A federal investigation into anti-ICE protesters is raising new questions about just how far the government should be allowed to go in surveilling Americans.

Minnesota Reformer editor-in-chief J. Patrick Coolican joins Kyle Shiely to break down revelations that federal investigators accessed private communications, financial records, labor organizations, and other civic groups while investigating people accused of disrupting ICE operations at the Whipple Federal Building. The tactics are prompting a bigger question: When does a criminal investigation become political surveillance?

Kyle and Patrick connect the controversy to one of the darkest chapters in modern American intelligence gathering—the abuses uncovered by the Church Committee in the 1970s—and ask whether today’s surveillance technology is racing ahead of the laws meant to control it. And there’s a warning for both parties: powers used against your political opponents today can be used against you tomorrow.

Then, the fight over mining near the Boundary Waters took center stage this week when Governor Tim Walz’s issued an executive action which could force Minnesota’s next governor to make a politically explosive decision over mining, jobs, environmental risk, and the future of the Iron Range.

From federal surveillance in Minnesota to the next major fight over the Boundary Waters, Patrick Coolican breaks down two stories with consequences that could extend far beyond the headlines.

Read Patrick's editorial: https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/08/13/the-government-is-spying-on-its-own-citizens-again/