Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) had a heated exchange about fraud during an immigration oversight hearing, which ended with the Senator telling Ellison he “ought to be in jail.”

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Mr. Ellison, let me start with you. You’re the Attorney General of the state of Minnesota. Do I have that correct? That’s a yes? MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL KEITH ELLISON (D): Sir, you’re aware of my job. You know the answer to that. HAWLEY: You’re not going to answer my questions? Are we going to start this way? Are you the Attorney General of the state of Minnesota, yes or no? ELLISON: You know the answer. HAWLEY: Mr. Ellison, you’re in my courtroom now. You’re under oath, so I suggest that you answer my questions. Are you the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the state of Minnesota, yes or no? [SILENCE FROM ELLISON] HAWLEY: Let’s try another question. Are you familiar with the $ 9 billion in historic fraud out of your state, including the $ 250 million in the Feeding Our Futures program alone? Are you familiar with that? Don’t turn to the pages in your book to eat your potted answers. Are you familiar with it, yes or no? ELLISON: Yes, I am familiar with it. HAWLEY: Very familiar, aren’t you? Because the people who ran the Feeding Our Futures program came to you in your official office in the state capitol on December 11, 2021, and asked for your help in getting investigators off their backs. They complained to you for upwards of an hour about state investigators going after them, and they begged you to help them, and you agreed to it, amazingly. And we know you did — ELLISON: That’s not true. HAWLEY: –because it’s all caught on tape. Every single sentence is caught on tape. Here’s what you said. Let’s take a look. ELLISON: And obviously you — HAWLEY: You said — it’s not a question. You said to them, “Send me the names of all these folks who are investigating them. You said to them, send me their names, and I’ll take that list, and I’ll call the person over at Education who is investigating them and say, what’s going on? Why am I getting these complaints?” Then you went on to say, “I already have my team working on this. What day should we get together to discuss it again?” You made pledge after pledge to them. You said, “we’ve got to make sure this guy who’s investigating them stops it.” You said, “you have my attention. I’m concerned about this.” You said, “let’s go fight these people,” meaning the people who are investigating the fraud. Why’d you do it? Why’d you help them? ELLISON: Are you going to let me answer? HAWLEY: Please. We’re all ears. ELLISON: So, first of all, you’re cherry-picking quotes out of there. HAWLEY: Why did you help? ELLISON: I thought you were going to let me answer. HAWLEY: Why did you help? ELLISON: Are you going to let me answer? HAWLEY: Why did you help? ELLISON: You let me answer, and I’ll answer you. HAWLEY: Tell the truth, and I’ll let you answer. ELLISON: I will tell the truth. HAWLEY: Good. That’d be a nice change. ELLISON: Now, see, Mr. Chairman, I didn’t come here to be insulted. I came here voluntarily. HAWLEY: You came here for the truth. Let’s have it. Why did you help them? The quotes are here. [CROSSTALK] HAWLEY: They’re in black and white, and every member of this audience can listen to the recording. ELLISON: And they are cherry-picked. HAWLEY: It’s 54 minutes long. It’s all in public. You can Google it right now and listen to it. ELLISON: Right, and listen to it all. HAWLEY: Why’d you help them? ELLISON: First of all, I didn’t help them. HAWLEY: You did help them. ELLISON: No, I did not. I certainly didn’t. HAWLEY: You’re saying you didn’t do anything for them. You didn’t. You didn’t. ELLISON: Well, wait a minute. HAWLEY: I already have my team working on this again. That’s not you? ELLISON: My team assisted with the information that led to the prosecution and conviction of these people. HAWLEY: No, you didn’t. ELLISON: Yes we did! HAWLEY: You didn’t lift a finger to prosecute them. No, you did not.You didn’t lift a finger to prosecute them. ELLISON: It was a federal prosecution. HAWLEY: Oh, BS. You had whistleblowers come to you as early as 2019. ELLISON: You’re the one talking BS. HAWLEY: Hey, listen. It’s my time. ELLISON: He doesn’t know what you’re talking about, sir. HAWLEY: Oh, no, sir. You now have encountered the truth, and you don’t like it. ELLISON: You’re cherry-picking quotes. HAWLEY: Why’d you take their money? Why’d you take their money? ELLISON: I didn’t. HAWLEY: You took $ 10,000. ELLISON: No, that’s a false statement. HAWLEY: $ 10,000. ELLISON: That is a false statement. HAWLEY: Nine days after the meeting. ELLISON: False statement. HAWLEY: You took $ 10,000. Here’s what happened. They went to your office. ELLISON: That’s a false statement. HAWLEY: They solicited money from you. ELLISON: They did not come to my office. HAWLEY: They solicited help from you. ELLISON: That’s also wrong. HAWLEY: They came to your office. ELLISON: No, they didn’t. HAWLEY: It was your official office. You