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By Sydney Kashiwagi

Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Hello and welcome back to another D.C. Dish. 

It was a tense, long weekend in Minnesota. Protesters clashed with one another, federal government officials confirmed probes in Minnesota in response to the ongoing immigration enforcement surge in the state, and 1,500 troops stood by to potentially deploy to Minnesota.  

No plans to investigate Jonathan Ross. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said over the weekend that the U.S. Department of Justice is not investigating ICE agent Jonathan Ross for the fatal shooting of Renee Good.

Blanche said that the DOJ and its civil rights division does not conduct investigations “every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody or putting his life in danger.”

But Blanche confirmed that an investigation is underway into Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for “actively encouraging” protesters “to go out on the street and impede ICE.”

“No matter who you are, whether you’re a governor, a mayor or somebody out there on the streets assaulting ICE ... under federal law, you cannot impede a federal officer doing their job, and that’s what we’re looking at,” Blanche said on Fox News Sunday. Read more. 

Probe into church protest. After discovering David Easterwood, a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul, was named in a pending class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Minnesota for aggressive tactics used by ICE, local activists interrupted a service at his church on Sunday, my colleagues Kim Hyatt and Kyeland Jackson report. 

The demonstration in the church sparked fierce backlash from the right. 

"Vile, disgusting behavior by the radical left. Meanwhile, Minnesota liberals stay silent allowing their base to run rampant through the streets and now, a new low, disrupting a house of worship," Rep. Pete Stauber said of the incident on X. 

And Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ, announced that the department's Civil Rights division launched an investigation into the incident to see whether federal law was violated by "desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers,” she said. Read more. 

Stauber's Boundary Waters resolution expected for vote. On Capitol Hill this week, Congress is slated to vote on a resolution from Stauber that would allow mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness by revoking a Biden-era protection that banned mining in the area, my colleague Chloe Johnson reports. 

If Stauber is able to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn the Biden-era law, it could also raise questions about similar bans implemented over the last couple of decades. Read more. 

Emmer's fraud bill to be unveiled. In an another effort to crack down on fraud in Minnesota, Rep. Tom Emmer is expected this week to unveil a bill that would strip naturalized citizens of their American citizenship if they are convicted of fraud, Fox News reports. 

"If you came to this country to harm and take advantage of the American people, I’ve got news for you: You’re going home," Emmer told Fox News. "Anyone who commits fraud against American taxpayers, affiliates with a terrorist organization, or commits an aggravated felony after becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen never met the requirements for naturalization in the first place and should be denaturalized and deported."

Craig's House Ag framework. Last week, Rep. Angie Craig, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, unveiled the framework of the Farm and Family Relief Act with her colleagues. 

The legislative framework comes in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).Craig said the act reins "in the tariffs that have increased our cost of living, giving states breathing room to adapt to shifting SNAP rules and providing an economic lifeline to farmers so they can continue to feed our nation and the world."

John Hoffman navigates political life post shooting. Seven months after State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman were shot in their home, he's still working on healing, my colleague Allison Kite reports. 

But as he's been recovering, the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent earlier this month has been triggering for him. 

Good shooting brings back memories. “That noise, that sound never leaves you,” Hoffman said, referring to gunfire. “Certain things never leave you … Lights in my eyes, that never leaves me.”

Hoffman spoke with Kite just weeks before the Minnesota Legislature is set to return for its annual session, which this year state leaders will have wrestle with increased federal immigration enforcement and lawmakers at odds over fraud in the state’s social services programs.

Democrats are expected to push for tougher gun laws following the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in south Minneapolis in August. Read more. 

Fundraising numbers trickle in. Attorney Ron Schutz, who's seeking the Republican endorsement to run against Attorney General Keith Ellison this fall, raised more than $250,000 in the final months of last year, my colleague Allison Kite writes. 

Schutz is a U.S. Army veteran, a partner at Robins Kaplan LLC, a significant Republican donor and a board member of the conservative think tank, the Center for the American Experiment. He launched his campaign in October and is the only major Republican candidate to date.

In a statement announcing his fundraising totals, Schutz told voters he had received "overwhelming support" since launching his campaign because of the "fatigue Minnesotans feel when they turn on the TV or read the newspaper and see more taxpayer dollars stolen and another fraud case uncovered."

"Keith Ellison has failed Minnesotans," Schutz said. "Our state is ready for a change in the guard, an Attorney General who can run our state's top law office and focus on combating crime, rooting out fraud and protecting Minnesota's best interests."

Candidates must turn in campaign finance reports documenting last year's fundraising and spending by Feb. 2.

Meanwhile, in the governors race. GOP gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls said he raised $600,000 in the last few months of the year. He is also reporting donations from all 87 counties.

"Since day one, our campaign has hit the ground running, building a robust leadership team in every Congressional district and creating an energized grassroots movement," Qualls said in a statement.

Walz will chair a meeting of the Minnesota Board of Pardons at 8:30 a.m. 

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