Keith Ellison, for the State of Minnesota, is joining with Minneapolis and Saint Paul to stop the federal government from investigating the billions of dollars in fraud that he and other Minnesota officials have facilitated over the past few years.
It makes sense, in a way, to do so. All of their necks are on the line, so why not throw a Hail Mary and ask a leftist judge to keep their political heads attached to their political bodies?
Jonathan Turley, though, was not impressed by the lawsuit they filed. It didn’t even cite any legal theory to speak of for why the federal government should not investigate the state’s corrupt use of federal funds.
Ellison is actually trying to get a federal court to prevent the federal government from surging resources in the state to investigate and prosecute fraud. The filing is little more than a press release with a caption on it… https://t.co/7zEkesjFkn
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 13, 2026
How dumb was the lawsuit? Turley cited this classic:
The lawsuit is something to behold, although it does have the virtue of finally recognizing that federalism is a thing. Liberals have been denying the existence of anything like federalism for years, but suddenly it does. Perhaps this is in service of the new Confederacy they are trying to set up, though.
Ellison has been actively trying to tamp down coverage of the massive fraud under his watch, including potentially billions meant to support children and impoverished families.
Recently, a tape was released in which Ellison met with Somali figures later convicted of fraud and agreed with them that they needed to support “candidates that will fight to protect our interests.”
Now, Ellison is actually trying to get a federal court to prevent the federal government from surging resources in the state to investigate and prosecute fraud. The filing is little more than a press release with a caption on it:
“The Trump Administration’s new focus on “fraud” in Minnesota is just its latest attempt to attack Democratic politicians and more aggressively and recklessly implement their immigration enforcement agenda.”
Ellison wants a federal court to prevent the assignment of federal investigators and law enforcement to the state to enforce federal law. Ironically, the state is making this argument as a matter of state rights under the Tenth Amendment (as well as a series of equally frivolous claims under the Administrative Procedure Act).
Ellison is citing a novel theory that states have the right to facilitate fraud using federal dollars. Perhaps he actually believe that, and that is why he promised in a meeting with Somalis involved in the Feeding Our Future scam to ensure that the dollars keep flowing.
At the press conference, Saint Paul Mayor Kaohly Her declared, “Federal law enforcement’s occupation of our city is putting us all at risk.” Ellison repeated the reckless rhetoric, insisting that “this federal invasion of the Twin Cities has to stop, so today I am suing DHS to bring it to an end.”
Nobody, by now, denies that there is massive fraud in the Minnesota welfare system, nor that the vast majority of the money fraudulently paid out came from the federal government. Nor that campaign contributions to the very people suing came from that stolen money.
It is, shall we say, ballsy for the people caught up in the fraud to demand that it not be investigated, but then again, these people have quite a track record when it comes to abusing their power for their own purposes.
They are doing their level best to inflame tensions here to pressure the Trump administration to back off, and they have at least been successful in upping the anger.
However, I doubt they will find a very friendly court system, at least beyond the first judge they shop this lawsuit to.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, the Left’s attempted radicalization of American culture has stalled – for now.
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