Operation Puppet Master - A Pilled Government’s Investigation (386)

Travis takes Jake and Liv inside Operation Puppet Master, Homeland Security Investigations’ months-long effort to uncover the supposed command structure and funding behind Minnesota’s anti-ICE protests. Undercover agents entered meetings and Signal chats, tailed activists, and searched union and nonprofit finances. Reports released in the case against 15 activists reveal the bizarre amount of government resources poured into surveilling people in Minnesota, including one instance in which 21 agents spent two hours staking out a “de-arrest” training session that had already been canceled. The crew examines what happens when QAnon-style paranoia acquires federal badges, undercover agents, and subpoena power.

Sant et al Indictment

https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1446251/dl?inline

December 2025 Undercover-Agent Activity: ICEWatch, Upstander, Sunrise and Rapid Response

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.12.pdf

January 1–26 Undercover Activity Operation Puppet Master Version

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.25.pdf

February 1 TCDA “Art Club” Meeting and Fundraising Discussion

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.21.pdf

February 22 Loring Park Surveillance of the Canceled “De-Arrest” Training

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.15.pdf

March 28 Surveillance of Eventual Defendants at the No Kings Demonstration