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Attorney Keith Ellison in his Minnesota Capitol office on April 18. The previous day, he observed his 100th day on the job. (Staff photo: Kevin Featherly)
Attorney Keith Ellison in his Minnesota Capitol office on April 18. The previous day, he observed his 100th day on the job. (Staff photo: Kevin Featherly)

Ellison: Plenty of irons in the fire

On April 17, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison observed his 100th day on the job. He’s already been accused of being overly political — largely for signing onto litigation launched by other states’ attorneys general, much of it aimed at curbing presidential excesses.
However, Ellison has been quiet when it comes to leading such efforts. One exception is when he signed on as co-leader of an attorneys general coalition to support Liberian immigrants trying to avoid deportation. President Donald Trump relented and extended their deferments by one year, allowing them to remain in the United States temporarily.
Still, as a steady stream of press releases would indicate, Ellison has plenty of irons in the fire. He is working, for example, to avoid Senate-proposed cuts to his office’s operating budget while simultaneously trying to beef up its criminal division. He also has launched or is planning task forces aimed at lowering drug prices and thwarting hate crimes.
During the Legislature’s holiday break last week, Ellison sat down for a chat with Minnesota Lawyer. By chance, it happened just two hours after the U.S. attorney general held a press conference to preemptively describe the Mueller Russia probe report.
Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.
Minnesota Lawyer: Your national analog, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, appeared on national television this morning.
Ellison: I saw him.
Minnesota Lawyer: What did you think of his performance?
Ellison: I thought his performance was disappointing because he looked like he was Donald Trump’s personal attorney. Everything he said was, “Trump’s exonerated. Trump didn’t do all this stuff.”
It just did not seem like an objective, public interest-rooted presentation. It seemed like he was operating in a way misaligned with the mission of his office. He seemed like a very intense partisan and not a people’s lawyer, which is what he should be.
What [Special Counsel] Robert Mueller said is that he could not establish collusion or collaboration or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Not being able to establish something is not exoneration. It’s not saying it didn’t happen. It’s saying that we could not clearly conclude that it happened.
We need the report to understand that better and I haven’t read it. I’m going to read it before I jump to a conclusion.
Minnesota Lawyer: Let’s get down to your job. One of the things that you’ve consistently said is that you want to help people afford their lives. What does that mean and why is it the attorney general’s job to do that?
Ellison: So much of the lives we lead have to do with how we engage the economy. The attorney general’s job is to be the lead public-interest lawyer for the state. So what does that mean? That means that if somebody is trying to rip you off, I need to stop that or do anything I can to stop it. If somebody is trying to pay you fewer wages than you’re entitled to, I need to stop that. If somebody is charging you more for lifesaving drugs that you need to sustain your life and more than the market or legitimate costs can support, I need to address that.
Minnesota Lawyer: So to put it in terms that people are familiar with from the attorney general’s office, this is about consumer protection?
Ellison: It’s about consumer protection but it’s also about worker protection and market protection. We have direct authority to work on antitrust things. That means the attorney general needs to make sure we have competitive markets. Why? Because competitive markets allow us to have price competition, product differentiation, choices for workers.
But that’s not all we do. We also make sure that everybody is treated with dignity and respect in our society, which is part of the people’s lawyer’s job, too. When people are crime victims, we help prosecute. When people are victims of discrimination or unfairness, we do something about that. We represent vulnerable populations, like seniors or people with disabilities. We represent the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health, so we have a job to do there.
So when I say we’ll help people afford their lives and live with dignity and respect, it’s a way of conceiving, explaining and viewing the role of the attorney general’s office in a way that is relatable. When people say “what do you do,” that’s what I do.
Minnesota Lawyer: The Senate finance bill grants you $2.9 million to beef up the criminal division — less than you asked for. But it also cuts your operating budget by $4.4 million over the biennium. If that actually came to pass, what would be the net effect on your office?
Ellison: It would hurt the public interest. What I mean is there would be fewer lawyers to deploy in their best interest. But I mean, until we have to experience that cut, I’m not going to start cutting.
Minnesota Lawyer: Because there are going to be negotiations and those cuts might never come to pass.
Ellison: Right. We may come out of that better than we feared. But I guess what you’re asking about is what if that Senate proposal got through? It would mean fewer people protecting you from consumer fraud. There would be fewer lawyers to send out to help our Greater Minnesota counties. Just fewer and less of everything. And the less we can do, then the more the people we’re fighting against can do. So it is somewhat of a binary thing.
Minnesota Lawyer: Word has filtered back to us that the atmosphere here has changed significantly since you took office. How would you characterize life in the AG’s office under Keith Ellison?
Ellison: Look, we rely on the people who work here to perform Herculean tasks, to throw everything they got into helping the public. The least we could do is have their backs. So we’ve been working hard to make the office an affirming, inclusive place to work, with management and leadership that listens and tries to accommodate employees wherever it doesn’t undermine the work we have to do.
So one of the things we did just recently was we went from a [a rule of] dress for court every day — whether or not you’re in court — to dress for your day. Everybody here is going to be expected to be professional and look professional, dress professionally. But we have loosened it up where it’s appropriate to do so. Because the employees like it and it makes their workday a little bit more enjoyable.
I think that the overall effect is going to be that we’re going to have a happier, more energetic, more efficient workforce. I just don’t buy the line of thinking that the way to get the most out of people is to be super hard on them and not listen to them.
