FRIGID FRIDAY
Today Gov. Tim Walz will have a news conference to bash Republicans on health care…and on Monday a letter from 80 Minnesota Mayors on fraud. Weekends are for rest.
“Fraud tourism” and “ideological cul-de-sac” two new phrases turned yesterday one by Asst. US Attorney Joe Thompson, the other from new US Senate candidate Republican David Hann - 2026 is fast approaching. Let’s have a calm break before the new year.
Wild win…again. KG’s back with the Wolves, and World Juniors start in 7 days….what a week for Minnesota sports.
MSP holiday travel is expected to be 4% busier than last year. FOX: https://fluence-media.co/48VcvXz
Brown University suspect found dead.
Kendall Qualls this morning on WCCO Radio. LISTEN:
The DOJ is expected to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein today, but insiders say redactions could delay some files. CNN: https://fluence-media.co/4aTqePO
Maybe it’s too painful, but DNC Chair Ken Martin is canceling a report on what went wrong for Democrats in 2024. NYT: https://fluence-media.co/4pLVq8p
On Sunday Take this week, Rep. Kelly Morrison after her first year in Congress, at 9AM on WCCO Radio. Tune-in.
It’s National Hard Candy Day…a treat not as available today.
Blois - tips: bloisolson@gmail.com
Sunday Take featured analysis of who Republicans want for governor and Anders Folk discussing his run for Hennepin County Attorney. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4oTaKic
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The latest insight from Fluence Advisory on the loss of institutional knowledge from the Minnesota Legislature. READ:https://fluence-advisory.com/insights/
BEFORE THE POLITICS
A revealing and intimate look from Rolling Stone into “Who” of Melissa Hortman really was…VERBATIM: “It is the winter of 2024. Hortman is now the speaker of the Minnesota House. She has just been instrumental in passing the Minnesota Miracle, a “holy shit” 30-point piece of legislation that protects and offers a hand up to the state’s neediest citizens. Now, she is at a retreat along with the other members of her Democratic Farmer Labor caucus. There is much to celebrate, perhaps too much. A legislator knocks back one too many of Hortman’s Patron Silver margaritas. The next morning, he is, let us say, unwell. She knocks on his hotel door and leaves him some Advil.”
MORE: “Hortman and Walz are simpatico, but she makes it clear to the governor her House is not to be trifled with. Strike that, Hortman has a creatively profane streak. She basically says, “Don’t fuck with us.”….Here’s an example. During a testy policy debate, an angry Walz tells the press corps that the House is acting like spoiled children. Within minutes, Hortman gets Walz on the phone and he receives a slap-down. HORTMAN: “You need to be specific who you are talking about, not group us all together,” Hortman tells Walz. WALZ: “Ms. Speaker, I apologize. I should have been more specific,” Walz says. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4qiLByC
NEWS SURGE
Fluence has a unique all angles view on most news days related to politics, issues and campaigns in Minnesota. Our Advisory team navigates news, strategizes on issues and tracks the data of the sectors as quickly as we can. The Media team curates, tracks and tries to synthesize news in a balanced and insightful manner.
Many angles, multiple newsfeeds, all the news releases and statements – the goal is to provide a perspective and view you don’t get from other information sources.
A peek at Thursday was a news conference on Long Term Care issues at DHS for a client, a news advisory about a new set of fraud charges at 12 noon, and a news release on Paid Family Medical Leave from Gov. Tim Walz at 12:01. Add to those statements from DFL legislative leaders critical of the House Fraud Committee for not sharing information with DFLers, and a Rolling Stone profile on the late Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman. We haven’t even mentioned ICE activities…it wasn’t a slow news day.
What’s the news of the cycle? Clearly, it’s the latest charges on fraud. The news release on Paid Family Medical Leave may seem like an effort to change the news cycle – but between a Menards settlement, a Kia/Hyundai settlement, executive orders on guns – nothing is going to push fraud out of the top news story for Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. Behind the scenes DFLers are starting to realize that fraud is gum they can’t get off their shoe, or is it that feeling of waist deep snow you can’t quite get climb out of?
