Minnesota Democratic lawmakers, including the Attorney General, were handed over $53,000 in campaign contributions by fraudsters who ripped off taxpayer cash meant to feed children.
AG Keith Ellison, his councilman son, mayor Jacob Frey, Representative Ilhan Omar and others received cash from the scammers who siphoned off some $250 million, largely through nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Many did so after meeting the crooks, raising questions about how much they knew.
“I’m not here because I think it’s going to help my re-election,” Ellison said during an encounter with Somali business leaders, two of whom later became criminal defendants linked to the scandal, according to audio obtained by the Center of the American Experiment.
However, days after the December 11, 2021 meeting, Ellison’s campaign took in $10,000 from the businessmen. Gandi Mohamed made a maximum $2,500 donation to Ellison’s re-election campaign. He was indicted on federal bribery and fraud charges last year.
Three more $2,500 donations linked to Feeding Our Future were also accepted by Ellison’s campaign on the same day.
“Amazingly, Ellison has done nothing about the fraud, and he’s the top cop in the state,” said Bill Glahn, Policy Fellow with Center of the American Experiment.
A spokesman for Keith Ellison Thursday denied anyone at the December 2021 meeting had actually contributed to his campaign, and said he “returned every contribution from the handful of people associated with Feeding Our Future as soon as he was made aware of those connections.”
On Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer sent out letters to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ellison as part of an investigation into “widespread fraud” in state social services programs, first reported by The Post.
One branch of the $1 billion welfare fraud — the largest in US history — involved both federal and state payments to Feeding Our Future, which claimed it was distributing millions of meals to kids during the pandemic needy. Most of the meals never existed and businesses connected to the nonprofit in the state’s Somali community pocketed the cash.
Rep. Omar introduced the legislation which made the meals available while also holding parties and being friendly with the owner of Safari restaurant, which is embroiled in the scandal.
Her campaign took in $7,400 in donations from now-convicted fraudsters. The money was returned after the scandal broke in 2022, according to her campaign. She claims to have been completely unaware of the fraud.
Ellison’s son, Minneapolis City Councilman Jeremiah Ellison — a radical leftist who supports defunding the police and Antifa — also received a donation from Ikram Mohamed, brother of Gandi, who was also later indicted, and several others connected to the Feeding Our Future scandal.
Jeremiah, who did not seek re-election this year, claimed he returned the $3,000 in contributions, according to reports.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s recent re-election campaign was also a beneficiary of the largesse, raking in $9,000 from nine defendants. His former policy aide, Abdi Nur Salah, later pled guilty to wire fraud in the Feeding Our Future scandal.
Frey won his election last month against Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh, who also took in $11,000 in campaign contributions from donors connected to the fraud. His campaign said he returned the cash, including a $1,000 donation from Muna Wais Fudhin, the 75th person charged in the case.
“Two of the biggest fraud donations were given to candidates running against each other for mayor,” said Glahn. “Both Frey and Omar Fateh took in thousands of dollars in donations from the people committing the fraud and it played absolutely no role in the election.”
Although Minnesota state agencies knew of problems with Feeding Our Future, it continued to dole out state grants with no oversight and under threat of a lawsuit from the Somali business leaders and others who were participating in the fraud, according to reports.
A sprawling federal investigation has seen 75 people charged so far, with more than half of them pleading guilty.
Among the highest recipients of Feeding Our Future cash was the campaign of Shukri Olow, who is not even based in Minnesota.
Olow heads up Seattle’s Youth and Family Empowerment department. She ran in the Washington state House of Representatives in 2022 as a Democrat. Olow lost the race but her campaign took in $8,750 in contributions from ten people who were later indicted for fraud in Minnesota.
“One of the most bizarre aspects of the Feeding Our Future scandal has been the deep and recurring connections between the case and the city of Seattle, Washington,” said Glahn in a post on the Center of the American Experiment’s website.
Seattle is home to one of the largest Somali populations in the Western US, according to a local report.
Other Minnesota-based recipients included State Senator John Hoffman who took in $3,000 from the fraudsters as well as former state Rep John Thompson, who received $1,000. Hoffman’s campaign said he returned the cash.
