The investigation will examine whether Minnesota authorities interfered with federal immigration officials in the performance of their duties.
Published January 21, 2026
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are among a group of state officials who say they are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), a week after suing the federal government over controversial immigration raids.
A Justice Department investigation will look into whether Minnesota officials conspired to obstruct justice by obstructing federal immigration officials from doing their jobs, CBS News reported late Tuesday.
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The investigation is the latest development in an escalating conflict between Minnesota authorities and President Donald Trump’s administration over immigration raids in the state, including an operation in which an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed American citizen Renee Good, a mother of three.
Gov. Walz acknowledged the Justice Department investigation in a statement Tuesday and described the move as “political theater.”
“This Justice Department investigation was sparked by violence, chaos, and calls for accountability for the murder of Renee Good. It is not a call for justice. It is a partisan diversion.”
Attorney General Ellison said in a post to
Ellison called the action “highly irregular” given the timing of the order, which came so soon after the state filed a lawsuit on Jan. 12 against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“The Trump Justice Department is more focused on investigating my office than on the murder of Renee Goode,” Ellison wrote to X.
“I will not be intimidated and I will not stop working to protect Minnesotans from this campaign of revenge,” he said.
Ellison’s office said in a statement announcing the federal lawsuit last week that the ICE raids were “dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional stops and arrests, all disguised as legitimate immigration enforcement.”
Minneapolis Mayor Frey said the Justice Department investigation was an attempt to intimidate state officials.
Frey’s office earlier released a copy of the Justice Department’s subpoena, seeking “records that tend to show denial of assistance to immigration authorities,” according to the Associated Press.
The documents will be reviewed by a grand jury on February 3 to assess whether there is probable cause to proceed with the lawsuit.
In December, the Department of Homeland Security launched a massive immigration operation that sent thousands of ICE and CBP agents to the Minnesota cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, known as the “Twin Cities,” as part of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in Democratic-led cities.
Minnesota’s crackdown made global news in early January when ICE agents shot and killed Ms. Good, 37, who was overseeing immigration raids as a citizen monitor. Since then, the Justice Department has refused to investigate the shooting, despite widespread public outrage across the country.
President Trump has threatened to use the Insurrection Act against the country and is preparing to send 1,500 active-duty soldiers from Alaska to Minnesota to quell potential protest violence, Reuters reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