That’s the challenge as we race toward 2026. That’s the issue for DFLers, how do they change the subject…they might not be able to, unless they abandon their plan to have Gov. Tim Walz lead the ticket in 2026. Aborting the plan, would require a different plan – and when you’re in crisis – it’s hard to plan.
A quick search in our database of news says there have been 7,796 stories under the search term “Gov. Tim Walz” and “Fraud”. Stories that only mention Gov. Tim Walz? 4,358. Reframing the fraud issue isn’t going to be easy for the DFL or Gov. Tim Walz.
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END IN SIGHT?
CHARGES: The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced six new charges in three fraud cases — one connected to men from Philadelphia, one involving autism services, and one for housing stabilization services — as part of a joint state-federal investigation.
SCOPE: via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “Authorities say [the six suspects] defrauded the state of more than $10 million in various schemes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said he believed ‘a significant amount’ of the $18 billion paid out by 14 ‘high-risk’ Medicaid-funded programs since 2018 was lost to fraud — possibly half or more. … ‘Speculation that half of Medicaid payments for some services are fraudulent is shocking,’ DHS Inspector General James Clark said in a statement. ‘If there is evidence of Medicaid fraud, the state should be given the information so DHS can slam the door shut on payments to those individuals and businesses.’” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4p7jYYi
● From Philly…: via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “Two Philadelphia-based men [are] accused of traveling to Minneapolis after a friend told them the taxpayer-funded programs there presented ‘a good opportunity to make money.’ … The two men, Anthony Waddel Jefferson and Lester Brown, [allegedly] submitted up to $3.5 million in ‘fake and inflated bills’ for Medicaid reimbursements after they set up a company intended to provide housing and other services. … ‘We have developed a fraud tourism industry – people coming to our state purely to exploit and defraud its programs,’ said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson, who brought the new charges.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3KTaNwy
● On Autism…via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “Abdinajib Hassan Yussuf, owner of Star Autism Center in St. Cloud, is accused of fraudulently billing more than $6 million to Medicaid. He [allegedly] paid kickbacks to parents to have their children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and enrolled to receive EIDBI services at his autism center. … Also on Thursday, the first EIDBI defendant, Asha Farhan Hassan, pleaded guilty in a $14 million scheme. She’s also named in the Feeding Our Future case.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3KQMoHZ
● On Housing…: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “The newest indictments allege defendants bilked a Medicaid-funded housing stabilization services program operating in Minnesota, billing for services they didn’t perform, with the money used for global travel and international real estate. … Prosecutors [have] charged three people — Hassan Ahmed Hussein, 28, Ahmed Abdirashid Mohamed, 27, and Kaamil Omar Sallah, 26 — with defrauding the housing stabilization program. Hussein and Mohamed allegedly stole $750,000 through their St. Paul company, Pristine Health. Sallah allegedly stole another $1.3 million through another company.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4j8RyM6
RAID: via FOX 9, VERBATIM: “FBI agents raided the offices of a Bloomington business on Thursday, days after the state of Minnesota suspended a business license at that address. … A FOX 9 crew witnessed FBI agents and other federal investigators carrying boxes from [the] business. … Inside the building, there was damage to a door belonging to Ultimate Home Health Services, which appeared to have been forced open. … The Department of Human Services had suspended the license for Ultimate Home Health Services, a home and community-based service, citing the risk of fraud.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3MInR8t
Playing from behind…
PARTNERSHIP: via Office of the Atty. General, VERBATIM: “Members of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit partnered with federal and state law enforcement, including the FBI and Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (DHHS/OIG) throughout the course of the joint investigation into HSS providers Pristine, Chozen Runner, and Retsel Real Estate.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49hqkzs
MORE: via a Gov. Tim Walz statement, WALZ: “This is exactly the type of strong action we need from prosecutors to ensure fraudsters are put behind bars. … We will not tolerate fraud, and we will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4p8LdSd
Not breaking through…
TIPS: DFL caucus leaders Rep. Zack Stephenson and Sen. Erin Murphy released statements condemning GOP Rep. Kristin Robbins for her claim that she received “hundreds” of tips on possible fraud and did not share them with state officials or her DFL colleagues, as seen in yesterday’s morning take.