met with them for 54 minutes. ELLISON: No, they didn’t. HAWLEY: They asked you for help. You pledged it to them, and they talked repeatedly about money. In fact, it’s all they talked about. ELLISON: That’s a lie. HAWLEY: Money, money, money, money. They said, “We will put our dollars in the right place. We will support candidates that will fight to protect our interests.” You replied, “that’s right.” They said, “if you are securing your donor base and securing your power base, you can act the way you want.” You replied, “money is freedom.” They said, the amount of money circulating… [CROSSTALK] HAWLEY: I’m reading the transcript. ELLISON: You’re misreading — HAWLEY: The amount of money circulating in our community today is powerful, and we haven’t realized it in a meaningful way. And you said, “give me the specifics.” And nine days later, you took $ 10,000 from people who were then indicted. ELLISON: That’s a lie. HAWLEY: It’s in your reports. Why did you do it? ELLISON: Sir, this… HAWLEY: Was it worth it? ELLISON: You know what? This is a theatrical performance. HAWLEY: This is the truth. This is what accountability looks like, of which you’ve had none. You helped fraudsters defraud your state and this government of $ 9 billion, and you got a fat campaign contribution out of it. You ought to be indicted. ELLISON: Sir, this is completely untrue. HAWLEY: That’s the truth. SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), CHAIRMAN: I think we’ve made the point. Let’s keep the topic of the phone call. HAWLEY: I’ll ask how I want to, Mr. Paul. ELLISON: For the record, he’s lying, and that’s the truth. HAWLEY: Oh no, this is all on the record. ELLISON: Oh, no, sir. HAWLEY: Did you bother to investigate where the money that you facilitated their fraud for, where it went? Do you know where it went? What it was used for? The fraudulent money? I do, because we just heard testimony about it yesterday. ELLISON: Because we were key players in the investigation. HAWLEY: The funds went to hundreds of millions of dollars, to terrorist groups, to transnational criminal organizations, to the drug trade, to drug trafficking, to child trafficking, and you took $ 10,000 — ELLISON: That’s a lie. HAWLEY: — and helped them do it. You know, the other thing is whistleblowers came to you as early as 2019. Let’s look. As early as 2019, whistleblowers [CROSSTALK] HAWLEY: Don’t talk over me. ELLISON: No, no, you’re talking over me. HAWLEY: As early as 2019, it’s my hearing, pal. As early as 2019… ELLISON: I’m not your pal. Don’t call me pal. HAWLEY: Whistleblowers came… Well, I should call you a prisoner, because you ought to be in jail. ELLISON: Well, see what you can do about it. HAWLEY: As early as 2019, whistleblowers came to you in your office and referred to you fraud allegations from Feeding Our Futures, and you blew them off. Listen, your own state newspaper — ELLISON: That’s a lie. HAWLEY: — investigated it, the Minnesota Star-Tribune. The Partners in Nutrition brought its concerns to the Attorney General’s office in 2018 and in 2019, and you did nothing. You did nothing for years. The only action you took is — ELLISON: False statement. HAWLEY: Once all these fraudsters came to your office — ELLISON: It is a false statement. HAWLEY: — and asked you to get involved and offered you money — ELLISON: They did not come to my office. HAWLEY: — then you got involved. Then you took the money, and then you got involved. ELLISON: They did not come to my office. You’re completely wrong about that. HAWLEY: You met with them for 50 minutes — ELLISON: I did not take anybody’s money. HAWLEY: — and you took $ 10,000, and they also gave your family money. They gave your family thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in addition to what they gave you. ELLISON: This is a false statement. HAWLEY: Let’s put the — ELLISON: You know, this is completely untrue. HAWLEY: The New York Post. ELLISON: Yeah, we know the New York Post. HAWLEY: “Minnesota Keith Ellison, AG, accepted campaign donations from individuals linked to the $ 250 million COVID fraud scheme after they were in your office.” The donations came on December 20th. ELLISON: Sir, this is not… HAWLEY: You met with them on December the 11th, and on January 20th, the FBI knocked over their headquarters. ELLISON: No, no. HAWLEY: That’s the sequence of events here. ELLISON: No, it’s not the sequence of events. HAWLEY: You’ve been right at the center of this fraud thing from the beginning. ELLISON: It’s not the sequence of events. It’s untrue. HAWLEY: And you’ve enabled it. And, sir, you should resign. ELLISON: And, sir, you should resign. I was thinking the same thing about you. HAWLEY: You should resign. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. ELLISON: I was thinking the exact same thing about you. HAWLEY: I’m sure after encountering this truth, you are, because it hurts to have accountability, doesn’t it? ELLISON: Because after this parade of lies and presentation, I think you should be ashamed for misrepresentation. PAUL: Time has expired.

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