Feeding Our Fraud: ?s for Keith Ellison

Judge Nancy Brasel plans to submit the charges against Aimee Bock and Salim Said to the jury on Tuesday. When the jury returns with its verdict I hope to write an overview of the case for readers outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area who may find the case of interest.

What happens when you cross a third-world tribal culture with a local Democratic establishment? It’s an interesting question. You can probably guess the answer. The Feeding Our Future fraud provides something of a case study for possible answers.

I have submitted a set of questions arising from the evidence in the Bock trial to Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. On March 3 I wrote Ellison’s press team: “I have covered the first and am currently covering the second Feeding Our Future trials in federal court for the Power Line site. I am working on a story about the case for a national audience. If Mr. Ellison would grant me an interview, I would ask the questions below and others that would come up. Short of that, the written questions below are for Attorney General Ellison with a request for written response by the end of business March 5.” Here are the questions I submitted to Ellison on March 3:

You are quoted saying: “I know a scam when I see one.” When did you see that the Feeding Our Future and its sites were operating a scam?

In other words, when exactly did you became aware of possible fraud in the Feeding Our Future sites?

As I understand the testimony in the case, an administrator at the Minnesota Department of Education called the FBI to report her suspicions of fraud in April 2021. On what date did that occur?

When did you first speak with the FBI about the case?

You say the FBI instructed you to remain silent about the investigation that it commenced in May 2021. Who at the FBI told you not to say anything about the investigation and what exactly did he say? Did he tell you to continue to let the funds roll out the door?

Anyone who visited the sites in issue would see that they were claiming to serve meals vastly in excess of reality and that there was no way they could have done what they claimed to do. Why didn’t you dispatch an investigator or staff member to take a look at any of the sites claiming to serve thousands of children day? Was the investigation beyond the capacity of your office and other local law enforcement agencies?

Did you understand that MDE continued to pay out millions of dollars a month to Feeding Our Future (and its sites via Feeding Our Future) from April 2021 until January 2022? Were you helpless to do anything about it?

Did you think you were hands were tied as millions of dollars continued to be paid to the thieves allegedly serving thousands of meals a day? Did you ask your own staff or the FBI for advice on that score?

Why didn’t you instruct the MDE to stop payments and prepare a defense against the claims Feeding Our Future would bring for nonpayment? It might have saved some $100 million in funds meant to help intended program beneficiaries.

You seem to think this was exclusively a federal matter, yet violations of state law permeate the case. Did you consult with local authorities about bringing state charges before the US Attorney got around to doing so? Did you consider taking on the case yourself?

Was the suspected fraud ever reported to the Office of Legislative Auditor or other state agency? If not, why not.

What did you think of Feeding Our Future’s allegations of racism with respect to MDE’s administration of the program in the spring of 2021?

I have received no response from Ellison’s press team — not even an acknowledgement of receipt.

I’ll post my questions for Governor Walz here tomorrow.