Tipsheet

Minnesota AG Brags About Stopping Scammers As the State Reels From $9 Billion Fraud Scandal

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  December 22, 2025 2:00 PM

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison closed out the year with a post on X that drips with irony. He praised the state government for its effectiveness in protecting Minnesotans from scams and fraud, claiming it swiftly shuts down would-be scammers.

"Scammers thought Minnesotans were easy targets," Ellsion wrote. "They were wrong. From student loan scams to fake utility callers, we shut them down this year — fast."

The majority Somali fraudsters in the state were caught diverting roughly $9 billion in taxpayer money from state welfare and Medicaid programs to fund personal luxuries and, in some cases, the Somali terrorist organization al-Shabaab.

Several prominent conservative voices were quick to point out Ellison's hypocrisy.

"Arsonist claims to be fire fighter….," GOP Senator Ted Cruz posted on X.

Former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab, who once worked the Feeding Our Future fraud case in the state, wrote: "Scammers were right. Minnesota was an easy target. That’s why they stole literally BILLIONS of dollars from us." 

"Spare us your feign outrage, Keith," Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer posted. "You’ve done nothing but enable and exacerbate fraud in Minnesota. This all happened on your watch. Welcome to the party."

"You’re kidding right? They literally created a new term called ‘fraud tourism’ to describe how easy it was to defraud Minnesota taxpayers." Townhall columnist Dustin Grage wrote.