Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison raked in $10,000 in campaign donations shortly after meeting with individuals linked to a nonprofit that stole $250 million from a federal program meant to feed hungry children during the pandemic.
“I’m not here because I think it’s going to help my re-election,” Ellison said during the Dec. 11, 2021, meeting with two future criminal defendants linked to the Feeding our Future scandal, according to audio obtained by the Center for the American Experiment, a conservative Minnesota-based nonprofit.
Days later, on Dec. 20, 2021, Ellison received $10,000 in campaign contributions from individuals linked to Minneapolis nonprofit Feeding Our Future, records show.
The Justice Department has charged 70 people in the Feeding Our Future case, which has thus far yielded 44 convictions or guilty pleas. Several defendants have yet to stand trial.
Federal prosecutors claim Feeding Our Future received millions in aid from the US Department of Agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic to help quickly shuttle food to needy children.
However, only a small amount of the proceeds went towards helping feed poor children as intended, according to prosecutors — the rest was blown on luxury cars, property, jewelry and travel.
The Center for the American Experiment identified Ikram Mohamed, who is expected to stand trial in the case in December, as one of the attendees of the meeting with Ellison.
Salim Said, who was convicted of 21 counts related to the case last month, is also heard in the recording, along with others linked to Feeding Our Future who have not been accused of wrongdoing, according to the conservative nonprofit.
Gandi Mohamed, the brother of Ikram Mohamed and a defendant in the case as well, made a $2,500 donation (the maximum individual contribution allowed) days after Ellison met with the alleged fraudsters.
Three more $2,500 donations linked to Feeding Our Future were accepted by Ellison’s campaign on the same day Gandi Mohamed made his contribution.
“Donor #2 was a man … whose voice can be heard on the December 11 recording, but who has not been charged with any wrongdoing,” according to Bill Glahn, a fellow with the Center of the American Experiment. “A third donation was given by a man, also not charged in the case, whose name was mentioned in open court during the most recent Feeding Our Future trial.”
A fourth $2,500 donation was made by another person with links to Feeding Our Future that was not charged, according to Glahn.
Ellison also accepted a $2,500 campaign donation from Liban Alishire, yet another Feeding our Future defendant, in May 2022, records show.
Ellison’s son, Minneapolis city council member Jeremiah Ellison, also accepted campaign contributions from the Mohamed brothers, Said, four others indicted in the case and several others with ties to Feeding Our Future, the Center of the American Experiment noted.
“I’ve heard that name,” the state attorney general said of Feeding Our Future during the meeting, which appeared to be an effort by those linked with the nonprofit to get Ellison to pressure the Minnesota Department of Education into approving more funds for their scam.
The nonprofit’s headquarters was raided by the FBI in January 2022, weeks after the meeting with Ellison.
When charges were brought in the case, Ellison claimed he had been “deeply involved” in the probe for “two years” – suggesting he was aware the group and its associates were suspected of wrongdoing when his campaign accepted the donations based on the timeline he gave.
“Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and his office have been deeply involved for two years in holding Feeding Our Future accountable,” his office said in a September 2022 press release. “The Attorney General’s Office worked closely with the Minnesota Department of Education as they provided suspicions of fraud and other evidence and information to the FBI, which directly led to the federal investigation and indictments of Feeding Our Future and its founder Aimee Bock.”
“Without the Attorney General’s involvement alongside MDE in flagging that fraud and turning it over to the criminal investigative power of the federal government, there would likely have been no federal investigation or indictments.”
Brian Evans, a spokesperson for Ellison, told The Post that the attorney general “had no way of knowing these people were connected to the FBI’s investigation” when he accepted their campaign contributions.
“Gandi was indicted three years after he contributed. Another individual’s connection to Feeding Our Future was disclosed during trial testimony years after he contributed. The FBI shared almost no information with other state officials about its investigation, including the targets of the investigation,” Evans said.
“The campaign has no intention of keeping contributions from anyone indicted in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme,” he added.
Evans claimed that on the day of the meeting, Ellison “was sitting down with a friend and found his friend had invited other people to meet with him.”
“The Attorney General was unaware of the purpose of the meeting in advance and did not know the people in attendance, which the tape reveals.”
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