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A massive fraud scandal is brewing minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is thrust into the spotlight, once again raising questions about his contentious relationship with progressive environmental causes.
Ellison, who has served in Congress for more than a decade and has served as attorney general since 2019, has long been criticized by conservatives for aligning his office with left-wing priorities, from climate litigation to political battles. migrant law enforcement.
Now, with a federal investigation underway, prosecutors allege a massive scheme to divert taxpayer funds to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ellison faces growing scrutiny as his long-simmering, contentious environmental ties are once again under harsher scrutiny.
The state attorney general joined local Democrats in denouncing the fraud scandal, which Ellison called “truly despicable conduct,” while also criticizing the Trump administration, most recently for the presence of federal law enforcement in Minneapolis and the shootings of Renee Goode and Alex Pretty.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks during a news conference after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on January 12, 2026. (Tim Evans/Reuters)
The latest flashpoint centers on Ellison’s 2021 meeting with people in the Somali community related to Feed Our Future, which prosecutors have described as one of the country’s largest pandemic-era fraud cases that allegedly cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and served as a precursor to investigators uncovering other fraud schemes in the state.
Ellison faced criticism in early January when details of the meeting resurfaced, including audio previously obtained by Fox News Digital in which attendees discussed how to get more money before turning to political donations ahead of Ellison’s re-election in 2022.
“The only way we can protect what we have is to get involved in the political arena … and put our money in the right places,” one attendee said on the recording, referring to supporting candidates who would “protect our interests.”
“That’s right,” Ellison replied.
Ellison has denied wrongdoing, arguing that he was unaware of the alleged crimes at the time. in a April 2025 Column Speaking to the Minnesota Star Tribune, he said he attended the meeting “in good faith” and insisted he “did nothing for them and received nothing from them.”
Flashback: Far-left activist who organized Minnesota church riot praises convicted cop killer
A Minnesota woman convicted in the scheme claims that Gov. Tim Waltz Ellison was aware of the widespread fraud before it came to national attention, but Ellison has vehemently denied it.
“She is a liar, a fraud and a manipulator of the highest order who has never admitted or accepted her guilt,” a spokesperson for Ellison told Fox Digital in early January. “Now, she is on a media tour to shift her blame onto others, rather than ultimately taking responsibility for the fraudulent scheme she perpetrated.”
“Federal and state investigators carefully examined the crimes of Amy Bock and her co-conspirators,” the Ellison spokesperson continued. “Bocker alone is responsible for her own actions, as was proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court, and her accusations against Attorney General Ellison were a lie and were not supported by any evidence.”
As attorney general, Ellison has clearly leaned toward the left’s climate agenda, blaming oil companies for “decades of deception and disinformation,” accusing them of delaying “the transition to a low-carbon economy,” and framing his lawsuit as part of a broader effort to combat what he calls the “climate crisis” and preserve a “livable world” for future generations.
As attorney general, Keith Ellison was clearly leaning toward the left’s climate agenda. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
Looking back at Ellison’s career as attorney general before the scandal, Republicans often point to his close ties to environmental groups.
In 2020, Ellison asked a U.S. District Court to allow a partner at ecological law firm Sher Edling to serve as outside counsel, according to court documents deep energy reported at the time. Ellison filed a consumer protection lawsuit that year against Exxon Mobil and oil interests, which is still pending in court.
Sher Edling is a California-based law firm that has emerged as a key outside player in government-led climate litigation across the country, filing lawsuits on behalf of Democratic-run states and cities that accuse oil and gas companies of misleading the public about climate change.
Likewise, Ellison’s office has partnered with a New York University program backed by billionaire climate activist Michael Bloomberg to place climate researchers in attorneys general’s offices in at least 10 states. Ellison’s office previously Published documents Shows at least one attorney known as the “Special Assistant Attorney General” who served as a researcher at New York University’s National Center for Energy and Energy Research Environmental Center of Influence.
A massive fraud scandal has thrust Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison into the spotlight and renewed questions about his contentious ties to progressive environmental causes. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
Republican Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said in July 2025 that his committee was investigating ethical issues with the plan as they relate to left-wing interest groups that could influence climate issues.
Minnesota House Republicans have also previously outlined that Ellison’s office relies on a “special assistant attorney general” position supported by the NYU program — a setup they said in a 2024 letter to the attorney general raised questions about independence and influence. Three state lawmakers also said they were troubled that Ellison’s office hired Sher Edlin under an incentive-fee agreement while working with the special assistant attorney general, calling the arrangement worrisome given the scale and political sensitivity of the state’s climate litigation.
Three Minnesota House Republicans wrote to Ellison in 2024, including five issues surrounding the attorney general’s office’s work with climate groups, “Explain why it is necessary for your office to retain Shel Edlin to prosecute the Minnesota climate lawsuit even though there are already two special assistant attorneys general working on this lawsuit ‘full time’ in addition to your existing staff.”
On January 8, 2026, during a protest against ICE, protesters attempted to block a vehicle of federal agents from leaving and clashed with law enforcement outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. (Mustafa Basim/Anadolu, Getty Images)
Ellison responded to lawmakers, saying his office acted with transparency and compliance with the law, arguing that bringing in outside attorneys and researchers was necessary to bolster his office’s ability to handle complex climate litigation under his direct supervision.
“I hired Sher Edling to ensure that the Attorney General’s Office is adequately equipped to handle discovery and trial in the case. The defendants in the case currently retain seven law firms and have more than a dozen attorneys representing the defendants,” he wrote.
“The AGO hired Sher Edling because they are the most accomplished law firm in the country when it comes to protecting consumers from the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long campaign of fraud and deception,” he continued, dismissing lawmakers’ concerns about left-wing third parties and special interests funding Sher Edling.
Aliya Rahman was detained by federal agents near the scene where Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE officers in Minneapolis on January 13, 2026. (Adam Gray/AP)
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Fox News Digital reached out to Ellison’s office, Schell Edlin and NYU’s National Center on Energy and Environmental Impact for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan and Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