Minnesota Lawyer: That’s a critique of your predecessor?
Ellison: But it’s not a personal one because I wasn’t here then, so I don’t know. I make no comments about that.
Look, I’m very grateful to [former Attorney General] Lori Swanson and I consider her a friend. Nothing I’m saying is a negative reflection on her. I’m simply saying that nobody can expect me to be a clone of my predecessor and I’m doing this thing the way I see to do it.
Minnesota Lawyer: In the blog post where you marked your 100th hundred day in office, you made reference there to a new wage-theft unit. What’s your vision for the wage theft unit?
Ellison: My vision is to help people get the money they earned. It’s for us to collaborate with the departments of Labor and Industry, Commerce, DEED, Transportation and whoever — to work together as a team.
Minnesota Lawyer: Is that a prosecutorial unit?
Ellison: There’s both. I mean, look, there’s criminal labor trafficking laws. And we’re prepared to use those. There is a civil side as well.
Minnesota Lawyer: But would much of it be civil? Because a lot of “wage theft” is really just catching people not keeping their books correctly. Sometimes there are mistakes, sometimes it’s neglect.
Ellison: Right. And we don’t want to use a hammer when another kind of instrument would do the trick. But there are people who are absolutely … I mean … they’re basically slavers, you know?
And it’s not even only the wages. I talked to a guy who had a vat of hot grease splatter on him. He looked like he had cigarettes put out on his arm. And his employer told him, “Don’t go to the hospital. Because if you go to the hospital, I pay you cash and I’ll get into a lot of trouble. So here’s some ointment you can put on and then it’ll be fine. And be back to work tomorrow.” No worker’s compensation. No nothing.
And so these are the lives people are living. And a lot of the people aren’t documented, quite frankly. But my question is, so what, you know?
Let me tell you, this is actually a punishment and an injury to businesses. There’s a guy, Ricardo Batres, who is being prosecuted in Hennepin County right now. This dude ran a construction company. And what he [allegedly] would say is, “I only want to hire people who are not documented and I’m going under-bid all of my competitors.” So if you’re a business who pays people properly and you have a competitor who is wage-thieving his or her workers, you are at a competitive disadvantage.
Minnesota Lawyer: We actually had a civil war over that.
Ellison: Right, right, exactly! [Laughs.] We can’t exist that way! So this is why it’s good for everybody for there to be energetic enforcement of our wage and hour laws and our worker’s compensation laws.
Minnesota Lawyer: In a recent newspaper editorial, you were accused of being overly political already. It’s pretty early in your tenure. What do you think is the deal with that?
Ellison: Let me just tell you this, man — and this is just a straight up, candid thing. There are people who are going to call me “political” because I am politically liberal. And that’s not my idea of being politicized at all.
What I would define as politicizing the office is using the office to advance a partisan agenda. And I haven’t done that. I haven’t electioneered from the office. I don’t give a crap who’s a Democrat, Republican, Green or independent who works here. Nothing like that. When I ran, I told people I’m going to stand up for the rights of women who are seeking reproductive choices. I’m going to stand up for working people who are the majority in the state of Minnesota who are trying to make a decent living. There’s no false advertising here.
Minnesota Lawyer: To date, you haven’t led on a lot of litigation. You’ve signed out to other state AGs’ litigation for the most part. Is that a question of learning the ropes and getting the temperature of the room before you make those kinds of moves?
Ellison: Yes, that’s what you’re seeing. We expect to lead you on things into the future. We haven’t led on them yet so much, except for the Liberian thing. We haven’t really done it yet because I just want to make sure we’ve got the bandwidth. I’m not going to just use my authority as the AG to impose stuff on my staff. We’ve got to be able to make sure we can do it well. But there are things percolating that I expect we’re going to lead on.
Minnesota Lawyer: Earlier this month you named members of a bipartisan multidisciplinary task force. Its mission is to find out why drug prices are so high and to strategize ways to lower them. How effective do you think this group can be in pushing for change in that area?
Ellison: It will be extremely effective. Because what is the biggest problem that we have in lowering drug prices? We don’t have a societal strategy on doing it. So these are members of the community from diverse walks of life. They’re going to produce a report, share it and disseminate findings. Those will involve litigation, legislation and administrative changes—and also educational ones. I’m very upbeat and excited about what they’re going to achieve.
Minnesota Lawyer: What’s the status on the bias crime task force that you announced in Bloomington at the Muslim solidarity rally in March?
Ellison: Things are already moving on that. One of the things we’re discussing is what to call it. It will involve bias crimes. It will involve domestic terrorism. But right now, we’re discussing it with members of the Jewish and Muslim communities — and we’re widening the circle to even LGBTQ and others. We’re having a conversation about how we’re going to launch, how are we going to organize it and how are we going to do the mission. It’s actually a pretty participatory process. We’re in the midst of that right now and we expect to launch sometime in May.
Minnesota Lawyer: You also recently filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court asking justices not to review a pair of Janus-style union cases out of Minnesota. What’s important about these cases [Bierman vs. Walz and Uradnik vs. Inter Faculty Organization]?
Ellison: The cases revolve around the issue of exclusive representation. Collective bargaining and exclusive representation have been longstanding hallmarks of American labor law — they’re critical to help workers get fairness on the job. These cases are progeny of the Janus decision, which I think was wrongly decided. The plaintiffs are challenging the right for the union to be the exclusive representative of their employees. I think these two cases are also wrong and would definitely undermine the rights of average working people to bargain collectively and have justice for themselves and their family in the workplace.
Minnesota Lawyer: Finally, how do you like the job so far?
Ellison: I really love it. It’s a great job. It is. It is a true privilege to do this job. I’ve had a great time and I feel like we are doing meaningful good. It’s just great. I think it’s the most fun I’ve ever had professionally.
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ONE COMMENT

