The investigation will examine whether Minnesota officials prevented federal immigration agents from carrying out their duties.
Published on 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 under investigation by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), a week after they sued the federal government over its controversial immigration raids.
A DOJ investigation will review whether Minnesota state officials conspired to obstruct justice by preventing federal immigration officials from carrying out their duties, US broadcaster CBS News reported late Tuesday.
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The investigation has a latest twist A growing showdown Minnesota officials and President Donald Trump’s administration have come under fire from immigration raids in which an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of three and a U.S. citizen.
Governor Walz confirmed the DOJ investigation in a statement Tuesday and described the move as “political theater.”
“This Justice Department investigation, fueled by violence, chaos and calls for accountability for Renee Goode’s murder, does not seek justice. It is a partisan distraction,” he said.
In a post on X, Attorney General Ellison said the Justice Department had subpoenaed his office “for records and documents related to the work of my office in connection with federal immigration enforcement, not me personally.”
Ellison called the move “highly irregular” given the timing of the order, after the state filed a lawsuit on Jan. 12 against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“Trump’s DOJ is more focused on investigating my office than Renee Goode’s murder,” Ellison wrote on X.
“I will not be intimidated, and I will not stop working to protect Minnesotans from this campaign of revenge,” he said.
In announcing the federal lawsuit last week, Ellison’s office said the ICE raids were “dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional stops and arrests, all in the guise of lawful immigration enforcement.”
Minneapolis Mayor Frey described the DOJ investigation as an attempt to intimidate state officials.
According to the Associated Press news agency, Frey’s office previously released a copy of the Justice Department subpoena, which said it had “any records showing his refusal to assist immigration authorities.”
The documents will be reviewed by a grand jury on Feb. 3, which will assess whether there is probable cause to continue the case.
The Department of Homeland Security launched a massive immigration operation in December to deploy thousands of ICE and CBP officers to the Minnesota cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants in Democrat-led cities.
The Minnesota crackdown made global news in early January when an ICE officer shot and killed Good, 37, who was overseeing an immigration raid as a civilian observer. is from the DOJ He refused to investigate the shooting Despite widespread public unrest across the country.
Trump has threatened to use the Sedition Act against the state and has 1,500 active-duty soldiers ready to prepare to deploy to Minnesota to prevent possible protest violence in Alaska, Reuters reported, citing unnamed US officials.