Attorney General Keith Ellison was grilled about the Feeding Our Future scandal at a meeting of the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Specifically, GOP lawmakers questioned the attorney general about a 2021 meeting he had with people who have since been charged or convicted for their involvement in the food fraud scheme.
Meeting with Feeding Our Future
In January of 2022, federal authorities raided Feeding Our Future (FOF), a nonprofit that was later found to be at the center of a $250 million fraud scandal.
When indictments were handed down later that year, Ellison issued a statement which touted his office’s work to hold the nonprofit accountable during the preceding two years. That statement also detailed how the attorney general’s office assisted federal authorities with the investigation of FOF.
However, an audio recording recently emerged of a December 2021 meeting that Ellison had with some of the people at the center of the food fraud scandal.
In that meeting, the group told the attorney general about an ongoing fight they were having with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), the state agency which issued many reimbursements to FOF in connection to fraudulent claims of providing food to children.
The fight dated back to 2020 and involved MDE deciding not to approve new applications submitted by FOF, a lawsuit that FOF filed against MDE, and MDE temporarily shutting of reimbursements to FOF.
In Minnesota, the attorney general is the chief legal officer of the state and is responsible for representing the state and its agencies in legal matters. As such, MDE is a legal client of Ellison’s and the attorney general represented MDE in the court proceedings against FOF.
Republicans question Ellison at committee hearing
Following a brief presentation from the attorney general and a discussion about charity regulations, Monday’s fraud committee hearing quickly turned to the December 2021 meeting.
Addressing legislators, Ellison said he was unaware at the time that the people he was speaking to were being investigated for potential fraud. The attorney general explained that he took the meeting in December of 2021 at the request of a friend to hear about concerns some people were having about a state agency.
Ellison noted that he takes meetings all the time with people to hear their various concerns. As such, the attorney general characterized the conversation as a meeting with constituents he did not know. According to Ellison, the group represented themselves as “business people who had concerns.”
After listening to the group, Ellison said he went to his staff and learned that the people he had spoken to were the subject of an ongoing fraud investigation. The attorney general said that upon learning this information, he did not follow up with the group and his office assisted with the case against the Feeding Our Future fraudsters.
During the hearing, Republicans played audio clips of the conference call and asked questions. Responding to those questions, Ellison explained more about the call.
“Well, let’s keep in mind in December of 2021 the search warrants would not issue for another month,” said Ellison. “Indictments wouldn’t occur for another nine months. When I’m sitting in that meeting, there is no logical way for me to know what these people have done unless I would’ve had some way to know the future.”
The attorney general further explained that he often hears from people who are attempting to start businesses but have problems with state agencies.
“Not everything is an adversarial relationship, sometimes if you have a problem and you can talk to the agency and the vendor and resolve the matter, that’s a preferable way to do it,” said Ellison.
WATCH: Attorney General Keith Ellison is grilled by state lawmakers following a leaked recording of his meeting with Feeding Our Future fraudsters.
“Why are you offering help to these people to work against your client, who’s the agency?” pic.twitter.com/0dkxmZoj97
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) April 28, 2025
Ellison repeatedly emphasized that he learned more about the group after the meeting via his staff, he did not follow up with the group, and he assisted the investigation against the fraudsters.
Addressing why he was not familiar with the group, the attorney general explained that his office employs over 430 people, his lawyers knew the situation very well, but he does not know “every single thing that happens on every single file.”
The chair of the fraud committee, Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, issued a statement following the hearing.
“There are still unresolved questions about when the Attorney General became aware of Feeding Our Future’s misconduct, how vigorously he defended his clients, the state agencies, and whether he put undue pressure on agencies to back down,” said Robbins.
“We need full transparency to ensure that Minnesotans’ taxpayer dollars are protected, and that our state’s top legal office is held to the highest standards of integrity,” added the GOP lawmaker.
Alpha News reached out to Ellison’s office for this story but did not immediately hear back.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
Subscribe Below To Our Weekly Newsletter of our Latest Videos and Receive a Discount Code For A FREE eBook from our eBook store:
