Minnesota Launches Own Investigation After FBI Says 'We'll Take It From Here'

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has announced that the state will launch its own independent investigation after FBI officials abruptly terminated cooperation with state investigators, citing what they described as “reasons we don’t have to tell you.”

Sources confirm the federal investigation, which had been proceeding jointly with state authorities for seven months, was suddenly taken over entirely by FBI agents last Tuesday. State investigators were told to hand over all files, cease all interviews, and “forget what you’ve learned,” according to documents obtained by Patriot Network.

“What are you hiding?” Ellison asked at a press conference this morning. The FBI responded with a formal letter reading simply, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

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We were working together. Productively. And then, out of nowhere, we were shut out. No explanation. No justification. Just ‘we’ll take it from here.’ That’s not how this is supposed to work. The people of Minnesota deserve transparency.

The investigation, which Ellison declined to describe in detail, is believed to involve financial irregularities connected to several organizations operating in the Twin Cities area. State investigators had reportedly made significant progress before being removed from the case.

“We were getting close to something,” said a state official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “And then suddenly we weren’t allowed to get any closer. Draw your own conclusions.”

The FBI declined to comment on the matter, with a spokesperson stating only that “the Bureau does not discuss ongoing investigations” and that “federal law enforcement has exclusive jurisdiction over certain matters as determined by federal law enforcement.”

Governor Tim Walz, who returned to Minnesota politics after his vice presidential campaign, expressed support for Ellison’s decision. “Keith is right to ask questions,” Walz said. “When the federal government won’t tell you why they’re shutting down an investigation you’ve been working on together, something’s not right.”

Walz declined to speculate about why the FBI might have terminated cooperation, but noted that “the new administration has shown a pattern of using federal agencies for purposes that have nothing to do with justice.”

Republican officials have criticized the state’s decision to proceed independently. Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) called Ellison’s announcement “political grandstanding” and suggested the Attorney General was “manufacturing controversy where none exists.”

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The FBI is handling this. That’s how federal investigations work. Keith Ellison is just upset because he’s not in charge. This is about ego, not justice. Minnesota taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for his hurt feelings.

“If there’s nothing to hide, why won’t they tell us anything?” Ellison responded when asked about the criticism. “I’m not asking to lead the investigation. I’m asking why we were removed from it. That’s not an unreasonable question.”

Legal experts have noted that state investigations into matters also under federal investigation are unusual but not unprecedented. “States have independent authority to investigate violations of state law,” said University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter. “If state crimes were potentially committed, the state has every right to investigate, regardless of what the federal government is doing.”

The state investigation will be conducted by a newly formed task force within the Attorney General’s office. Ellison said the task force would include investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, as well as forensic accountants and other specialists.

“We will follow the evidence wherever it leads,” Ellison said. “If we find nothing, we’ll say so. If we find something, the people of Minnesota will know about it. That’s called transparency. It’s something the federal government seems to have forgotten.”

The announcement has drawn national attention, with several other state attorneys general expressing interest in the situation. New York Attorney General Letitia James posted on social media that she was “watching Minnesota closely” and would “support state efforts to ensure accountability wherever possible.”

At press time, FBI agents were reportedly still on site at several locations in Minneapolis that had been part of the joint investigation. State investigators observed the federal activity from a distance, taking notes on what one described as “quite a lot of document boxes being loaded into trucks.”

“They’re taking a lot of evidence somewhere,” the investigator said. “We’d sure like to know where. And why. Wouldn’t you?”