A pair of KSTP-5 stories on political campaign ads mention your think tank, Center of the American Experiment, by name. The advertisements involve this year’s race for state Attorney General. Both KSTP stories are by political reporter Tom Hauser.
From KSTP,
TRUTH TEST: Ad attacking Keith Ellison gets a B
Also from KSTP,
TRUTH TEST: Ad attacking Ron Schutz gets D-
Starting with the ad attacking Ellison. Keith Ellison is the two-term state Attorney General running for a third term. KSTP reports,
One ad focuses on a controversial meeting Ellison held with people later accused in the Feeding Our Future (FOF) fraud case…
…It is true Ellison was secretly recorded meeting with a group of people who later turned out to be key figures in the Feeding Our Future fraud case. The meeting between Ellison and various people who later became criminal defendants took place in December 2021, early in the FOF investigation.
A recording of the meeting later became an exhibit in the Aimee Bock fraud trial, but it wasn’t introduced as evidence. It was first made public by the Center of the American Experiment in April 2025.
Yes, it’s true. I published the 54-minute audio recording of Ellison’s Feeding Our Future meeting back in April 2025, shortly after the conclusion of Aimee Bock’s trial. The recording was a public document in federal court files. In the recording, Ellison pledges his support for the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, who at the time was suing his legal client, the state Dept. of Education.
Here is Ellison a month earlier (November 2021), promoting his son’s re-election to the Minneapolis city council, with some of those same individuals linked to the Feeding Our Future fraud.
In the TV ad, and in the December 2021 audio recording, Ellison’s voice can clearly be heard. Nonetheless, KSTP concludes,
This ad is based mostly on true information, but gets marked down for misleading viewers about the level of help he offered other than meeting with them. It gets a “B” on the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS “Truth Test.”
Ellison failed to offer more help to Feeding Our Future, not out of his lack of desire, but because in January 2022 (one month after his FOF meeting) the FBI raided Feeding Our Future and shut down the entire operation. Truth be told, in the years since, Ellison has used little of his vast power as attorney general to go after government fraud or to recover money stolen from taxpayers. That work has largely been done by the U.S. Dept. of Justice.
The second ad reviewed by KSTP attacks Ellison’s opponent, Ron Schutz. KSTP reports,
The DFL-aligned “Alliance for a Better Minnesota” is spending more than a million dollars on TV and digital ads attacking Republican attorney general candidate Ron Schutz.
A voice in one ad says,
“And it makes me feel angry that Republican Ron Schutz, the attorney general candidate, has personally defended insurance companies that rip off people like me.”
This claim is false, or at best extremely misleading. Schutz has spent decades as an attorney in private practice, but says he has never defended a health insurance company accused of fraud.
The ad appears to refer to Schutz’s former client, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group, the world’s 5th largest company (by annual revenue) and the state’s 10th-biggest employer, providing jobs to more than 18,000 Minnesotans.
KSTP reports,
We asked the Alliance for a Better Minnesota [ABM] for evidence Schutz had defended a health insurance company accused of fraud. They could not.
KSTP also reports,
In a second ad, a woman claims Schutz has said he wants to cut Medicare. “If these people who want to cut Medicare have their way, more people will die.”
“These people” is, apparently, a reference to your think tank. KSTP reports,
It is true Schutz is one of many board members of the conservative Center of the American Experiment. It’s also true that the organization has posted its support of the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
KSTP concludes,
However, there is no evidence provided by ABM or that we could find in an internet search where Schutz himself has specifically said he supports cuts to Medicare.
This ad includes false or extremely misleading information and leaves viewers with a false impression. It gets a D- on the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS “Truth Test.”
So, how is that not an “F” rating?
If you were among the thousands of people who attended one of the 22 stops on our statewide, Anti-fraud summer tour (and I thank you), you will recall that we do say nice things about the One Big Beautiful Bill. The context being those OBBB provisions that take on Medicare/Medicaid fraud. Yes, when implemented, these provisions will result in less money spent (“cuts”) on Medicare/Medicaid programs in Minnesota. But those “cuts” will result in less fraud, not killing people.
The common theme among the two KSTP articles mentioning the Center is that we favor less fraud, not more.