In yet more bad news for Minnesota AG Keith Ellison, whose ties to Somali fraudsters in a massive $250M+ Feeding Our Future scandal, which is under federal probe for diverting COVID aid to luxury and terrorism-linked groups, his son, Councilman Jeremiah Ellison, faces scrutiny over another potential corruption scandal.
For context, Jeremiah, who earns both a $110K salary and a $57,000 Harvard stipend, requested taxpayer funds for bi-weekly flights to Minneapolis meetings during his fellowship, which were denied as personal development. Critics point out that these erode Northside representation through committee reassignments. Ellison, however, whined about the reports as “hit pieces.”
Announcing the story, a popular post read, “BREAKING – Amid the revelation that Minnesota AG Keith Ellison met with and took money from Somali fraudsters, it has now been revealed that his son has been collecting a $110,000 salary and $57,000 living expense stipend from the Minneapolis City Council while attending Harvard.”
Summarizing the details, a local cable news report stated, as was included in a short video clip embedded in the popular tweet, “Jeremiah Ellison was among the outgoing city council members to get an honorary resolution for their years of service. So I give my gratitude to the north side. But one issue not mentioned, where he’s been the final five months of his term, Harvard University as a Loeb Fellow.”
For context, Jeremiah Ellison has made a number of controversial statements, including, “I hereby, officially, declare my support for ANTIFA,” to describe his own beliefs. Early in 2020, he declared, “We are going to dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response. It’s really past due, and when we’re done, we’re not simply gonna glue it back together.”
Council member LaTrisha Vetaw was unsatisfied with the situation, “I am extremely disappointed in this, and I hope that my colleagues don’t allow this to happen — something to happen to North Minneapolis that is not good for them just once again,” she declared.
Doubling down on her criticism, she noted, “Without Council member Ellison sitting on those committees, we have zero North Minneapolis representation on those committees. That’s not acceptable to the only other North side council member up here.”
"*" indicates required fields
Similarly, constituent Linea Palmisano was upset at the special treatment, saying, “I would like to know if there are other employees who are given that privilege… And, maybe, I don’t think they would ever be allowed that kind of paid leave of absence.”
Reacting to the news, one voert expressed their anger, saying, “I can’t imagine
asking my students to pay for me to commute to and from school. We are his constituents. I also am glad that the city rejected that request.”
Watch the clip here:
In the above clip from local media, the reporter was similarly annoyed, stating, “Our review of council attendance records shows he’s missed five of the 11 meetings ever since he accepted that Harvard fellowship. ”
Digging into the details more, he declared, “Now I was at that City Council this morning, that meeting, but was only able to talk to Allison via text message, where he called this story flimsy, a hit piece, and refused to do an interview unless I could prove that this was somehow in the public’s interest.”
Concluding his comments, the reporter noted that the controversial official stood by his actions. “By the way, he appeared to defend that request, saying the travel was related to his urban planning-related education and urban planning-related job,” the report said.
Featured image from embedded video