Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reacted strongly when questioned about his role in the Minnesota fraud scandal. This comes after Vice President JD Vance suggested referring Ellison to the Justice Department over alleged involvement in the scheme.
Vance, leading the Trump administration’s anti-fraud task force, urged an investigation into Ellison’s alleged awareness of the expansive fraud case in Minnesota.
“That is a false number,” Ellison stated. “The fact is, is that fraud is always wrong.”
Ellison dismissed an $8 billion fraud figure as being political. He ended the interview abruptly, arguing the number was associated with ‘those aligned with the Trump Administration’.
The $8 billion estimate has been referenced by the House Oversight Committee and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson. They claim massive losses due to fraud in Minnesota’s public assistance programs.
Thompson remarked that around half of the $18 billion distributed through 14 Medicaid programs since 2018 could involve fraud. The Minnesota scandal became prominent amid federal investigations and fraud cases in nutrition, education, and Medicaid programs.
Prosecutors highlighted that multiple nonprofits rerouted taxpayer funds through fraud, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the Feeding Our Future scheme was linked to Minnesota’s Somali community.
House Oversight Committee investigators assert Ellison knew about fraud issues years before they emerged, based on interviews with various officials.