  1. Wonder how Ellsion will handle http://stpaultrash.com Hearing 9May19 Judge Lenaro Castro On February 7, 2019, a lawsuit was commenced to compel the City of St. Paul to place its Ordinance 18-39 on the ballot for a vote by the electorate of St. Paul.
    This case is Bruce Clark, et al. v. City of St. Paul, et al, Ramsey County File # 62-CV-19-857.
    Copies of the documents that have been filed in this referendum lawsuit, may be downloaded via the links provided below.
    Petitioners’ Reply Brief, April 26, 2019.
    Declaration of Gregory Joseph, April 26, 2019.
    City of St. Paul Response/Answer to Petition, February 27, 2019.
    Summons & Petition (Complete filing 110 pages), February 7, 2019.

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

MuslinCandidates2018 Office

Peggy Traeger Tierney is with Maggie Alexander.   DISCLAIMER AFFIANT
WIDOW SHARON ANDERSON STATE AND ALLEGE THAT OVER 8 YRS
AGO WHEN MUSLIN KEITH ELLISON WAS SWORN INTO CONGRESS TAKING
HIS OATH ON THE QUORAN BY NANCY PELOSI, THE INFLUX OF
MUSLINS BEGAN.
                  PIC IS THE SWEARING IN OF KASSAUI BUSURI ON THE OATH VIA QUORAN TAKEN BY CITY CLERK SHARI MOORE.












