MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison on Friday defended his crime record against aggressive attacks by his Republican challenger, Jim Schultz, who accused the state’s top attorney of failing in his duty to protect the people of Minnesota.
Ellison — a former congressman, state legislator and criminal defense attorney — countered that Schultz, 36, a hedge fund attorney who has no courtroom experience, doesn’t have the knowledge needed to be Minnesota’s Chief Legal Officer.
Crime, abortion rights and the Feeding Our Future scandal — a $250 million food program theft that raised questions about whether state officials responded to it correctly — dominated their heated debate on Minnesota Public Radio, their first of four before the Nov. 8 election in what is considered a close race. Here are some takeaways:
CRIMINALITY
Crime has been Schultz’s signature issue, and he renewed his claims that Ellison supports defunding the police, which Ellison has long denied.
“It’s extremely wrong, and it’s reckless, and it’s contributed to delivering extraordinary crime to our communities,” Schultz said.
While Ellison backed a Minneapolis charter amendment last year to replace the police department with a loosely defined public safety service, which voters rejected, he insisted he had no never supported cutting police funding. He said he even asked the Legislature for “millions of dollars” to fight crime, but was thwarted by key Republicans.
“If I’m supposed to be this ‘defender,’ I have to be the worst ever because I’m looking for more law enforcement resources,” Ellison said.
Schultz called Ellison’s response “complete lies” and added, “Everyone knows the Minneapolis charter amendment was focused on defunding and deconstructing the Minneapolis police force.”
ABORTION
“Women and everyone in the state can count on me to stand up for their rights to a safe and legal abortion. Period,” Ellison said. “They can count on me, if they come to our state and have an abortion here, I will defend their right to travel here and do what is legal here. If another state tries to extradite someone, I will oppose it.
Abortion remains legal in Minnesota. But Ellison reminded listeners that Schultz had vowed to continue “offense, offense, offense” against abortion when he tried to win the GOP nomination. Schultz also served on the board of a “crisis pregnancy center” which Ellison says spreads misinformation by advising women against having abortions.
Like many other Republicans, Schultz tried to avoid the issue. “I’m pro-life and I’m not ashamed of it,” he said before trying to return to crime.
“Keith Ellison is using this as a distraction, a distraction to get away from his failed record,” Schultz said.
FEEDING OUR FUTURE
Schultz also accused Ellison of resorting to abortion to distract from an alleged scheme that federal prosecutors say stole at least $250 million from a program to feed children during the pandemic. . The center’s non-profit organization was called Feeding Our Future. Nearly 50 people have been charged with federal crimes. But questions remain about what state officials, including Ellison, knew about the scale of the fraud, when they learned about it, and whether they could have stopped it sooner.
Schultz said Ellison should have wielded the power of his office before $250 million of taxpayers’ money was spent. Federal authorities have recovered about $50 million so far.
Ellison hailed the investigation as a successful collaboration between state and federal authorities. He noted that three of the defendants had already pleaded guilty. He repeated claims by him and Governor Tim Walz’s administration that the FBI asked them not to stop the flow of money in order to protect the secrecy of the ongoing investigation.
“Through the collaboration, we believe it’s all been pulled root and branch,” Ellison said.
Schultz accused Ellison of lying about his role. “The FBI doesn’t tell victims of theft to send $200 million to people we know are thieves,” he said.
THE MISTAKE OF THE DAY
Schultz asked Ellison if he knew the name of the special agent in charge of the Minneapolis FBI office, who is overseeing the investigation. He didn’t give Ellison a chance to respond before naming Constable Joseph Thompson. Schultz suggested that Ellison had failed the test and was “missing”. But Schultz failed his own test. Thompson is not the FBI Bureau Chief; he’s a federal prosecutor assigned to the case. The local special agent in charge is Michael Paul.
Steve Karnowski, Associated Press