Keith Ellison - Feeding Our Future - Details on the Recorded Conversation

The recorded conversation refers to a secretly recorded audio (approximately 54–55 minutes long) of a meeting on December 11, 2021, in Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's official office suite. The meeting occurred just one month before the FBI's major raids on Feeding Our Future-related sites in January 2022.

How the Recording Surfaced

• It was secretly recorded without Ellison's knowledge by one of the participants (likely a Feeding Our Future suspect).

• The audio was listed as potential defense exhibit #710 in the 2025 federal trial of Aimee Bock (Feeding Our Future's founder and alleged mastermind) but was not introduced as evidence.

• In April 2025, the conservative think tank Center of the American Experiment obtained and publicly released the full audio file, sparking widespread coverage and political scrutiny.

• It resurfaced again in late 2025 amid ongoing fallout from the scandal.

Key Participants

• Keith Ellison (Minnesota AG).

• A group of East African (primarily Somali-American) business leaders and restaurant owners, including:

  
  

  • Ikram Mohamed (later indicted as Defendant #63; trial pending as of late 2025).

  • Salim Said (owner of Safari Restaurant, a major meal site; convicted in 2025 on multiple fraud counts alongside Bock).

  • Abshir Omar (consultant/advocate linked to Feeding Our Future; not criminally charged but vocal in support).

  • Others who later became defendants or donors.

• The meeting was initially set up with a friend of Ellison's (Imam Mohamed Omar of Dar Al-Farooq mosque), but Ellison arrived to find a larger group and proceeded anyway.

Main Topics Discussed

• The group complained that state agencies (especially the Minnesota Department of Education, MDE) were discriminating against East African contractors, delaying or freezing reimbursements for meal programs, and targeting minority-owned businesses with "piddly, stupid stuff."

• They misrepresented ongoing litigation: Feeding Our Future had sued MDE, and Ellison's office was representing MDE in defense.

• Discussion touched on broader alleged fraud in other state programs (e.g., medical transportation, childcare, autism services), which the group framed as discriminatory scrutiny.

• Fundraising: Attendees repeatedly offered political support and campaign contributions to "elected officials protecting communities of color." Ellison deflected, saying the meeting wasn't about his re-election.

Key Quotes from Ellison (Paraphrased from Reported Clips)

• "This is the first I’m really hearing about it" / "This has not come to my attention until now" (regarding Feeding Our Future issues).

• "I'm very concerned about it... This has my attention. I’m extremely frustrated by it."

• "[Gov. Tim] Walz agrees with me that this piddly, stupid stuff running small people out of business is terrible."

• He expressed sympathy for claims of discrimination and said he was "here to help" or would "check into" their concerns.

Ellison later claimed he was unaware of the full fraud allegations or ongoing FBI investigation (which had been active for ~8 months) during the meeting. He said it was routine constituent service.

Aftermath and Fallout

• Donations: Nine days later (December 20, 2021), Ellison's campaign (and reportedly his son Jeremiah's) received small to maximum contributions (~$10,000–$15,000 total) from individuals linked to the group. Ellison later returned some donations once connections became clear.

• Political Scrutiny: Primarily from Republicans, who accused Ellison of conflicting interests (his office defended MDE against the group's lawsuit) and contradicting later public statements claiming his office had been "deeply involved for two years" in accountability.

• In April 2025, Ellison testified before a GOP-led House Fraud Prevention Committee, where clips were played. He defended it as listening to constituents who turned out to be "liars," took no actions on their requests, and cooperated fully with federal prosecutors afterward.

• No charges or formal findings of wrongdoing against Ellison; he and supporters frame it as fraudsters exploiting a good-faith meeting.

The audio highlighted tensions around race, discrimination claims (used to deflect scrutiny), and oversight failures, but mainstream sources note Ellison appeared unaware of the fraud's scale at the time. The full audio is available via the Center of the American Experiment's site (from their April 2025 release).

A full verbatim transcript of the entire 54-minute recorded conversation from December 11, 2021, does not appear to be publicly available in published form across major news sources, the Center of the American Experiment's website (which originally released the audio in April 2025), or other reporting outlets.

However:

• The complete audio recording is publicly available and hosted by the Center of the American Experiment (the conservative think tank that obtained and released it). You can listen to it directly on their site: https://www.americanexperiment.org/feeding-our-future-keith-ellison-caught-on-tape/ (embedded player with the full 54:44 file).

• A Minnesota House committee (Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight) created an unofficial transcript of the recording during their 2025 investigation. It is referenced as publicly readable in committee-related coverage, but no direct link to the full text was found in searches—likely accessible via legislative records or upon request from the Minnesota House.

• Numerous articles quote key excerpts and timestamps (e.g., Ellison saying "This is the first I’m really hearing about it" at ~30:38, or discussions of discrimination claims, agency scrutiny, and political support). These provide substantial context but not the complete dialogue.

If you're interested in specific sections or quotes, many are detailed in reporting from sources like the Star Tribune, KARE 11, FOX 9, and the Center of the American Experiment. The recording itself remains the primary source for the full content.

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