How many Muslim candidates won political office in America in 2018? The numbers may surprise you. Here's a summary of winners in Federal and local elections and a count by State. Note, Muslims in America had a 97% voter participate rate.Federal winners (4):
Rashida Tlaib (D), MI 13th Congressional District
Keith Ellison (D), MN Attorney General
Ilhan Omar (D), MN 5th Congressional District
Andre Carson (D), IN 7th Congressional District
State winners (13):
Sheikh Rahman (D), GA State Senate District 5
Safiya Wazir (D), NH State House Merrimack 17 District
Robert Jackson (D), NY State Senate District 31
Nasif Majeed (D), NC State House District 99
Mujtaba Mohammed (D), NC State Senate District 38
Mohamud Noor (D), MN State House District 60B
Jason Dawkins (D), PA State House District 179
Hodan Hassan (D), MN State House District 62A
Charles Fall (D), NY State House District 61
Ako Abdul-Samad (D), IA State House District 35
Aboul Khan (R), NH State House Rockingham 20 District
Federal winners (4):Rashida Tlaib (D), MI 13th Congressional DistrictKeith Ellison (D), MN Attorney GeneralIlhan Omar (D), MN 5th Congressional DistrictAndre Carson (D), IN 7th Congressional District

State winners (13):
Sheikh Rahman (D), GA State Senate District 5
Safiya Wazir (D), NH State House Merrimack 17 District
Robert Jackson (D), NY State Senate District 31
Nasif Majeed (D), NC State House District 99
Mujtaba Mohammed (D), NC State Senate District 38
Mohamud Noor (D), MN State House District 60B
Jason Dawkins (D), PA State House District 179
Hodan Hassan (D), MN State House District 62A
Charles Fall (D), NY State House District 61
Ako Abdul-Samad (D), IA State House District 35
Aboul Khan (R), NH State House Rockingham 20 District
Abdullah Hammoud (D), MI State House District 15
Abbas Akhil (D), NM State House District 20
County winners (8):
Sam Baydoun (D), MI Wayne County Commission District 13
Sadia Gul Covert (D), IL Dupage County Board District 5
Sabina Taj, MD Howard County Board of Education
Mohammad Ramadan, NJ Passaic County Board of Education
Cheryl Sudduth, CA West County Wastewater District Director
Babur Lateef, VA Prince William County School Board
Assad Akhter (D), NJ Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders
Abdul "Al" Haidous (D), MI Wayne County Commission District 11
Municipal winners (19):
Salman Bhojani, TX Euless City Council Place 6
Dawn Haynes, NJ Newark Public Schools School Board
Yasir Khogali, MI City of Plymouth District Library Board
Mohamed Khairullah, NJ Prospect Park Mayor
Mohamed Al-Hamdani, OH Dayton Public Schools Board of Education
Mo Seifeldein, VA Alexandria City Council
Maimona Afzal Berta, CA Franklin-McKinley School Board
Jihan Aiyash, MI Hamtramck Public School Board
Javed Ellahie, CA Monte Sereno City Council
Hazim Yassin, NJ Red Bank City Council
Haseeb Javed, VA Manassas Park City Council
Farrah Khan, CA Irvine City Council
Ali Taj, CA Artesia City Council
Alaa Matari, NJ Prospect Park Borough Council
Alaa "Al" Abdel-Aziz, NJ Paterson City Council Ward 6
Aisha Wahab, CA Hayward City Council
Ahmad Zahra, CA Fullerton City Council District 5
Salim Patel, NJ Passaic City Council
Sabina Zafar, CA San Ramon City Council
Judiciary winners (6):
Shahabuddeen Ally, NYC Civil Court, NY County
Sam Salamey, MI District Courts, District 19
Rabeea Collier, TX District Courts, 113th District
Halim Dhanidina, CA Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three
George Abdallah Jr., CA Superior Court of San Joaquin County, Office 12
Adel A. Harb, MI Wayne County Circuit Court
Here's a breakdown by state:
California (11):
Cheryl Sudduth – West County Wastewater District Director
George Abdallah Jr. – Superior Court of San Joaquin County, Office 12
Halim Dhanidina – Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three
Maimona Afzal Berta – Franklin-McKinley Board of Education
Javed Ellahie – Monte Sereno City Council
Al Jabbar – Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees
Ahmad Zahra – Fullerton City Council District 5
Aisha Wahab – Hayward City Council
Ali Taj – Artesia City Council
Farrah Khan – Irvine City Council
Sabina Zafar – San Ramon City Council
Florida (1):
Amira Dajani Fox (R) – State Attorney
Georgia (1):
Sheikh Rahman (D) – State Senate District 5
Illinois (2):
Sadia Gul Covert (D) – Dupage County Board District 5
Indiana
Andre Carson (D) – 7th Congressional District
Iowa (1):
Ako Abdul-Samad (D) – State House District 35
Maryland (1):
Sabina Taj – Howard County Board of Education
Michigan (6):
Rashida Tlaib (D) – 13th Congressional District
Abdullah Hammoud (D) – State House District 15
Abdul "Al" Haidous (D) – Wayne County Commission District 11
Sam Baydoun (D) – Wayne County Commission District 13
Adel A. Harb – Wayne County Circuit Court
Sam Salamey – District Courts, District 19

