Minnesota
March 4, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Tim Walz and Keith Ellison are testifying this morning before the House Oversight Committee on fraud in Minnesota’s federally funded welfare programs. This will, to some degree, put Minnesota fraud back in the news. I am on vacation and don’t plan to watch the testimony, but Bill Glahn likely is doing so. [Bill: Yes, I am watching the hearing live here. Democrats will only talk about Operation Metro Surge and
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March 4, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The old proverb about causation begins “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost…” For want of a shoelace, United States Attorney Daniel Rosen (my long-time friend — don’t look to me for objectivity) was called to show cause why respondents should not be held in contempt of court by Judge Jeffrey Bryan of the federal district court here yesterday. Judge Bryan’s show cause order is posted online here.
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March 3, 2026 — Scott Johnson
This past week a federal Minnesota grand jury handed up a 19-page superseding indictment naming 30 additional defendants in the Cities Church riot of January 18. I have uploaded a PDF of the superseding indictment to Scribd and embededded it below. The full roster of defendants now numbers 39, including ringleader Nekima Levy Armstrong and reporter/promoter Don Renaldo Lemon. The superseding indictment charges the same two counts as the original
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February 27, 2026 — John Hinderaker
President Trump is carrying out the immigration policies on which he ran successfully for the presidency, but Democrats assure us that Americans oppose his efforts to roll back the outrageous illegal immigration of the Biden years. In particular, Democrats tell us that Americans hate ICE. Is that true? If there is any state where ICE is unpopular, it should be Minnesota. Minnesota was home to a massive resistance to federal
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February 27, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Trump administration is looking at the issues implicated in Ilhan Omar’s naturalization. That is what is to be inferred from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon’s comments in the video clip below: “It’s a truism of immigration law that if you commit fraud in the course of obtaining your citizenship…if you lie about your marriage status on which your citizenship depends or you’re familial status or what have you, if
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February 27, 2026 — Scott Johnson
It was big news on X and has made the New York Post, but I can find no trace of the story in the Star Tribune: “Somali trucker busted driving wrong way down highway failed English test and couldn’t read road signs.” Following the Star Tribune stylebook, we should probably make that “Somali trucker” a “Minnesota man.” The “Somali trucker” is reportedly “Minnesota man” Abdiasis Ibrahim Ali. 🚨🚨 DISTURBING: We
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February 27, 2026 — Scott Johnson
St. Paul Academy is my high school alma mater and it hurts to see what has become of it. When the school conveyed the message that students need protection from ICE at the Winter Dance, a parent forwarded the message to Alpha News. Alpha reporter Liz Collin posted it on X. It has drawn more than 140,000 views and widespread criticism. I asked school officials what it was all about.
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February 26, 2026 — Scott Johnson
We learn via X that Dr. Oz has deferred $259.5 million of quarterly federal Medicaid funding in Minnesota to prevent payment of questionable claims while further investigation is completed. The related press release explains: CMS’ review of Minnesota’s Medicaid spending for the fourth quarter in FY 2025 resulted in a deferral of $259,505,491 in federal matching funds. This includes state expenditures of $243.8 million for unsupported or potentially fraudulent Medicaid
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February 25, 2026 — Bill Glahn
It appears that the U.S. Department of Justice will be appealing that baseless contempt of court citation imposed by Minnesota-based federal district Judge Laura Provinzino (Biden appointee) last week. I covered the incident here, which involves a habeas corpus case captioned Rigoberto Soto-Jiminez v. Bondi, et. al (File No. 26-cv-957). The facts are pretty straightforward: Mr. Soto is an illegal alien, picked up by ICE. His private lawyer filed a habeas petition for his release. Contrary
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February 23, 2026 — Scott Johnson
We went to see the current touring production of Les Misérables at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Minneapolis last night. The tickets were a birthday gift to my wife — it was her third time seeing various productions of the show. She wanted to see it again. Last night it played to a packed house of 2,600 in the conclusion of its six-day run in town. I identified with the
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February 22, 2026 — John Hinderaker
On issue after issue, the Democrats are staking out bizarrely radical positions. Everything relating to gender is in this category. Here in Minnesota, the DFL Party is perhaps the nation’s most left-wing. Thus, on all issues relating to gender, state policy is dictated by Leigh Finke, a man (XY chromosomes) who wears dresses. Here, Finke explains why he opposes a proposed law that would require age verification for pornographic web
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February 21, 2026 — Bill Glahn
From the Associated Press (AP), How a defendant in Minnesota went free because of Justice Department turmoil. The AP wants you to be angry at Donald Trump for enforcing immigration laws. AP reports, As far as I can piece together, Mr. McKay’s dozen previous felony convictions all were acquired in state courts. Yet, not a single state prosecutor, not a single state judge thought to put Mr. McKay behind bars.
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February 21, 2026 — Bill Glahn
The latest weapon in the Democrats’ war against ICE and the enforcement of immigration laws is judicial contempt of court filings, including cash fines and threats of imprisonment for government employees as they inevitably fall short of the impossible and contradictory demands of federal judges and the “immigration bar.” I’ve documented the practice before in conjunction with the overuse of the habeas corpus petitions. Private lawyers file such petition to
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February 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker
My friend Walter Hudson is a Republican member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. Yesterday, Walter took the floor in the House chamber and told Democrats the truth about their insurrection against the Supremacy Clause and the Constitution. What he says about Renee Good and Alex Pretti is particularly on point. The Democrats couldn’t deal with it. Note that the DFL posted Walter’s remarks, but completely misrepresented them, because they
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February 19, 2026 — Bill Glahn
Minnesota-based federal district Judge Laura Provinzino (Biden appointee) has found a government lawyer in contempt of court, imposing a $500-a-day fine, for not returning an illegal alien’s ID to him fast enough for her satisfaction. There is not one bit of hyperbole or exaggeration in the above sentence. The case involves an apparent illegal alien, Rigoberto Soto-Jiminez, at one time held in ICE custody, and the subject of a successful
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February 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Bill Melugin calls this a “wild one.” Melugin posts this February 18 press release to tell the story of a Minnesota correctional officer and AWOL National Guard member masquerading as a an American citizen despite having no legal status in the United States. The serial fraudster was identified as part of the major enforcement operation that targeted suspected immigration fraud — where else? — in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area last
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February 18, 2026 — Bill Glahn
Fahima Egeh Mahamud became the 79th defendant charged in the sprawling Feeding Our Future fraud case, and the first to be charged in 2026. She is currently being held in the federal lockup at the Sherburne County (MN) jail. According to court filings in the case, Mahamud operated a food distribution site under the name Future Leaders Early Learning Center under the sponsorship of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. According
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