Good morning! Thanks for being here. Grab a coffee and a Danish for yourself. Today is Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. Looking a lot like Christmas around here. Seven inches of new snow, with single-car accidents on the scanner in every county within earshot. Glad I don’t need to go anywhere until this afternoon.
Today in History:
1783: General George Washington resigns his military commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to Congress.
1888: Vincent van Gogh cuts off part of his ear.
1913: President Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act, establishing the modern central banking system of the United States to manage the money supply and promote financial stability.
1968: Apollo 8 orbits the moon.
Birthdays today include French Explorer Jacques Cartier (if you travel Canada at all, you’ll know that name), Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), James Gregory (Barney Miller, My Favorite Martian), and Jazz Musician and vocalist Chet Baker.
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Pretty much on cue, the name of Minnesota AG Keith Ellison has shown up in the news, in the wake of the Minnesota healthcare fraud scandals. He coughed up a video yesterday, as Fox reports:
Minnesota’s attorney general was widely mocked by conservatives on social media over the weekend for a social media post touting his work to crack down on fraudsters at the same time a massive fraud scandal that could total up to $9 billion has exploded in the state over the last several years.
"Scammers thought Minnesotans were easy targets," Democrat Keith Ellison, who has been Minnesota attorney general since 2019, posted on X on Friday in a message that is approaching 1 million views.
"They were wrong. From student loan scams to fake utility callers, we shut them down this year — fast."
Yeah, and Benito Mussolini made the trains run on time, too. The comments tell the tale — Democrats are finally getting called out.
"Arsonist claims to be fire fighter….," GOP Sen. Ted Cruz posted on X.
"Seriously?" asked former sports broadcaster Michelle Tafoya, who is rumored to be mulling a run for Senate in Minnesota.
"How could your team make this video when it was under your nose that Somalis in your state stole up to $9 billion of taxpayer funds meant to help Americans in need?" Post Millennial senior editor Andy Ngo posted.
"Spare us your feign outrage, Keith," Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer posted on X. "You’ve done nothing but enable and exacerbate fraud in Minnesota. This all happened on your watch. Welcome to the party."
Look, this stuff is nothing new with Ellison. In a different report, Fox News notes:
Minnesota’s sprawling fraud crisis has garnered national headlines in recent weeks, but several critics say the problem festered for years, aided by local media that appeared uninterested in holding people in power accountable.
"In newsrooms, they’re told, ‘We can’t run that because we’re going to be accused of being racist,’" Townhall columnist Dustin Grage recently told Fox News Digital about news outlets in Minnesota essentially enabling the fraud by not calling out shocking taxpayer waste occurring primarily within the local Somali community.
The Star Tribune is one example:
"The Minnesota Star Tribune masquerades as a newspaper," New York Post columnist Miranda Devine posted on X. "It's actually a Democrat front, hiding news, twisting facts, lying outright. One of the worst in the country."
Additionally, the paper’s CEO is Steve Grove, who served as Gov. Tim Walz’s former commissioner of employment and economic development, which has sparked criticism from some who say that the paper is hesitant to pin Walz to the fraud crisis.
Fox News Digital spoke to several locals who argued that media outlets either didn’t cover the scandal thoroughly enough or, in cases where it was covered, Walz’s oversight role was downplayed.
This is shaping up to be the perfect storm of what the right has been complaining about for decades. When crimes advantage Democrats, particularly in Democrat-held areas such as Minnesota, the left, including the press, goes into protection mode. That’s been the story since the ’30s at least, likely longer. This is no different.
As for Ellison, I’m seeing reports that he actually met with the fraudsters. You tell me why.
Obviously, this story is still developing and likely will for some months. At the moment, it's developing fast enough that it's difficult to stay on top of it. Even if this proverbial onion isn't totally peeled by the midterms, it's going to impact them heavily.
Related: The Fraud Hits Just Keep Coming
Thought for the day: Falling down isn't a failure. Staying there is.
Be careful today. I'll see you here tomorrow.
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