Minnesota (5):
Ilhan Omar (D) – 5th Congressional District
Keith Ellison (D) – Attorney General
Hodan Hassan (D) – State House District 62A
Mohamud Noor (D) – State House District 60B
Siad Ali (D) – District 3 member of the Minneapolis Board of Education


New Hampshire (2):
Aboul Khan (R) – State House Rockingham 20 District
Safiya Wazir (D) – State House Merrimack 17 District
New Jersey (8):
Assad Akhter (D) – Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders
Alaa "Al" Abdel-Aziz – Paterson City Council Ward 6
Mohammad Ramadan – Passaic County Board of Education
Alaa Matari – Prospect Park Borough Council
Dawn Haynes – Newark Public Schools School Board
Hazim Yassin – Red Bank City Council
Mohamed Khairullah – Prospect Park Mayor
Salim Patel – Passaic City Council
New Mexico (1):
Abbas Akhil (D) – State House District 20
New York (3):
Charles Fall (D) – State House District 61
Robert Jackson (D) – State Senate District 3
Shahabuddeen Ally – NYC Civil Court, NY County
North Carolina (2):
Mujtaba Mohammed (D) – State Senate District 38
Nasif Majeed (D) – State House District 99
Ohio (1):
Mohamed Al-Hamdani – Dayton Public Schools Board of Education
Pennsylvania (1):
Jason Dawkins (D) – State House District 179
Texas (2):
Rabeea Collier – District Courts, 113th District
Salman Bhojani – Euless City Council Place 6
Virginia (3):
Babur Lateef – Prince William County School Board
Haseeb Javed – Manassas Park City Council
Mo Seifeldein – Alexandria City Council
The bigger question. How many took the oath of office on the U.S. Constitution?
A report by Hamas-CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) in coordination with JETPAC indicates that a high percentage of Muslims voted in 2018.
The report claims:
• 97% of Muslim voters participated in this year's midterm election.
• 88% of Muslim voters primarily voted for the Democratic Party candidates and 17% for Republican Party candidates.
• 56% of Muslim voters consider themselves liberal on social issues, while 26% consider themselves conservative.
• 33% of Muslim voters consider themselves fiscally conservative, while 50% consider themselves liberal.
• 26% of Muslim voters who primarily voted for Democratic candidates perceived themselves as being conservative on social issues. Moreover, 36% perceived themselves as being fiscally conservative.
• 78% of Muslim voters thought Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. increased while 17% thought it decreased in the past year.
• 88% of Muslim voters who primarily voted for Democratic Party candidates thought Islamophobia increased in the past year. Conversely, only 33% of Muslim voters who primarily voted for Republican Party candidates thought Islamophobia increased in the past year.
• 53% of Muslim voters became more interested in politics since the 2016 presidential election, while 34% maintained the same level of interest in politics and 13% became less interested in politics.
• 65% of Muslim voters have become more actively involved in politics and/or civically engaged since the 2016 presidential election, while 25% have not.
• Out of those Muslim voters who have become more actively involved in politics and/or civically engaged since 2016 presidential election:
• 50% have primarily donated money to a political or social campaign.
• 55% have primarily donated their time by volunteering with a local charity or civic-minded or religious organization.
• 48% have primarily donated their expertise by using their skills and/or network to advance social/political engagement.
• 27% have primarily been involved in another way.
Article posted with permission from The Washington Standard, November 2018.
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