On Wednesday, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer accused Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison of deceit regarding a 2021 encounter with Somali individuals who were later convicted of fraud. This confrontation took place during a House Oversight Committee session focused on welfare fraud in Minnesota.
Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, criticized Ellison for his comments during the meeting, in which the Attorney General assured the soon-to-be criminals, who at the time claimed to be victims of discriminatory state actions, by saying, “I got your back.”
Ellison has defended himself by asserting that he was misled by those involved in the Feeding Our Future scandal, arguing they exploited his trust and good intentions.
Emmer, in an interview with The Post, expressed his skepticism, stating, “He’s clearly got something to hide. The sequence of events appears increasingly incriminating for Keith Ellison.”
Further, Emmer suggested that if evidence surfaces showing Ellison obstructed the investigation into the Feeding Our Future fraud in return for campaign contributions, as implied by the audio recording of the December 2021 meeting, severe consequences should follow. “He needs to be disbarred, and he needs to go to jail,” Emmer declared.
Ellison often points to an op-ed he penned in April 2025, where he discusses the meeting, explaining that he engages with numerous constituents annually. According to Ellison, a friend had informed him that these individuals were being unfairly targeted by state authorities.
“I took a meeting in good faith with people I didn’t know and some turned out to have done bad things,” he claimed at the time. “I did nothing for them and took nothing from them. Some months later, some of them were held accountable for their illegal conduct in the Feeding Our Future case.”
“I’m glad they were.”
But Emmer took issue with Ellison’s narrative that his office ultimately helped the feds nab the Feeding Our Future fraudsters.
“I think he was lying,” Emmer explained, adding: “I asked him questions that he clearly did not give complete answers to.”
“Keith was trying to walk that line where what was coming out of his mouth, he wanted it to be the truth, but not the whole truth. He wasn’t telling you everything. “
Emmer cited the Oversight panel’s interim report on the sweeping Minnesota fraud scandal, which dropped on Wednesday, as confirming “a lot of what I and a lot of other people are thinking.”
During his confrontation with Ellison, Emmer took issue with how the AG’s office suggested in September 2022 that it was “deeply involved in the Feeding Our Future case since September of 2020,” despite Ellison meeting with the fraudsters in December 2021.
“That actually sounds like you are saying that at the time of your infamous meeting with the Somali fraudsters, you were already aware of the allegations of fraud,” the majority whip exclaimed.
Going forward, Emmer said he expects more whistleblowers to confirm allegations that the Minnesota government under Democrat Tim Walz ignored or retaliated against individuals who sounded the alarm on the scandal.
“At some point, Minnesotans are going to recognize that these Democrats are not only completely incompetent, they’re corrupt,” he said. “And we need a change.”
Ellison’s team referred The Post to the AG’s op-ed when contacted for comment.