STEPHENSON: “If Chair Robbins was actually interested in preventing fraud, she would be working with the very people who can stop payments to suspected criminals. This committee should be about solutions, not spectacle, but if the GOP did anything to solve the problem, they would have to stop using it to score political points.”
MURPHY: “Fraud robs people of needed services and damages Minnesotans’ trust in government. So does what Rep. Robbins is doing with whistleblower tips. She has discredited her Fraud Committee, and she has discredited the House Republican caucus.”
CLEAN | RELIABLE | AFFORDABLE: via Xcel Energy, VERBATIM: “We’re powering the Upper Midwest with clean, reliable, and affordable nuclear energy. For more than 50 years, our Prairie Island Nuclear Plant, located near Red Wing, MN, has been a workhorse of reliable, carbon-free energy. With two pressurized water reactors producing about 1,100 megawatts, Prairie Island generates enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes across the Upper Midwest. Unlike sources that depend on weather, nuclear energy delivers 24/7 reliability — providing the power we need today while protecting the environment for tomorrow.” LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4oCHdK9 (SPONSORED: Xcel Energy)
THE FEED….
Not a name that creates energy for Republicans, but via MPR News, VERBATIM: “Former Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann got into the U.S. Senate race Thursday. … Hann said he’d stick with his campaign even if other big-name candidates enter the race, and he planned to move on to a summer primary if he doesn’t receive the Republican Party endorsement.” HANN: “None of the [GOP] candidates running have ever won an election for anything, and some of them have never even been in politics. … I’m going to go to Washington to work with the president, work with his administration, and try to make sure that Minnesota can make progress and not just be obstructionist to the president.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4j4AruX
SD13: via St. Cloud Live, VERBATIM: “Iraq veteran Trent Dilks, of Maine Prairie Township, [is] running for the seat that has belonged to Sen. Jeff Howe, R-Rockville, since 2018. Howe announced in November that he would not seek reelection in 2026. … Dilks [said] his top priorities are veterans, affordability and agriculture.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3L80WmA
MORE: Per his website, Trent Dilks is likely running as an Independent candidate for Senate District 13. His campaign emphasized that they are accepting donations through “a nonpartisan fundraising platform,” and Dilks is referred to as “the gray duck candidate” for voters who want to “try something different.” WEBSITE: https://fluence-media.co/3Y3NJxZ
OMAR: via Axios, VERBATIM: “Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) [said] he is ‘actively considering’ forcing a vote to expel Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from Congress. … Fine’s effort would almost certainly fail because expulsion requires a two-thirds vote in the House. If all Republicans vote to expel Omar, roughly 85 Democrats would need to join them. … Fine [has] pointed to a fundraising email from Omar’s campaign suggesting he be expelled for saying Muslims should be ‘destroyed.’ … ‘I don’t think anybody takes that man serious,’ Omar told Axios.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3N6NorY
MORE: Via Florida Politics, the fundraising email from Rep. Ilhan Omar’s office said Florida Rep. Randy Fine is a “disgusting, violent racist who is unfit for office” and “he should be removed from Congress.” Fine has called for the expulsion of “all mainstream Muslims” in the U.S. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4oYOhAp
WOLVES: via Rep. Pete Stauber advisory, VERBATIM: “The House of Representatives passed, in a bipartisan fashion, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act (H.R. 845). This legislation, co-sponsored by Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08), will delist the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). … This will allow states to manage individual wolf populations [and] safeguard farmers’ livelihoods and livestock.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pEVGpu
SUBSIDIES: via WCCO Radio, VERBATIM: “Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-MN) is commending efforts to force a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vote on extending [subsidies].” CRAIG: “Johnson is going to have to bring this bill to the floor…[but] when we come back in January, that’s going to be too little, too late for most people because open enrollment is going to be closed by that time.” READ/LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/44xraWi
