As Scott notes, your correspondent broke a major news story here in Minnesota earlier this week: state Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, was caught on a leaked one-hour audio recording, meeting with figures associated with the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal. To date, 45 individuals have pled guilty or been convicted in the fraud.
The fraud was perpetrated against a federal free-food program, meant to feed low-income children. In Minnesota, the federal program was overseen by the state Dept. of Education (MDE).
Keith is in his second term as MN AG. You may recall that he served in the U.S. Congress, representing Minneapolis, for a dozen years. He was succeeded in Congress by the current holder of that seat, Rep. Ilhan Omar.
While still serving as a congressman, Ellison ran for, and lost, the position of Chair of the national Democratic party. He accepted the consolation prize of Deputy Chair, replacing, of all people in the world, Tulsi Gabbard. He served as Deputy Chair for a year and a half until his election in 2018 as state AG.
As Scott reminds, Ellison serves, in effect as the state’s top law enforcement officer. His office, by statute, serves as the lawyers for state agencies when they are involved in any litigation. The AG’s office also includes an investigative unit dedicated to fighting fraud and a separate unit regulating the state’s nonprofit companies.
During the 2020-2021 Feeding Our Future scandal, Keith Ellison failed on all four counts. His office has not brought a single criminal case related to the food fraud. And his inaction is not the result of a jurisdictional issue. His office’s fraud unit routinely prosecutes state cases involving federal programs, usually Medicaid/Medicare.
Ellison’s attorneys did an abysmal job representing MDE in their protracted litigation involving the nonprofit company Feeding Our Future at the center of the scandal, with the state losing in court at every opportunity. Looking back, it’s difficult to determine whether the result can be attributed to gross incompetence, or active sabotage.
Speaking of the AG’s fraud unit, Ellison brags on the recording of routinely undermining their work by intervening directly with the leadership of the state Dept. of Human Services (DHS), another state agency for which Ellison serves as the attorney of record.
Finally, his charities division did nothing before the scandal broke, and precious little afterward, to hold the hundreds of nonprofits involved accountable.
What does Ellison say for himself? Local TV outlet Fox 9 obtained a statement from his office on that fateful 2021 meeting recorded on tape. Ellison says,
AG Ellison was asked to sit down with a friend that day, Imam Mohamed Omar. When the AG arrived, he was surprised to find others present but agreed to meet with them. It is a shame that these fraudsters tried to exploit the Attorney General’s good-faith engagement, but they were not successful. Nothing happened as a result of the meeting.
“Nothing happened” is true in two senses. Ellison had little time to follow through on his apparent pledge to intervene on behalf of the fraudsters as the FBI conducted massive raids just five weeks later.
Also, “nothing happened” exactly describes Ellisons nonexistent efforts to support the investigation and bring the criminals to justice.
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