‘How the hell did this happen?’ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says feds probing ‘disturbing tapes’ of AG Keith Ellison in Somali fraud
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is now issuing a “guarantee” that Somali-linked fraudsters in Minnesota will be snagged, and he points to “disturbing tapes” of the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, allegedly saying he’ll squash probes into people charged with fraud.
In an interview with the Blaze, Bessent said: “That’s part of following the money. There are evidently some disturbing tapes of AG Ellison in meetings with people who donated to him – them calling for political favors to stop the investigations. So we’ll see.
“I don’t want to get out ahead of the investigation. It’s going to be very methodical,” Bessent continued.
“I can guarantee you – when the bear trap snaps, we’re gonna get these folks. We’re going to follow the money, whether it’s over the two counties here in Minneapolis/St. Paul or whether it’s to East Africa. There’s tons of luxury properties, cars that have been bought over there.”
“How the hell did this happen?” Bessent asked. “President Trump is outraged. I’m outraged. The American people should be outraged.”
“There are evidently some disturbing tapes of @AGEllison in meetings with people who donated to him — them calling for political favors to stop the investigations,” says @SecScottBessent.
“I don’t want to get out ahead of the investigation… When the bear trap snaps, we’re… pic.twitter.com/SO4ApkP0P7
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 13, 2026
One leaked audio clip of Ellison has the Democrat meeting with some soon-to-be-convicted Somali fraudsters, saying, “But when you tell me, hey, this is a problem, I call somebody and say, ‘What’s going on?’ And if we don’t want to do what the agency’s saying please do, I call the agency head or the governor and say we cannot do this. I mean, just, we do this fairly regularly.”
Democrat Attorney General Keith Ellison caught on tape! pic.twitter.com/IqgsHuGgZ8
— The Evening Edit (@EveningEdit) January 8, 2026
BOMBSHELL AUDIO: Democrat AG Keith Ellison bragged about helping indict fraudsters who stole $250 million from a federal child nutrition program.
But newly uncovered audio shows Ellison privately offering support to people tied to the scandal. pic.twitter.com/6QTWxnGvOs
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) April 14, 2025
In an op-ed in the Minnesota Star Tribune, Ellison said, “I took a meeting in good faith with people I didn’t know and some turned out to have done bad things. I did nothing for them and took nothing from them.”
Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, now a Fox News anchor, is urging that Ellison be forced to testify about the issue.
“He is on audiotape and he’s talking to the fraudsters,” Perino explained on “The Five.”
“He says, ‘I want to help you.’ They discuss how. They explain that they’re being cracked down upon. He says, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m going to use the power of the attorney general’s office to stop that, to prevent that from happening.’
WATCH:
.@Danaperino breaks down Keith Ellison‘s quid pro quo arrangement with the Somali fraudsters caught on leaked audio.
“[Keith Ellison] is on audiotape and he’s talking to the fraudsters. And he says, ‘I want to help you,’ and they discuss how. They say they’re being cracked down… pic.twitter.com/rWnnM97hdI
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) January 9, 2026
“A few days later, guess what pops into his campaign account. Campaign contributions from those very fraudsters. And he gives that money back only after those people are indicted. So yes, I want to see him have to testify.”
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