The Justice Department is investigating Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey under the theory they conspired to impede federal immigration agents through public statements they have made, a senior law enforcement official and a person familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Minneapolis has been the backdrop of intensifying protests since an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three and a U.S. citizen, last week. Immigration enforcement arrived in Minneapolis weeks ago, but federal officers have flooded the city since Good’s shooting.

Both Walz and Frey have been at odds with federal officials who have argued the officer, Jonathan Ross, was justified in shooting Good. They have criticized the federal response and questioned why the FBI cut out local authorities from the probe into the Good shooting. CBS News first reported on the investigation.

Walz said in a statement Friday the investigation is purely political.

“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic,” he said. “The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her,” he said.

Frey said in a statement in response to reports of the DOJ investigation that he “will not be intimidated.”

“This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, our local law enforcement, and our residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our streets,” he said.

He added, “Neither our city nor our country will succumb to this fear. We stand rock solid.”

The Justice Department declined to comment. The federal statute used in the investigation into Minnesota officials has been rarely used and has roots in the Civil War-era. But it was on a list of statutes listed in a memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi last month, obtained by NBC News, that offered a roadmap for federal prosecutors on how to boost investigations into individuals she dubbed domestic terrorists.

Bondi posted on X Friday, “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.”

The prospect of an investigation which would involve political speech by public officials raises First Amendment concerns that normally would involve a consultation with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section before federal officials opened a criminal probe into public figures or took any proactive investigative steps, according to a person familiar with the matter.

But the Public Integrity Section has been decimated and sidelined in Trump’s second term.

Aaron Terry, director of public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said in a statement Friday that if criticism of the administration’s immigration enforcement operations is the basis for the investigation, “it is blatantly unconstitutional and intolerable in a free society.”

“The right to condemn government action without fear of government punishment is the foundation of the First Amendment,” Terry said.

In Minneapolis, tensions continue to run high; a federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis on Thursday night after he allegedly fled a traffic stop and attacked an officer.

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Today’s top stories

President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota to stop protests in Minneapolis. On Wednesday, immigration officers shot an immigrant man in the leg, sparking unrest on the city’s north side. There are as many as 3,000 federal immigration officers on the ground or expected to arrive soon in the Twin Cities, NPR’s Meg Anderson tells Up First.

• 🎧 Fierce resistance to ICE’s presence continues noisily, as community members follow immigration agents in their vehicles. Anderson notes that observers filming and making noise are peaceful acts of resistance that are constitutionally protected. However, ICE has responded aggressively over the last five days with tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls to disperse crowds. Some people in the community are afraid to leave their homes, including an asylum seeker, who asked to only be identified by her first initial, A. She feels like she can’t see a future for herself or her family.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado came to Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump for the first time and presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize. She is pushing to remain part of Venezuela’s future after the U.S. military operation that resulted in the seizure of Nicolás Maduro. Trump has sidelined Machado and is backing Venezuela’s acting president.

• 🎧 After Maduro’s capture, Trump shockingly said he was not backing Machado for president because she didn’t have the support or respect within her country. Bloomberg and The Economist‘s recent polling shows she has substantial support, and people widely believe her party won the disputed 2024 presidential election by a landslide. NPR’s Carrie Kahn says the timing of Machado’s meeting was extraordinary as acting President Delcy Rodríguez gave a scheduled State of the Nation speech. Venezuela was attacked by the strongest military in the world, but it has to resume diplomatic relations with the U.S., she said.

Yesterday, Trump announced an outline for new health care legislation, which he has dubbed the “Great Healthcare Plan.” The White House issued a fact sheet outlining a framework the administration is asking Congress to develop, with four pillars: drug price reforms, health insurance reforms, price transparency for health costs, and fraud protections and safeguards.

• 🎧 One thing that jumped out to NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin about the fact sheet is that the policies are not new, but like a compilation of the greatest hits of Republican health policy ideas. The proposal doesn’t mention repealing Obamacare, but, given the sparse details provided, it seems to want to let people use federal dollars to buy plans that don’t offer comprehensive coverage. The president’s plan could potentially weaken Healthcare.gov because its plans can be expensive but offer essential benefits and don’t discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.

Life advice

People who have a fear of not being able to sleep are experiencing a phenomenon called “sleep anxiety,” which, if it is left untreated, can prevent people from getting any shut-eye. One of the most effective ways to overcome this form of anxiety is through cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). But you don’t need the official program to benefit from CBT-I. Whether you’re dealing with some sleep stress or simply struggling with an off-night from time to time, these CBT-I practices can help:

• 💤 Wake up at the same time every day, which can help your body know when it’s time to get sleepy.
• 💤 Pick a time to transition from daytime activities to nighttime activities in an effort to focus on winding down for bed earlier.
• 💤 If stress comes before bedtime, put some dedicated “worry time” on your calendar during daylight hours. You could use that time to write out what’s bothering you so you can relax later.

For more guidance on how to beat the anxiety of insomnia, listen to this episode of NPR’s Life Kit. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.

Weekend picks

Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir and Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

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Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:

🍿 Movies: Kristen Stewart makes her feature-length directorial debut with The Chronology of Water, based on Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir about growing up with an abusive father and confronting personal memories. Hear what Stewart told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep about the film.

📺 TV: NPR’s Eric Deggans finds Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to be promising, setting the table for future achievement, but not quite ready to prove its value against Trek series legends like Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock.

📚 Books: The new year brings promising titles from George Saunders, Julian Barnes, Jennette McCurdy, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and more. See what publishes this month.

🎵 Music: From Dry Cleaning’s Secret Love to Jenny On Holiday’s Quicksand Heart, check out the new music that was released today. Plus, a musical playlist to start your weekend off right.

❓ Quiz: I scored a decent seven out of 10. Think you can beat that? Put your knowledge to the test!

3 things to know before you go

Tom Sinclair today, smiling while he holds a large cauliflower.

Tom Sinclair

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Tom Sinclair

1. When Tom Sinclair was 6 years old, he wandered away from his family’s campsite on Lake Superior and got lost. At dawn, he heard the voice of his unsung hero, a stranger who was part of an extensive search to find him. Now, at 66, Sinclair still keeps the newspaper clipping about his rescue and believes the man saved his life.
2. A new national database helps track how state and local governments spend their share of settlement funds. This includes the District of Columbia, which will receive more than $80 million in opioid settlement money over the coming years. (via WAMU)
3. Jodie Foster has spoken French since childhood, but only now has she taken on a lead role scripted almost entirely in the language of Molière, for A Private Life. And, she hopes to take part in more French films.

This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.