and in our public officials, and thus far, Pete Stauber has fallen far short on both counts. Stauber could put this entire issue to rest in ten minutes if he wanted to by voluntarily releasing the emails in question. His continued refusal to do so raises serious flags about their contents.”

Stauber’s campaign accused the DFL and Radinovich of playing politics with the issue. “It’s not surprising that Joe and his DFL friends are playing politics, but as we have all along, we leave these decisions up to the county, who already cleared Pete Stauber of any wrongdoing.”

St. Louis County officials indicated that they had reviewed Stauber’s actions and determined that no further inquiry was warranted.