Minnesota AG blasts House hearing on fraud scandal in his state : ‘A lot of bulls— from Republicans’

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison gave a profane prediction on what would come from the U.S. House hearing being held on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday on the unfolding fraud scandal in his state. 

“Listen, you’re going to hear a lot of bulls— from Republicans who would rather play politics than protect Minnesotans money,” Ellison wrote. “The truth is, I am proud to hold the record as the most effective prosecutor of Medicaid and civil fraud. Despite Republican obstruction, my office has prosecuted over 300 criminals and recovered over $70 million for the state.” 

The Democrat made the remark on X as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform began its hearing titled “Oversight of Fraud and Misuse of Federal Funds in Minnesota: Part I.”  

“I have proactively fought consumer fraud by shutting down fraudulent nonprofits, taking on student loan fraudsters, and returning millions to victims of predatory companies,” Ellison added. “Let’s be clear: Kristen Robbins, the MN Fraud and Oversight Committee Chair, has resulted in 15 meetings, but zero passed bills and zero cases of fraud.”

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More than 90 people — most from Minnesota’s large Somali community — have been charged since 2022 in what has been described as the nation’s largest COVID-era scheme. How much money has been stolen through alleged money laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers and Medicaid services is still being tabulated. But the U.S. attorney in Minnesota said the scope of the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion. 

“We are unearthing staggering amounts of fraud in Minnesota. As far back as 2014, there were credible whistleblower allegations of millions in daycare fraud,” Minnesota state Rep. Kristen Robbins, a Republican, said during the hearing, just minutes after Ellison’s post on X. “Instead of shutting it down, the state minimized whistleblower reports and allowed fraud to grow.”

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“There’s been more than $300 million in the Feeding Our Future child nutrition program scandal, and the Feeding Our Future prosecutions revealed that as many as half of those indicted also ran other Medicaid-funded programs,” Robbins, who was testifying as a witness during the U.S. House hearing, said. 

“Yet despite this being known back in 2023, Tim Walz and his agencies have done nothing to stop those defendants from getting additional state money. We have now found fraud in multiple Medicaid programs, including autism centers, sober homes, nonemergency medical transportation, integrated community supports, and housing stabilization,” Robbins added. 

She also said, “When Republicans took control or ended Democrat control of the Minnesota House last year, we created the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee.”

“Since last February, we have held 15 hearings where we have grilled officials, exposed new areas of fraud and repeat flagged failures and internal controls,” Robbins said.

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Robbins will appear on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Wednesday night and respond to Ellison’s comments. 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Andrew Mark Miller and Samantha Fox contributed to this report.