Good morning. Enjoy your final day of summer.

A group home in Brooklyn Center owned by a Liberian government official is accused of billing the state for numerous services its residents didn’t need – or didn’t receive. Ellie Roth reports the findings released last week stemmed from a Health Department investigation that began two days after MPR News and APM Reports published an extensive report on the owner of the group home company. Up until last month, Sekou Dukuly was the licensed assisted living director for three Golden Touch group homes in the Twin Cities suburbs – even though he was living in Liberia and serving as managing director of its National Port Authority. The Health Department investigation found that one of those group homes had “inappropriately” requested government payments for services that residents did not require and failed to provide services they needed. Investigators also found it was mathematically impossible for the group home to provide all the services it billed to the state based on the group home’s staffing levels. A lawyer for Golden Touch Health Care said the report omitted “critical context.” Read the full story here.

It’s been a year since Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order that greatly expanded state agencies’ ability to combat fraud.  The order gave the Department of Human Services enhanced power to require prepayment reviews for providers and recommend program changes, including terminating programs altogether. The Walz administration would later go on to designate more than a dozen programs at high-risk for fraud, and hire a third-party entity to audit those programs. Under pressure from the federal government, which is still withholding hundreds of millions of Medicaid dollars to Minnesota, DHS disenrolled 60 percent of providers from high-risk Medicaid programs this summer , but only a small fraction of those were forwarded on for further investigation. Many providers have expressed concerns with the Human Services department’s that fraud prevention efforts could undermine continuity of care for vulnerable Minnesotans.

The U.S. Senate primary in Minnesota produced a flood of ads and public events from candidates, but so far the fall race for that seat has been comparatively quiet. DFL nominee Peggy Flanagan and GOP nominee Michele Tafoya both appeared at the Minnesota State Fair, and have both been popping up at local events across the state. But until last week, as Peter Cox reports , the two did not have many TV ads going. They aren’t staging a lot of publicly advertised events. No debates between the two have been set in stone. For a contest that some recent polls see as neck and neck, the lack of candidates angling for the spotlight has been odd. “The silence is deafening in terms of the ads,” said David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University. “I just sort of feel like it's going to happen soon. I just can't imagine the Republicans writing this race off.” The candidates have been jousting on social media, and ad buys are expected to pick up. But the national parties are more focused on unexpectedly close races for Senate seats that could be in play for both parties: Texas, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan and Maine among them.

Michele Tafoya appeared on NewsNation’s “The Hill/Sunday” morning program. The national appearances – she was featured in a Wall Street Journal story a couple of weeks back – are crucial for her to elevate the race and maybe lure in the national ad money that is so far going to other states. In the interview with the program’s Chris Stirewalt, Tafoya said “Minnesota is unique” in the midterm election because fraud is a leveling issue for Republicans in an otherwise headwinds year. She was asked to appraise the Trump administration’s faults and Tafoya said “the ICE rollout here in Minnesota was very poorly handled and Kristi Noem was fired appropriately.” She equally blamed Minnesota leaders for how they reacted to it, grading them with an “F.” On immigration, Tafoya went on to say, “America should be a nation of laws and of immigration. Those two things go hand in hand. They fortify one another.” In another area of difference with Trump, Tafoya cited tariffs, particularly with Canada, as worthy of pushback. 

Minnesota Democrats have knocked more than 1.4 million doors so far this election cycle, according to the party chair. Minnesota DFL Chair Richard Carlbom told Brian on “Politics Friday” that the party is doing groundwork to build up support for its slate of candidates ahead of Election Day. “We're building out a massive grassroots organization, we've already knocked on 1.4 million doors in 2026 alone. That puts us about 400,000 doors ahead of where we were just two years ago,” he said. Carlbom and Republican Party Chair Alex Plechash said both party bases were strongly motivated – Democrats by frustration with the Trump administration and affordability, Republicans with concerns about fraud in state government programs. Neither chair said whether he planned to pursue another term in their roles leading their respective parties. Both said they’d make up their minds on that after Election Day.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her engaged in “inappropriate behavior” but allegations she sexually harassed co-workers could not be substantiated according to the summary of an outside investigation released by the city’s human resources department Friday. The summary was released Friday and sent out by Her’s office , but the full report has not yet been released. In a letter to Her, the city’s human resources director said they could not substantiate claims of sexual harassment, inappropriate text messages or retaliation against a city employee. But they did conclude that Her “created and shared” inappropriate material and engaged in offensive and inappropriate behavior with city employees. They called on Mayor Her to maintain professional boundaries, attend a workplace conduct training and to hire “an executive coach at your own expense.” In a statement Friday, Her said she “became too informal in my communications and crossed lines that are not consistent with the standards set forth in the city’s workplace conduct policy. I apologize for any discomfort I caused,” adding, “I am gratified that the report finds that the allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation were unsubstantiated.” Her said she would comply with the steps outlined in the letter from HR.

State campaign finance officials gave the OK for judicial candidates to use campaign funds for security measures. The Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board last week issued guidance in response to queries issued by candidates running for judicial posts. It’s a response to reports that threats against sitting judges and judicial candidates are on the rise. The board determined that sitting judges and judicial candidates can use up to $10,000 in campaign funds each two-year cycle to bolster home security monitoring, run threat assessments or staff security guards among other measures. The board issued similar permissions for political candidates running for office in the wake of the assassination of House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, last year. The Minnesota Legislature also appropriated additional funding for judge and elected official security measures during the 2026 legislative session and made permanent new security measures on the Capitol complex, including weapons screening.

A quiet but steady figure at Minnesota’s state Capitol has died. Jason Fossum, who most recently was chief of staff for Senate Republicans, died at 47 after a bout with cancer. Throughout his time around the Legislature, Fossum gained respect for hard work and calm counsel. He was a committee administrator before rising the ranks in his party’s caucus. He is a graduate of Winona State University, where there will be a new campus center devoted to civic engagement in his honor. It comes after lawmakers put $1.5 million into a session-ending bill to make it happen. Services for Fossum will be held Friday in Rochester.