AG Keith Ellison Gets Testy In Interview About 'Feeding Our Future'

ST. PAUL, MN — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison became testy and frustrated at times Tuesday during a radio interview about the investigation into Feeding Our Future.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the local nonprofit scammed $250 million from a federally-funded child nutrition program. At least 48 people face federal charges in connection with the nonprofit.

Following the charges filed last week, Gov. Tim Walz, Ellison, and other state officials have been accused of allowing mass fraud.

In an interview with Vineeta Sawkar on AM 830, Ellison was asked about when he and Walz began to suspect that Feeding Our Future was committing fraud.

"What was the timeline?" Sawkar asked.

"Well, ma'am, here is the problem. [Republicans] are trying to make me tell things that are legally, ethically, prohibited from saying," Ellison responded. "It's called attorney-client privilege," he added, before saying that "nothing wrong is going on here."

Ellison later stumbled when Sawkwar asked him why Walz incorrectly said that his education commission faced jail time if she did not pay Feeding Our Future.

Listen to the full interview here.

The interview came hours after Ellison's office released a statement saying that he "held Feeding Our Future accountable."

"For two solid years, Attorney General Ellison’s office has been holding Feeding Our Future accountable," said John Stiles, deputy chief of staff and spokesperson for Ellison’s office, in a statement.

"Early on, the Attorney General’s Office worked side by side with MDE to flag evidence of fraud, demand correction from Feeding Our Future, defend MDE from Feeding Our Future’s scurrilous lawsuit — and most importantly, bring evidence of criminal fraud to the FBI, which led directly to the federal criminal investigation and criminal indictments of Feeding Our Future for fraud. Attorney General Ellison’s office has also used its civil charities-enforcement authority to investigate for violating state charities law and make sure a court is supervising its dissolution so it can’t misuse any of its remaining assets."

Ellison said that the Minnesota Department of Education and the Attorney General’s Office are at the origin of the federal criminal investigation and the 48 federal indictments. "Without their efforts, there would have been no criminal investigation or indictments," his office said.

Meanwhile, Ellison's political opponent in the Nov. 8 election — Jim Schultz — has criticized him over his handling of Feeding Our Future.

Also read: Judge Says Walz Lying About Feeding Our Future, Dept. Of Ed Responds