Keith Ellison

The lonesome death of Tyesha Edwards

Featured image In the early days of Power Line John and I wrote several columns for the local newspapers decrying the murder of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. Tyesha was doing her homework at the dining room table in November 2002 when she was caught in the crossfire of Minneapolis gangbangers. Myon Burrell was convicted twice of Tyesha’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. In our columns we made three basic points: 1) »

Attorneys General Take Pride

Featured image This Star Tribune headline caught my attention: “Keith Ellison, other state attorneys general concerned with Target pulling Pride products.” Why on earth would Target’s response to customer complaints be a matter of concern to attorneys general? What possible crime could they be looking into? Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and a group of 14 other attorneys general penned a letter to Target CEO Brian Cornell this week expressing concern about »

“Break the Wheel,” or something: A review

Featured image City Journal has posted my essay/review of Keith Ellison’s Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence. I am grateful to managing editor Paul Beston for letting me have my say under the auspices of City Journal and for giving me permission to cross-post my review on Power Line today. Please see the review as published with links here at City Journal. Having covered Ellison’s career on Power Line »

Questions for Keith Ellison

Featured image Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s new memoir– Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence — received glowing press in the days following its publication on May 23. The Star Tribune, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and NPR all lent a hand in the public relations for the book. Asking around among publishing sources, I am advised that Ellison’s book sold 410 copies in the first week »

“Break the Wheel,” or something, part 6

Featured image This should be the last part of my series of notes on Keith Ellison’s memoir of the Chauvin prosecution for the death of George Floyd — Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence. The series has let me take my eye off the news while I read the book and wrote a review that may see light in some form some time in the next week or two. »

“Break the Wheel,” or something, part 5

Featured image Keith Ellison’s Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence posits the death of George Floyd in the custody of the Minneapolis police as representative of the murderous rampage of law enforcement authorities against black Americans. Yesterday I noted that Ellison fails to cite any statistical analysis or study of deadly force police encounters to support the premise that the “cycle of police violence” exists. He also fails to »

“Break the Wheel,” or something, part 4

Featured image Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s memoir of the Chauvin prosecution — Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence — was published last week. It’s good to be Keith Ellison. He’s got the Star Tribune doing public relations for him. He’s got the New York Times doing public relations for him. He’s got the Washington Post doing public relations for him. He’s got NPR doing public relations for him. »

“Break the Wheel,” or something, part 3

Featured image United States District Judge Patrick Schiltz supervised the Blue Grand Jury that indicted Derek Chauvin et al. on federal civil rights charges following Chauvin’s conviction in state court for the murder of George Floyd. The indictment was sealed, but someone leaked news of the sealed indictment to Star Tribune reporter Andy Mannix. Mannix’s story was dated April 29, 2021, a few days in advance of the unsealing of the federal »

“Break the Wheel,” or something, part 2

Featured image I’m still working my way through Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s just-published memoir Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence. I hope to write a formal book review that administers justice to the book. In the meantime, I want to post a series of notes on the book. This is Ellison’s second memoir and it shares certain traits in common with the first, My Country, Tis of Thee: »

“Break the Wheel,” or something

Featured image I’m slowly working my way through Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s just-published memoir Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence. I hope to write a formal book review. I’m taking my time reading the book, compiling notes on it, and doing research on related points. I want to post a series of brief comments on the book on Power Line while I am working my way through it. »

The Santos clause & an addendum

Featured image I detect Seth Lipsky’s characteristic prose and train of thought in the New York Sun editorial “Yes, Virginia–There Is a Santos Clause.” Seth’s hand in the editorial makes sense: he is the editor of the Sun. The subject of the editorial is the post-election discovery that Rep.-elect George Santos is not who he said he was. The subhead summarizes the gist of the editorial: “All the falsehoods George Santos is »

Tea leaf of the day

Featured image David Schultz is professor of political science at Hamline University in St. Paul and writes at Schultz’s Take. I first met Professor Schultz at a taping of the local public television show Face To Face some time around 2000 with my then boss Bill Cooper. Bill was chairman and chief executive officer of TCF Financial Corporation as well as chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party. Face To Face was a »

Keith Ellison: The missing context

Featured image If Keith Ellison wins his race for reelection as Minnesota Attorney General it will be a sad day indeed. If he loses, he will be back. His lust for office is insatiable. Win or lose, history must be told. Ellison must be the single most unfit officeholder in the United States. The competition is intense, the contenders are many, but Ellison’s unfitness reigns supreme. That was the point of my »

Cloak and Dagger In the Free Food Scandal

Featured image Earlier this week, an anonymously-mailed package arrived at the American Experiment office. It was addressed to Bill Glahn, an American Experiment employee who has probably done more than anyone else to delve into the intricacies of the Feeding Our Future scandal. Regular Power Line readers may recall that more than $250 million was stolen brazenly by fraudsters operating under the umbrella of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future and two other »

How Keith Ellison fed our fraud

Featured image The nonfeasance of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison led to the losses taxpayers sustained in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud, according to the Star Tribune story “Could Minnesota officials have stopped Feeding our Future fraud sooner?” The story by reporters Jeffrey Meitrodt and Ryan Faircloth essentially answers the headline question in the affirmative. The headline question should have been reformulated as a declarative sentence: Attorney General Keith Ellison »

Ellison remembers to forget (again)

Featured image I’ve banged my head against the wall on the matter of Keith Ellison for 16 years. He is unfit for any public office. He is most unfit for a public office with responsibility for law enforcement. One such office is the position of Minnesota Attorney General. Unfortunately, that is the position he currently holds. His run for the position in 2018 prompted my column “Can Keith Ellison turn lawman?” Ellison’s »

Fact-checking Esme Murphy: With Jon Justice

Featured image Jon Justice invited me into the studio this morning to fact-check Esme Murphy’s fact-check on the Republican Attorneys General ad opposing the demonstrably unfit Keith Ellison for office. I got a little worked up as the discussion continued over three segments of his Twin Cities News Talk AM 1130 show. Former Esme Murphy colleague Liz Collin called in to provide a little background. Liz now reports for Alpha News and »