US justice department to inquire into Minnesota leaders for alleged conspiracy to obstruct ICE

Tim Walz, state’s Democratic governor and Jacob Frey, Minneapolis mayor, have been vocal critics of immigration crackdown

The US justice department is investigating Minnesota’s political leaders for allegedly conspiring to obstruct the Trump administration’s controversial immigration crackdown there, according to multiple reports.

The investigation, which CBS News first reported, marks an extraordinary use of federal power to challenge two of the crackdown’s most vocal Democratic critics, including the state’s governor, Tim Walz, and the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey.

Walz, who was also the Democratic nominee for vice-president in 2024, responded to news of the investigations in a post on social media.

“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic,” Walz wrote. “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.”