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A sweeping fraud scandal is putting Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in the spotlight, reviving questions about his controversial ties to progressive environmental causes.
Ellison, who has served as attorney general since 2019 after more than a decade in Congress, has long-drawn conservative criticism for aligning his office with left-wing priorities, from climate litigation to political fights over immigration enforcement.
Now, with a federal investigation underway into what prosecutors allege was a massive scheme to siphon taxpayer funds meant to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ellison is facing intensified attention — and his long-simmering, controversial environmental ties are back under a harsher spotlight.
The state attorney general has joined local Democrats in denouncing the fraud scandal, with Ellison calling it a “a truly despicable act,” while also criticizing the Trump administration, most recently for the presence of federal law enforcement in Minneapolis and the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
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The latest flashpoint centers on Ellison’s 2021 meeting with Somali community figures tied to Feeding Our Future, described by prosecutors as one of the largest pandemic-era fraud cases in the country, allegedly costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and serving as the precursor to investigators uncovering other fraud schemes in the state.
Ellison came under fire earlier in January after details of that meeting resurfaced — including audio previously obtained by Fox News Digital in which attendees discuss securing more funding and then pivot to political donations ahead of Ellison’s 2022 reelection.
“The only way that we can protect what we have is by inserting ourselves into the political arena … putting our dollars in the right place,” one attendee says on the recording, referring to backing candidates who will “protect our interests.”
“That’s right,” Ellison responds.
Ellison has denied wrongdoing, arguing he had no knowledge of the alleged crimes at the time. In an April 2025 op-ed in the Minnesota Star Tribune, he said he took the meeting “in good faith” and insisted he “did nothing for them and took nothing from them.”
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A Minnesota woman convicted in the scheme alleged that Gov. Tim Walz and Ellison were aware of the widespread fraud before it hit the nation’s radar, which Ellison forcefully denied.
“She is a liar, fraudster, and manipulator of the highest order who has never acknowledged or accepted her guilt,” an Ellison spokesperson told Fox Digital earlier in January. “Now, she’s on a media tour to deflect her guilt onto others instead of finally taking responsibility for the fraud scheme she ran.”
“Federal and state investigators meticulously examined the crimes (Aimee Bock), and her accomplices committed,” the Ellison spokesperson continued. “Bock alone is responsible for her own actions, which was proven in court beyond a shadow of a doubt, and her claim about Attorney General Ellison is a lie without a shred of evidence behind it.”
Ellison has notably leaned into the left’s climate agenda as attorney general, accusing oil companies of “decades of deception and disinformation,” blaming them for delaying a “transition to a low-carbon economy,” and casting his lawsuit as part of a broader push to fight what he calls a “climate crisis” and preserve “a livable world” for future generations.
Rewinding to Ellison’s attorney general career ahead of the scandal, Republicans frequently have taken aim at his close ties to environmental groups.
In 2020, Ellison requested that a U.S. District Court allow partners of an eco-law firm, Sher Edling, to serve as outside counsel, court filings show and outlet Energy in Depth reported at the time. Ellison filed consumer-protection lawsuit that year against ExxonMobil and oil interest groups that is still wrapped up in court.
Sher Edling is a California-based law firm that has become a key outside player in government-led climate litigation across the country, representing Democrat-run states and cities in lawsuits accusing oil and gas companies of misleading the public about climate change.
On a similar note, Ellison’s office has teamed with a New York University program backed by billionaire climate activist Michael Bloomberg to place climate fellows in attorneys general offices in at least 10 states. Ellison’s office previously has published documents showing at least one attorney, identified as a “Special Assistant Attorney General,” who has served in his office as a fellow with NYU’s State Energy & Environmental Impact Center.
Republican Oversight Committee chairman James Comer said in July 2025 that his committee was investigating the program for ethics concerns as they relate to left-wing interest groups potentially influencing climate matters.
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Minnesota House Republicans also have previously outlined that Ellison’s office relied on “Special Assistant Attorney General” positions backed by the NYU program — a setup they said raised questions about independence and influence in a 2024 letter to the attorney general. A trio of state lawmakers also said they were troubled that, while working with the Special Assistant Attorney General, Ellison’s office also brought in Sher Edling under an incentive-based fee agreement, calling the arrangement a cause for concern given the scale and political sensitivity of the state’s climate lawsuit.
“Explain why it was necessary for your Office to retain Sher Edling to litigate the Minnesota climate litigation, despite having already having two Special Assistant Attorneys General working on this litigation ‘full time’ in addition to your existing staff,” a trio of Minnesota House Republicans wrote to Ellison in 2024 that included five questions surrounding the AG office’s work with climate groups.
Ellison responded to the lawmakers, saying his office acted transparently and within the law, and arguing that bringing in outside attorneys and fellows was necessary to bolster his office’s capacity to handle complex climate litigation under his direct supervision.
“I engaged Sher Edling to ensure that the AGO has sufficient bench strength to handle the case in discovery and trial. The defendants in the case have currently engaged seven law firms, and more than a dozen attorneys are representing the defendants,” he wrote.
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“The AGO hired Sher Edling because they are the most accomplished law firm in the country at protecting consumers from the decades-long campaign of fraud and deception that the fossil-fuel industry writ large has conducted,” he continued, brushing off lawmakers’ concern about left-wing third parties and special-interest groups that have funded Sher Edling.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Ellison’s office, Sher Edling and NYU’s State Energy & Environmental Impact Center for additional comment but did not immediately receive replies.
Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan and Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
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