‘You Ought To Be in Jail!’: GOP Senator Goes Nuclear On Democrat Attorney General Over Somali Fraud

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley got into a shouting match with Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Thursday over accusations that he helped fraudsters avoid prosecution.

Ellison raked in $10,000 of campaign donations shortly after meeting with criminal defendants accused of stealing more than $300 million from Feeding Our Future, a non-profit that intended to feed low income children during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to audio released by the Center for the American Experiment, a conservative Minnesota-based non-profit. Ellison denied any wrongdoing during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, while Hawley declared that the Minnesota attorney general should be prosecuted for allegedly agreeing to help these individuals during their Dec. 11, 2021, meeting.

“Because the people who ran the Feeding Our Futures program came to you in your official office in the state capitol of December 11th, 2021, and asked for your help in getting investigators off their backs,” Hawley said. “They complained to you for upwards of an hour about state investigators going after them, and they begged you to help them, and you agreed to it, amazingly. And we know you did, because it’s all caught on tape.”

While citing the audio, Hawley quoted Ellison telling the defendants, “send me the names of all these folks who are investigating them’ and “send me their names, and I’ll take that list, and I’ll call the person over at Education who is investigating them and say, what’s going on? Why am I getting these complaints?” 

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“You made pledge after pledge to them. You said, ‘we’ve got to make sure this guy who’s investigating them stops it.’ You said, ‘you have my attention. I’m concerned about this.’ You said, ‘let’s go fight these people, meaning the people who are investigating the fraud.’ Why’d you do it? Why’d you help them?” Hawley said. 

“So, first of all, you’re cherry picking quotes out of there .. You let me answer, and I’ll answer you … Mr. Chairman, I didn’t come here to be insulted. First of all, I didn’t help them,” Ellison said, leading to pushback from Hawley. “I already have my team working on this again. That’s not you? The ventriloquist? My team assisted with the information that led to the prosecution and conviction of these people.”

Hawley then told Ellison he “ought to be indicted” for receiving $10,000 just nine days after the meeting, insinuating that he accepted a bribe in exchange for his help.

“I’m reading the transcript. The amount of money circulating in our community today is powerful. And we haven’t realized it in a meaningful way. And you said, give me the specifics. And nine days later, you took $10,000 from people who were then indicted. It’s in your report, sir!” Hawley said. “Why’d you do it? Was it worth it? … This is what accountability looks like, of which you have none. You helped fraudsters defraud your state and this government of $9 billion. And you got a fat campaign contribution out of it. You ought to be indicted. That’s the truth.”

Hawley also highlighted that the defrauded funds taken from Feeding Our Future went to terrorist groups, transnational trade organizations, as well as child and drug trafficking.

“It’s my hearing, pal,” Hawley said when Ellison said he was talking over him.

“Don’t call me pal,” Ellison said.

“I should call you a prisoner, because you ought to be in jail,” Hawley shot back. 

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Ellison also denied Hawley’s accusations that he blew off whistleblowers after they arrived at his office in 2018 and informed him of the fraud allegations.

Prosecutors charged 78 individuals, most of whom were of Somali descent, in connection with the scandal related to Feeding Our Future. Fifty-seven of the defendants have been convicted in connection to the crimes as of January.

Five daycare centers also at the center of the Somali fraud scandal received nearly $5 million from Feeding Our Future between 2018 and 2021.