DOJ Starts Issuing Subpoenas to Top Minnesota Officials in Federal Probe

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s office received a subpoena, a spokesman told The Epoch Times.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (C) speaks during a press conference at City Hall in Minneapolis on Jan. 9, 2026. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The Department of Justice has begun issuing subpoenas to top officials in Minnesota, officials there said on Jan. 20.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s office received a subpoena, a spokesman told The Epoch Times in an email on Tuesday.

The office of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement on X, Walz referred to “This Department of Justice investigation” as a “partisan distraction.”

The Department of Justice did not return an inquiry. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment.

Walz earlier in January responded to reports of a federal investigation into Walz and Frey, over allegedly obstructing federal law enforcement, calling it an “authoritarian tactic.”

“A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X on Jan. 16.

Other officials have also targeted the two men.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that Frey and Walz must take action to ensure public safety and order in Minneapolis. “They are encouraging impeding and assault against our law enforcement which is a federal crime, a felony,” she said.

Federal officers began ramping up immigration enforcement activities in Minnesota in recent weeks. More than 10,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested there, Noem said on Jan. 19.

Some anti-ICE protests have turned violent. One altercation resulted in the death of Renee Good, who drove a vehicle toward an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. Federal officials say the officer was hit by the vehicle and fired in self-defense, killing the woman.

Walz is among those who have said that Good should not have been killed. Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general, has suggested the administration will not be investigating the shooting.

Walz recently posted a video instructing people to film federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement operations. He said the footage would help create “a database of atrocities against Minnesotans.”

Frey has said that ICE agents were making people unsafe and that they should should leave Minneapolis.

“This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, local law enforcement, and residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our city,” Frey said on social media after reports of a federal investigation were published. “I will not be intimidated. My focus remains where it’s always been: keeping our city safe.”