WILDRICE: via MPR, VERBATIM: “State officials have announced plans to conduct further analysis of the impacts of sulfate pollution on wild rice in Minnesota lakes and rivers. The announcement comes amid concerns that Minnesota’s standard that limits how much of the pollutant mines and other facilities can release into waters where wild rice grows — adopted in 1973 — is out of date…The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said it will evaluate recent peer-reviewed scientific studies to validate the impacts of sulfates on wild rice while also working with third-party experts to better understand the variation of naturally occurring sulfate levels in different areas across the state…The MPCA says the two analyses will take about six to nine months to finish and “could inform” the agency’s approach to implementing the state’s standard, which limits sulfate discharges to 10 milligrams per liter.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Lbqdw6
PAID LEAVE: via Office of the Governor, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Paid Leave, the state’s new paid family and medical leave program, officially begins on January 1, 2026. Just two weeks out from launch, the program is seeing strong early interest from families. Over 5,000 Minnesotans have submitted applications for leave to bond with babies born in 2025 since applications opened in December.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4s2hLzQ
BUSINESS EXCELLENCE: Flint Hills Resources was just awarded the 2025 Large Business of the Year award from the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce at their annual Business Excellence Awards celebration. The award celebrates the outstanding achievements of businesses that exemplify the thriving and growing spirit of Dakota County. The businesses honored make an impact and contribute to the continued success of our community. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/46lTpIs (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources)
LOCALS
MPLS: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the City Council’s approval of a new homeless encampment ordinance on Thursday, saying requiring the city to provide bathrooms and trash collection for unauthorized tent settlements would encourage people to live in unsafe conditions instead of working toward housing. … The City Council passed the ordinance 8-5 last week. Nine votes will be needed to override the veto.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49ieFAl
ROCHESTER: via DFL Caucus, VERBATIM: “[This week], Rochester Mayor Kim Norton vetoed the city council’s plan for a $65 million sports complex that is not reflective of the ballot initiative that funded the project in 2023. The city council is expected to overturn the Mayor’s veto at their December 22nd meeting. In response, the DFL Rochester delegation intends to introduce legislation to revoke authorization of the Local Option Sales Tax they previously passed into law to fund the project. … The DFL Rochester Delegation includes Senator Liz Boldon (DFL—Rochester), Representative Kim Hicks (DFL—Rochester), Representative Tina Liebling (DFL—Rochester)and Representative Andy Smith (DFL—Rochester).”
DULUTH: via Duluth News Tribune, VERBATIM: “Come next year, homeowners within the Duluth school district will be facing an almost 7% increase in school property taxes. Following their annual Truth in Taxation Hearing [this week], the Duluth School Board passed a resolution during their regular monthly board meeting, accepting a $3.1 million (6.9%) increase in the local property tax levy to be collected in 2026. The total levy, which goes towards the district’s general fund and community fund, as well as paying off the district’s debt, was set at just over $48 million.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49k3FT6
NEXT UP
TODAY: Governor Tim Walz will urge members of Congress to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care subsidies, and interview candidates for two upcoming vacancies on the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
TODAY: Via UNITE HERE, airline food workers will hold a picket at MSP Airport on Friday at 11:30 a.m.
JAN 8: Axios Live will host conversations with Speaker Lisa Demuth and UnitedHealth Group VP Margaret-Mary Wilson regarding the future of public health. The event is in Eden Prairie at 9:30 a.m.
BDAYS: St. Paul’s Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher, TPT’s Mary Lahammer
SPEAKER: If you’re looking for a speaker about the “Signal vs. Noise” dynamic of today’s politics and the 2026 election. EMAIL: BloisOlson@gmail.com.
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IN MEMORIAM: morning take from now to the future is in memory of Melissa Hortman her accessibility, leadership and commitment to public service.
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