Federal agents raided multiple Minnesota autism service providers Thursday in the latest law enforcement action involving a state already under intense scrutiny over allegations of widespread fraud in taxpayer-funded programs.

The FBI confirmed that federal and state agencies were conducting "court-authorized investigative activity" at multiple locations across Minnesota, including sites in the Twin Cities and Rochester, according to MPR News. Meanwhile, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office also confirmed that its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit executed search warrants at Iska Inc. in St. Louis Park and Bright Horizon Therapy in Edina, both of which provide autism-related or other Medicaid-funded services.

The operation involved the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, IRS criminal investigators, U.S. Postal Inspectors and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, according to FOX 9 Minneapolis.

MN DEM SENATE CANDIDATE'S VIRAL HIJAB VIDEO TAKES NEW TURN AS WOMAN BESIDE HER FACES MAJOR STATE INVESTIGATION

"This is an active investigation, and no further details are available at this time," FBI Minneapolis spokesperson Matt Vogel told MPR News.

Iska Inc. received more than $16.7 million in Medicaid payments between 2018 and 2025, according to state data reviewed by the Minnesota Star Tribune. The business participated in Minnesota's Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program, which provides services to children and young people with autism and has faced increasing scrutiny over fraud allegations.

The latest searches follow a series of enforcement operations targeting suspected fraud in Minnesota's publicly funded programs. In April, federal and state investigators executed 22 search warrants in Minnesota, including at autism service providers and childcare businesses.

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The Justice Department also announced charges against 15 defendants in May in connection with alleged health care fraud schemes involving more than $90 million in intended losses. The cases included an alleged $46.6 million scheme targeting Minnesota's autism intervention program, which DOJ said saw Medicaid claims surge from more than $600,000 in 2018 to more than $400 million by 2025.

The raids come ahead of Vice President JD Vance's planned visit to Minnesota — alongside members of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud — where allegations of public-services fraud have fueled growing questions about oversight. 

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Officials have not announced charges related to Thursday's searches, and the allegations against any individual business remain unproven.

Local officials tried to grow close to activist groups and collected information that was then shared with industry

Newly released emails show local government officials in Minneapolis have quietly surveilled environmental justice activists who are working to close a controversial waste incinerator that is emitting pollution into low-income neighborhoods around it, activist groups allege.

County officials sent an employee who is also an environmental justice activist to collect intelligence, among other tactics, emails show. The information was then used to help successfully kill state-level environmental legislation opposed by the incinerator’s leadership, and try to stay one step ahead of activist campaigns and protests. In another instance, a county employee presenting himself as an ally allegedly tried to obtain the identity of a whistleblower, a recording shows.

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© Photograph: Tony Webster

© Photograph: Tony Webster

© Photograph: Tony Webster

Thousands of runners will take part in the New York City Marathon on Sunday. Temperatures are expected to be unusually warm for November.

© Johnny Milano for The New York Times

Investigative journalists James O'Keefe and Cameron Higby have been hit with felony charges by left-wing Minneapolis prosecutors for their video exposing vulnerable loopholes in Minnesota's elections.

The post James O’Keefe, Cam Higby Criminally Charged for Exposing Vulnerable Minnesota Election appeared first on Breitbart.

New polls in Florida, South Carolina and Minnesota illuminate the head winds that Republicans are facing.

Democrat Peggy Flanagan is leading in the Minnesota Senate race against GOP competitor Michele Tafoya, according to a new poll. In The New York Times/Siena University poll, 54 percent of respondents said they were more likely to cast their ballot for Flanagan if Election Day were that day, while 40 percent said the same for…

Democrat Peggy Flanagan is leading in the Minnesota Senate race against GOP competitor Michele Tafoya, according to a new poll. In The New York Times/Siena University poll, 54 percent of respondents said they were more likely to cast their ballot for Flanagan if Election Day were that day, while 40 percent said the same for…

South Carolina seems like a serious race; Minnesota may not be; and Florida still appears out of reach for Democrats.

© Jillian Vordick/The New York Times

Susan and Michael Pretti say they have been ‘ignored and misled’ in quest for justice over son’s killing by US agents

The parents of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year, accused federal officials of stonewalling them and shielding their son’s killers.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Michael and Susan Pretti made their first public remarks since their son’s death in January, calling for the Department of Justice to hold those involved in their son’s death accountable. The federal government has not provided them with meaningful information about the case, they said.

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© Photograph: Steven Garcia/Reuters

© Photograph: Steven Garcia/Reuters

© Photograph: Steven Garcia/Reuters

Retiring Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) says that President Trump is “laying the groundwork” for MAGA allies to “steal” the Senate election after Trump said the federal government would be keeping an eye on the state. “He’s blatantly laying the groundwork to steal an election if his chosen candidate doesn’t win… Minnesota will not take kindly…

Hope, dread and the final stretch to Election Day.

© The New York Times

Political headwinds are blowing in Democrats’ favor nationally, with high gas prices and President Trump’s record-low approval rating creating a difficult midterm environment for Republicans.  But in Minnesota’s open Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith (D), Democrats are facing an unexpectedly competitive race.  Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) holds a slim lead over…

The Trump administration has suggested that state prosecutors don't have jurisdiction to investigate federal officers, while Minnesota officials have said they don't trust the federal government to investigate itself.

New WHIP program offers up to $30,000 for tips that lead to criminal charges