Minnesota GOP Representative Calls for Investigation into ‘Cover-Up’ Allegations from Feeding Our Future Leader

Lisa Demuth

Republicans are calling for an investigation into allegations that Gov. Tim Walz’s Department of Education “engaged in deceptive practices” in order to conceal records in a lawsuit related to the Feeding Our Future case.

Aimee Bock, the founder and executive director of the defunct nonprofit, claimed in a court filing last month that the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) “intentionally deleted and hid documents from discovery” when her organization sued MDE in November 2020.

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Lawsuit: Minnesota Education Department ‘Engaged in Deceptive Practices’

School Lunch

 A lawsuit in the Ramsey County Second Judicial Court claims Minnesota Department of Education employees “deleted large amounts of data and intentionally engaged in deceptive practices.”

The education agency sued nonprofit Feeding Our Future over a scheme from May 2020 through January 2022 in which three entities – ThinkTechAct Foundation, Empire Cuisine & Market and Empire Enterprises – collaborated to steal $250 million of Federal Child Nutrition Program money meant to feed hungry children and instead spent it on luxury cars, homes, and more.

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Minnesota Democrats Prime the Pump for Bill That GOP Rep Calls ‘Feeding Our Future on Steroids’

The next legislative session doesn’t begin for another three months. But a duo of DFL legislators who represent swing districts up for re-election in 2024 and 2026 are getting a head start on a bill they plan to push early next year that would provide significant childcare subsidies for Minnesota families above the median household income.

Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn of Eden Prairie and Sen. Grant Hauschild of Hermantown are calling their bill-to-be the “Great Start Affordability Program.” And they say it would aim to subsidize the cost of daycare and preschool for families who are currently just above the income threshold to qualify for state-funded Early Learning Scholarships. Kotyza-Witthuhn and Hauschild said in a hearing at the State Capitol on Monday their goal for such a program is to shore up enough state funding to bring the childcare costs down for Minnesota families to just 7 percent of their monthly income.

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10 More Charged in Feeding Our Future Case, Still More to Come

U.S. Attorney Andy Luger announced charges against 10 additional Minnesotans in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal Monday, bringing the total number of defendants to 60.

One of the new defendants, Sharon Ross, was the executive director of a nonprofit called House of Refuge Twin Cities. According to an October Fox 9 report, DFL Sen. Sandy Pappas from St. Paul personally intervened to help Ross’ nonprofit receive funding through Feeding Our Future in the spring of 2021.

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Former Minnesota AG Ellison Staffers Say His Office Could Have Done More to Stop ‘Feeding Our Future’ Fraud

Attorney General Keith Ellison scrambled to defend his oversight of Feeding Our Future after two of his former staff members spoke out in a Star Tribune article published Thursday night.

The article highlights the state’s shortcomings in preventing the fraud and culminates with the analysis of two former senior members of Ellison’s team, both of whom asked to remain anonymous “for fear of retribution.”

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Minnesota Lawmakers: Walz Admin Broke the Law, Missed Clear Opportunities to Stop Fraud

Republican lawmakers hammered the Walz administration Monday for missing at least five clear opportunities to prevent the Feeding Our Future scandal and violating state law along the way.

In a stunning development, Sen. Mark Koran and Rep. Steve Drazkowski released a letter showing the Walz administration never alerted the Office of the Legislative Auditor to the suspected fraud.

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Senate GOP Report: Minnesota Department of Education Failed to Follow Law in Feeding Our Future Oversight

A new report issued Monday by Republicans on the Senate Education Committee claims the Minnesota Department of Education failed to follow state and federal law in its management of federal meals programs. 

The report says agency leadership “either did not know how to responsibly manage [Food and Nutrition Service] programs or found the faithful execution of those duties burdensome and optional.”

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First Arrest Occurs in ‘Feeding Our Future’ Food Scam

Federal authorities nabbed a man allegedly trying to flee the country after helping steal millions of dollars meant for child hunger programs.

Court documents say Mohamed Jama Ismail, 49, tried to flee the country after authorities revoked his passport in January after authorities raided more than 24 properties and seized more than $6 million from a business he co-founded named Empire Cuisine.

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Minnesota Nonprofit to Dissolve Following FBI Raid

A Minnesota nonprofit that was raided by the FBI last month announced Friday that it is dissolving, blaming “negative media reports.”

The FBI raided over a dozen properties connected to Feeding our Future Jan. 20. An FBI search warrant accused the “conspirators” of stealing “millions of dollars in federal funds” from child nutrition programs, but the nonprofit has denied any wrongdoing and nobody has been charged with a crime to date.

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The Minnesota Department of Education Was Battling Two Nonprofits for Years Before the Alleged Free Food Scandal Broke

The Jan. 20 FBI raids on Feeding Our Future was just the latest escalation in a war between the state agency and two networks of nonprofits operating food giveaways to low-income children. The state Department of Education (MDE) has been battling Feeding Our Future and the related nonprofit Partners in Nutrition (aka Partners in Quality Care) in and out of court going back at least as far as 2017.

MDE oversees locally two federal government free-food programs, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Those two programs are meant to supplement the better-known school lunch program and provide meals to children at times they are not in class — after school and during summers, respectively.

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