WASHINGTON — Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) attacked Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison during a Thursday hearing on Capitol Hill for having accepted campaign donations from fraudsters in his state.

The Missouri Republican highlighted reporting from The Post on the thousands of dollars in contributions to Ellison from individuals linked to the Feeding Our Future scandal that ran off with $250 million in taxpayer funds.

Then-First Assistant US Attorney Joe Thompson said in a December news conference that the ill-gotten gains were the tip of the iceberg, alleging that other fraudsters have taken more than $9 billion since 2018.

In the Thursday hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Ellison denied having ever directly met with fraudsters or taken donations from any of them.

“You helped fraudsters defraud your state and this government of $9 billion — and you got a fat campaign contribution out of it,” Hawley erupted at Ellison. “You ought to be indicted.”

“Do you know where it went, what it was used for — the fraudulent money? I do, because we just heard testimony about it yesterday … hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorist groups, to transnational criminal organizations, to the drug trade, to drug trafficking, to child trafficking,” the senator continued.

“And you took $10,000 and helped them do it.”

“That’s a lie,” Ellison fired back.

This past April, the Center for the American Experiment, a conservative Minnesota-based nonprofit, released a 54-minute recording of two future criminal defendants with ties to Feeding Our Future meeting with the AG on Dec. 11, 2021.

They included Ikram Mohamed, who is awaiting trial in connection with the fraud scheme, and Salim Said, who was convicted in March 2025 of 21 counts related to the scandal, according to the conservative nonprofit.

Nine days after the sitdown, Ikram’s brother, Gandi Mohamed, made a $2,500 maximum donation to Ellison’s campaign.

A businessman also believed to have been at the meeting, per the nonprofit, contributed the same amount on the same day — though that attendee, Mahad Hassan, has not been accused of wrongdoing.

His organization, Aflah Tutoring, did receive funding from Feeding Our Future, according to trial exhibits reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Others linked to Feeding Our Future but not in attendance at the December 2021 meeting who donated up to $2,500 included Jamal Hashi, a consultant chef who was named in court during the trial.

“It is a lie that anyone at the meeting Senator Hawley referenced contributed to Attorney General Ellison’s campaign,” said Ellison spokesperson Brian Evans.

“Here’s the truth: nobody at that meeting contributed to Attorney General Ellison’s campaign,” Evans added.

“Attorney General Ellison and his team assisted the FBI and DOJ in going after these fraudsters. Attorney General Ellison shut down the fraudulent charities they used to steal federal tax dollars. And Attorney General Ellison returned contributions from anyone associated with Feeding Our Future to the federal government.”

Ellison said at one point in the meeting, “I’m not here because I think it’s going to help my re-election,” but also asked for the names of state investigators probing Feeding Our Future.

“Of course I’m here to help,” the Minnesota AG said, later adding: “Let’s go fight these people.”

“As early as 2019, a whistleblower—” Hawley began Thursdaybefore Ellison interrupted him. 

“Don’t talk over me. … It’s my hearing, pal,” the Missouri Republican said.

“Don’t call me ‘pal,’” Ellison seethed.

“Well, I should call you a prisoner because you ought to be in jail,” Hawley thundered. “Whistleblowers came to you in your office and referred to you fraud allegations from Feeding Our Future, and you blew them off. Listen to your own state newspaper.”

“That’s a lie,” Ellison said again.

“The Minnesota Star Tribune,” Hawley recited, “The Partners in Nutrition brought its concerns to the attorney general’s office in 2018 and in 2019. And you did nothing. You did nothing for years.”

“The only action you took is once all these fraudsters came to your office and asked you to get involved and offered you money, then you got involved.”

Ellison retorted, “They did not come to my office. You’re completely wrong about that. I did not take anybody’s money.”

Hawley noted that the nearly hour-long meeting was captured in an audio recording and could be easily Googled.

Ellison claimed that quotes from it deployed by the senator had been “cherry-picked.”

“My team assisted with the information that led to the prosecution and conviction of these people,” he also protested.

“You should resign,” Hawley said in response.

“I was thinking the same thing about you,” Ellison retorted.

The FBI raided Feeding Our Future in January 2022, and prosecutors later charged 70 people, leading to 44 convictions or guilty pleas for the hundreds of millions in federal funds taken from the US Department of Agriculture amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just a small amount of those funds helped feed poor children as intended, prosecutors say, while the rest was used for luxury cars, property, jewelry, and travel.