Minnesota AG Ellison Rejects $8 Billion Fraud Figure as Vance Threatens DOJ Probe
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 20
Minnesota AG Ellison Rejects $8 Billion Fraud Figure as Vance Threatens DOJ Probe
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 20
Summary
Keith Ellison cut short an interview after rejecting a widely cited $8 billion estimate of Minnesota public-program fraud, calling the figure false and politically driven.
J.D. Vance, who leads the Trump administration's anti-fraud task force, had just threatened to refer Ellison to the Justice Department over what he allegedly knew about the schemes.
Joe Thompson, Minnesota's first assistant U.S. attorney, has said investigators suspect roughly half of $18 billion paid through 14 Medicaid programs since 2018 may have been fraudulent.
House Oversight investigators and federal prosecutors have tied the scandal to multiple nutrition, education and Medicaid cases, including the $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme that expanded during the pandemic.
The clash deepens scrutiny of whether state officials, including Ellison, missed or ignored warning signs as Minnesota's fraud cases became a national political issue.