Federal prosecutors in Michigan have used a grand jury to demand the membership lists of one of the country's biggest unions.

The subpoenas went to the American Federation of Teachers, which has more than 1.7 million members, and to its graduate-worker local at the University of Michigan, the Graduate Employees' Organization, Local 3550, The Intercept reported on November 13. Prosecutor Margaret Smith requested them, with help from FBI agent Kara Phipps.

Neither union has been charged with a crime.

What they demanded

The government wants, according to the local, "a huge swath of documents dating back to January 2023," including:

• "a list of members, a list of current and former officers"
• "membership and executive board meeting notes"
• "all staff personnel records, and financial records"

The Intercept, which published the subpoena sent to the national union and the one sent to the local, reported that both unions are being compelled to turn over complete membership rolls, payroll records on officers, reimbursement policies, audit reports and the minutes of the local's membership and board meetings.

A membership list names every worker who joined, whether or not they had anything to do with the protests. The government is asking for all of them.

Why prosecutors say they want it

The subpoenas are part of a federal investigation into pro-Palestine protests at the University of Michigan. Twelve activists — the "Michigan 12" — face felony federal charges over a campaign that allegedly included vandalism to push the university to sell off investments tied to Israel.

The graduate workers' union is not named in the indictment. The Intercept reported that the local belongs to a campus coalition prosecutors mention in their filings.

The local's president, Hiab Teshome, had been charged by local prosecutors with felony embezzlement — charges the union called meritless, and which a judge threw out. Federal prosecutors issued the subpoenas, The Intercept reported, "the same day the charges against Teshome were dismissed."

The government first tried to serve the local, by FedEx, on August 11, 2026, and the local filed a motion to quash on August 20, it said, calling the subpoena's scope "incredibly broad." The national union has not said publicly whether it will comply, and did not answer The Intercept's questions.

"A tool the State can use to punish and dissuade dissent"

"They're using this language around conspiracy and trying to draw in all of these different organizations," the local's communications director, Natalie Chen, told The Intercept. Teshome said the union "will do everything in our power to protect the data and the information of our membership."

"Historically, federal grand jury subpoenas have been used against social movements and political dissent," Xavier de Janon, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, told The Intercept.

This is not the first time

Michigan isn't the only place federal agents have gone after union records. In Minnesota, court filings showed Homeland Security agents sat in on union meetings, pulled financial records from SEIU and CWA, and showed a grand jury a chart linking the teachers' union to a criminal conspiracy.

Two states, two agencies, the same move: treat a union as a suspect, then reach for its records.

What we know

Federal prosecutors working the University of Michigan protest case used grand jury subpoenas to demand the American Federation of Teachers' membership rolls and its Michigan graduate local's member list, officers' payroll and meeting minutes back to January 2023. Neither union has been charged. The local is fighting the subpoena in court; the national union hasn't said whether it will hand the lists over.

Source

• The Intercept, Trump Subpoenas Teachers Union for Info on Pro-Palestine Students, November 13, 2026