Ziobro, who faces 26 criminal charges including leading an organised criminal group while serving as justice minister under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, said he had not fled Poland and was travelling on documents issued alongside a grant of asylum.
He did not specify which country had granted him protection.
Poland's justice ministry said it would also ask both Washington and Budapest to explain the legal basis on which Ziobro was able to leave Hungary and enter the United States despite – according to authorities – lacking valid travel documents.
Deputy Justice Minister Dariusz Mazur said Ziobro had most likely travelled on a so-called Geneva travel document, issued to him by the former Hungarian government.
Holders of such documents must apply for a standard visa to enter the US.
Ziobro left Poland in late 2025 after parliament approved his detention and prosecutors moved to charge him over alleged irregularities in the Justice Fund, a state scheme for crime victims.
He had been allegedly sheltering in Budapest, where he and former deputy minister Marcin Romanowski were granted international protection under Viktor Orbán's government.
Hungary's newly sworn-in prime minister, Péter Magyar, said during his election campaign that he would extradite both men if they remained in Hungary after his victory.
The president of the Polish Bar Council cautioned that any extradition process would be lengthy and partly dependent on political decisions by US authorities.
(ał)
Source: PAP