Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to statewide office in Minnesota and a convert from Catholicism, has quietly returned at least $12,500 in campaign cash from Somali figures tied to the massive Feeding Our Future welfare fraud after a secret recording surfaced of him huddling with the same crowd to fend off state investigators.
According to the Center of the American Experiment, the five refunded contributions included donations from Gandi Yusuf Mohamed and Liban Alishire, both of whom became defendants in the Feeding Our Future case.
As The Gateway Pundit reported in December, the 54-minute recording, obtained by the Center of the American Experiment and later entered as a trial exhibit, captured Ellison schmoozing with Somali-American operators who would later be charged or convicted in the Feeding Our Future scheme that looted more than $250 million in federal child-nutrition money meant for hungry kids.
The meeting participants complained that state regulators were acting in a “racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic manner” by asking questions about phantom meal sites.
“The only way we can protect what we have is by inserting ourselves into the political arena, putting our votes where it needs to be, but most importantly, putting our dollars in the right place,” Feeding Our Future consultant Abshir Omar said.
“But if you are secure in your donor base, and if you are secure in your power base, you can act the way you want to act,” Omar continued.
“Money is freedom,” Ellison replied with a laugh.
The group then promised “serious money” and “serious organizing” to support Ellison.
“I’m here to help,” Ellison told them. “Let’s fight these people … put a stop to it.”
Ellison also promised to summon Minnesota Department of Education officials to his office.
“I’ll call them in my office and demand some explanations,” he said.
Nine days after Ellison privately met with Gandi’s sister, Ikram Yusuf Mohamed, and other figures tied to Feeding Our Future, Gandi Mohamed contributed the maximum $2,500 to Ellison’s campaign on December 20, 2021.
Ellison’s campaign did not return Gandi Mohamed’s donation until May 2025, shortly after the explosive recording of the December 2021 meeting became public.
Three additional $2,500 contributions accepted on December 20, 2021, were reportedly returned on December 31, 2025, the final day of the campaign-finance reporting period.
Those three donors were associated with people or organizations connected to Feeding Our Future, although they have not been charged with wrongdoing.
Ellison previously returned another $2,500 donation from Feeding Our Future defendant Liban Alishire in September 2022, shortly after Alishire was indicted.
That brings the total returned fraud-linked campaign cash to at least $12,500.
In March 2026, Ikram Mohamed pleaded guilty to wire fraud for helping steal and launder $14.6 million in taxpayer money intended to feed hungry children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gandi Mohamed pleaded guilty the following month for his role in the scheme.
BREAKING: Records reveal Minnesota AG Keith Ellison, a Muslim convert, has had to return at least $12,500 in campaign donations from Somali fraudsters after they secretly met w/ him to discuss fending off state regulators and investigators and freeing up frozen payments on their…
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) September 2, 2026
The Gateway Pundit also reported that Senator Josh Hawley confronted Ellison during a fiery Senate hearing and accused him of helping Feeding Our Future figures get investigators “off their backs.”
“You took $10,000 from them nine days after the meeting!” Hawley shouted.
“You helped fraudsters defraud the state, and you got a fat campaign contribution out of it! You ought to be indicted!”
Ellison repeatedly denied Hawley’s allegations and called them lies.
The Feeding Our Future operation stole approximately $250 million from a federal child-nutrition program by falsely claiming to have served millions of meals to needy children. The money was instead spent on luxury vehicles, real estate, jewelry, and other personal expenses.
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