An investigation is underway after St. Paul’s police chief made a complaint against Mayor Kaohly Her, with his attorney saying in a letter that her “conduct has extended beyond isolated incidents and has included sexual harassment of subordinate city employees, including members of the St. Paul Police Department.”

The mayor said Wednesday she recognizes “some of my attempts at humor fell short of the standard I expect of myself.”

St. Paul’s human resources department has hired an outside law firm to conduct an investigation.

“As mayor, I take my responsibility to treat every employee with professionalism and respect very seriously,” Her said in a statement Wednesday. “… We have fully cooperated with the independent investigation since it began in April and will continue to do so.”

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her speaks at a lunch event hosted by the Rice and Larpenteur Alliance at Cancun Grill and Cantina in St. Paul on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (Tyler Quattrin / Pioneer Press)

Attorney Chris Madel, representing Police Chief Axel Henry, wrote in the letter to St. Paul City Attorney Irene Kao that Her “has used one or more mobile phones to communicate inappropriate, and, indeed, unlawful text messages.”

Madel included a screenshot in the letter of a text message, saying Her sent it to a city employee. A photo in the screenshot was partially redacted. The message said, “Happy Weiner Wednesday!” and said that she wished she was having hot dogs “with you all.”

An attorney for St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry included this image, which he said was a screenshot of a text Mayor Kaohly Her sent to a city employee, in an April 1, 2026, letter alleging sexual harassment. (From Chris Madel letter to St. Paul City Attorney Irene Kao)

Some police department staff bring in hot dogs for a small group of other department employees on some Wednesdays, which became nicknamed “Weiner Wednesdays.”

The redacted photo with the screenshot was a picture of an officer, who sometimes works on Her’s security detail, photoshopped onto a swaddled baby, according to a person who previously saw the image. Included in the message was: “When she wraps you up in her blanket after you gave her a good weinering.”

The wording and swaddled blanket photo, originally with a man’s face superimposed on it, are directly from a meme posted by a comedian on Facebook on March 21.

Her also said in Wednesday’s statement: “I respect the investigative process and believe it is important to allow it to reach its conclusion. I remain confident that the full facts will come to light, and I will continue to focus on serving the people of St. Paul with integrity and dedication.”

Her’s first public appearance Wednesday was speaking at a lunch for the Rice and Larpenteur Alliance. A Pioneer Press reporter asked Her afterward how, in light of the allegations, she plans to move forward with the work of establishing next year’s budget and plans to clear a large homeless encampment.

“It doesn’t change, the work always continues,” she said.

Police chief files formal complaint

The letter, sent by Madel to Kao on April 1, became publicly known Tuesday and the Pioneer Press obtained a copy. Madel referenced a conversation between him, Kao and Henry on March 30.

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry, joined by representatives from other metro area police departments, speaks during a news conference in the state Capitol rotunda in St. Paul on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

During a call, Kao asked Henry if he wanted “to be a formal complainant against Mayor Her regarding her misconduct,” Madel wrote. “You further indicated that the City had determined to investigate Mayor Her’s conduct regardless of whether Chief Henry filed a formal complaint against Mayor Her.”

Madel continued that Henry had decided “to designate himself as a formal complainant against Mayor Her for illegal employment practices against city employees, including himself.”

The mayor’s office described the hiring of a law firm for the investigation as a traditional human resources process when a complaint is made. Launching the investigation did not require approval by the St. Paul City Council.

Madel also wrote in his letter to the city attorney: The city “is on notice that Mayor Her has engaged in illegal conduct towards city employees. Litigation is ‘reasonably foreseeable.’”

He continued later, “(W)e hereby demand that the City immediately take all steps necessary to perform a full filesystem extraction of each of Mayor Her’s mobile phones,” Madel wrote of preserving documents, photos, videos, contacts, emails and messages including “potentially deleted information within apps.”

Madel wrote that Henry decided to file a complaint because he recognized “both the seriousness of that misconduct and the vulnerability of those directly affected.” He was “concerned that, absent a formal complaint, the behavior will continue unchecked and may expose others to retaliation for speaking out,” the letter continued.

Neither the St. Paul Police Department nor Henry issued a comment on the matter Tuesday or Wednesday.

In a statement Tuesday, Madel said: “Chief Henry just helped crack a triple homicide in under four hours — that’s the work he’s focused on right now: keeping citizens safe. No comment beyond that.”

Potential legal questions in past

This is not the first time that Her, who unseated former St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter last November, has faced potential legal questions over personal and professional boundaries. Her, who came to the United States as a child refugee, made history as the city’s first Hmong and first female mayor. She was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor state representative from 2019 to 2025.

In January, a legal referee tossed out a petition for an emergency restraining order filed by Her’s former friend and confidante, who had accused the mayor of asking intrusive questions about her sex life, oversharing about her personal life and texting at all hours.

Her, in turn, had questioned the woman’s sanity in messages to mutual friends, and said she worried the woman perhaps needed to be psychiatrically committed. In rejecting the petition, the legal referee said the wording did not rise to the level of an overt threat.

Her has had a busy month preparing the city’s 2027 budget proposal. The details are expected to be released in her budget address on Aug. 13 at Allianz Field in the Midway, and she’s put city departments on notice that closing a $26 million budget gap through a combination of funding cuts, staff layoffs and property tax increases is more than likely.

As a result, the mayor has dug heavily into the police department budget, alongside the budgets of every other city department.

“All options are on the table,” said Her, during a budget outreach event last month.

Attorney often represents law enforcement

Carter appointed Henry as police chief in 2022. The St. Paul city charter says police chiefs serve six-year terms, so new mayors often inherit a current police chief.

Henry, a St. Paul officer since 1998, followed in the footsteps of his predecessors by rising through the department’s ranks. Before he became chief, he was commander of the narcotics and human trafficking unit.

Henry said in November, after the election, that he knew Her as a state representative.

“She has been nothing but supportive of me,” he said at the time. “The first conversation we had, I was clear in saying, ‘I’m never going to argue with you publicly if we have a disagreement,’ which was the same with Mayor Carter. She has said very openly that she doesn’t want to surround herself with ‘Yes’ people.”

Chris Madel (Courtesy of Madel for Governor)

Madel, Henry’s attorney, has represented law enforcement in past high-profile cases.

He was the attorney for a state trooper who faced prosecution by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty for fatally shooting a man during a traffic stop. The charges were later dropped.

Madel agreed to offer pro bono legal advice for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, though the agent has not been charged.

In December, Madel announced he would run for Minnesota governor as a Republican. He said he entered the race because he felt the need to address fraud, public safety and declining education outcomes.

He dropped out of the running in January. He said at the time that he initially supported the “limited goals” of Operation Metro Surge, which sent thousands of federal agents into Minnesota for immigration enforcement.

But, in withdrawing from the governor’s race, Madel said he couldn’t support the national Republican Party’s “stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.”