Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tore into Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison during a Senate hearing on the state’s massive fraud scandals, saying a 24-year-old independent journalist found what state officials failed to find for years. Hawley questioned Nick Shirley about what he uncovered by checking public records, visiting sites, and asking basic questions. Shirley said the fraud was “everywhere.” Hawley then turned the discussion toward Ellison, campaign contributions, and why the Democrat attorney general has not been prosecuted.
The exchange came as Minnesota remains under national scrutiny over fraud in taxpayer-funded programs, including the Feeding Our Future scandal and other alleged abuses involving public money. Shirley has drawn attention for visiting Minnesota facilities and filming what he described as obvious signs of fraud. Hawley used the hearing to contrast Shirley’s findings with Ellison’s past handling of fraud referrals.
The clip was later shared by Libs of TikTok with the claim that Ellison was “in on the fraud.” Hawley began by asking Shirley about how little it took to find problems. “You asked a few questions and you looked,” Hawley said. “You actually looked to see if there was fraud.” Shirley answered, “Yes.” Hawley then said Shirley found it “wide open everywhere, rampant,” and Shirley replied, “Everywhere. Everywhere.”
Libs of TikTok shared the clip on X with the caption, “Keith Ellison is in on the fraud. Why hasn’t he been arrested yet???” In the video, Shirley said the problem was not limited to one program. He pointed to “a lot of the Medicaid programs inside of Minnesota.” He then named examples including non-emergency school vehicles and transportation companies.
Hawley then moved directly to Ellison. “Keith Ellison, when he was Attorney General way back in 2018, 2019, I think we’ve got a poster to this effect, was actually told and had multiple referrals made to his office about fraud in some of the very programs that you looked at,” Hawley said. “I mean, these are, this is years ago now. He had official referrals made to him.” Hawley said Ellison’s response was that he “just couldn’t find any evidence of the fraud.”
Hawley asked Shirley whether corruption inside Minnesota government was a possibility. “Do you think maybe there’s a little bit of corruption at the governmental level in the state of Minnesota?” Hawley asked. “Maybe some of these guys are maybe on the take. You think? I mean, possible?” Shirley answered, “Yeah, it’s not even maybe or possibly. It’s a certainty.”
Watch Hawley question Nick Shirley about Minnesota fraud and Keith Ellison here:
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Hawley pointed to Ellison’s connection to individuals tied to Feeding Our Future. “Keith Ellison, that guy after overlooking $250 million in fraud, he took $10,000 in campaign contributions from the very people who were committing the fraud,” Hawley said. He said those people came to Ellison’s office and asked him “to please get state investigators off of their backs.” Hawley added that they asked him “to shut down the investigations,” and said Ellison “helped with” it.
Hawley’s office previously said the senator grilled Ellison over the scandal and called for him to resign. During that earlier exchange, Hawley told Ellison, “You took $10,000 from them 9 days after the meeting.” He also said, “You helped fraudsters defraud your state and this government of $9B, and you got a fat campaign contribution out of it.” Ellison denied the accusation, saying, “He’s lying and that’s the truth.”
In the clip with Shirley, Hawley said the answer to why officials failed to find the fraud was simple. “Because they’re getting paid by the fraudsters,” Hawley said. He then contrasted Ellison’s office with Shirley’s reporting, saying, “Here you are, 24 years old, got a camera, got the public records, ask a few questions, and it’s everywhere to be seen.” Hawley added, “I don’t know why guys like Ellison are not being prosecuted.”
Hawley closed by accusing Ellison of lying under oath when asked about the money. “He sat there and lied under oath right where you’re sitting now,” Hawley said. “I asked him why he took this money. He said, ‘I didn’t take a dime.’ He took $10,000. It’s on the record.” Hawley then turned back to Shirley and said, “I just want to commend you for what you’ve done.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.