Essential Minnesota

We ended 2025 with a set of very serious fraud charges involving millions of dollars that were supposed to go to services that are a lifeline for some Minnesotans.  And then Operation Metro surge happened.  The deployment was supposed to root out this fraud, but our reporters describe what really happened.  This is part 2 of a 3 part series where our reporters separate reality from rage bait about fraud in Minnesota.  

Guests: 

Jessie Van Berkel, reporter 

Deena Winter, reporter 

Real fraud, allegations of fraud and political rage bait are creating tons of headlines and lots of chaos but not much sense. To parse it out and get to what’s really going on – we go back to 2018 when the first big fraud scandals in the state set the playbook for what we are seeing today.

Guest: Reporter, Deena Winter

We don’t have a new episode for you this week because we are working on a deep dive mini-series unraveling the fraud scandals in Minnesota.  We’ll tell the full story going back a decade and parse out what’s real, what’s rage bait and what people are doing to get us out of this mess. Come on back next week for that! 

It starts as an online flirtation, escalates in intensity and ends in tragedy. The story of one family's experience and the local investigator determined to bring them justice.

Half of the lawyers at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota have left in the past year. We find out why and what that means for people involved in immigration, fraud and violent crime cases – including the case against an alleged assassin.

As Operation Metro Surge ends in Minnesota, massive legal questions remain. Our reporters explain how state leaders are faced with finding a way around the federal government to hold the immigration agents who killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti accountable.

Even with the announcement that Operation Metro Surge is coming to an end, many Minnesotans are still in hiding.  Our reporters visit with one family who has been wondering when it will be safe to come out again.  

Before Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, there was Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Chicago Tribune reporter Greg Pratt describes how it started, the similarities between Minneapolis and Chicago, and finally, how it ended.

We find out what is happening inside the ICE detainment facility in Minneapolis and what people have to do to be set free.

Reporters in Minneapolis fact check federal officials' claims that violence across the metro is caused by state and local officials who have declared Minnesota a sanctuary state and won’t open its jails to ICE. What does the law say?