Did Aimee Bock leak to the Star Tribune?

The U.S. Dept. of Justice has accused Aimee Bock and her adult sons of sending confidential court material to the Minnesota Star Tribune and other media outlets.

Bock, defendant No. 1 in the sprawling free-food scandal, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21, following her courtroom conviction last year. Bock was the founder and CEO of the nonprofit at the center of the case, Feeding Our Future (FOF). She has been held at the Sherburne County jail since her conviction as she awaits sentencing.

But first, a court hearing will be held on Thursday, April 30, on an 11-page motion by prosecutors filed today in federal court.

In the motion, the prosecutors accuse Bock, her two adult sons, and, perhaps, her attorney of being behind a series of leaks to media members of hundreds of confidential written interview reports of FBI interviews conducted with witnesses in the scandal (p. 4, FBI FD-302 reports). She would have obtained such material through mandatory disclosures of evidence gathered by the prosecution during the course of the case.

The Star Tribune is the only media outlet named in the motion. The reporter is not named.

Prosecutors say (p. 4),

Her purpose for doing so can best be described as a public relations campaign— to seek to minimize her starring role in pilfering the Federal Child Nutrition Program while
casting the “real” blame for the rampant fraud on the Walz administration, state
administrators, and uncharged individuals.

Prosecutors say (p. 5) that one email included the sentence,

Ellison’s office intentionally set Bock/FOF up to be a scapegoat.

Even though Bock apparently instructed that the materials be sent to “all republicans and the media” (p. 5), I can assure you that your correspondent received nothing.

Prosecutors report (p. 6) Bock as saying on the telephone,

that her criminal defense attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, and the editor of the Star Tribune were making plans as to when to publish the article to garner the most strategic advantage.

Prosecutors restate the point on p. 9,

Bock believes the Star Tribune reporter is writing an article that will favorably color
her role in the fraud—indeed, she claimed her attorney was strategizing with the
editor to ensure the article is published when it will be most beneficial to Bock

Prosecutors are seeking sanctions against Bock and to prohibit jailhouse conversations between her and her two sons.

Lou Raguse of KARE-11 has posted a video on this odd development.

Other outlets weighing in on the story:

  • MPR News: Feds: Feeding Our Future ringleader tried to ‘minimize her starring role’ by leaking secret documents from jail
  • WCCO-4 TV: Feeding Our Future ringleader leaked protected documents from jail to minimize her role in fraud scheme, prosecutors say
  • KSTP-5 TV: Court records: FOF ringleader sought to minimize role in fraud scheme by leaking protected documents
  • Fox 9 TV: Feeding Our Future: Aimee Bock accused of leaking protected case files

Oddly enough, nothing so far from the Star Tribune itself. In their filing, page 3, prosecutors write,

Then, on April 21, 2026, the government learned that a reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune had contacted a lawyer representing a cooperating witness in the Feeding Our Future case. The reporter stated to the lawyer that they had obtained copies of reports of two of the witnesses’ law enforcement interviews and intended to quote extensively from them in an upcoming article about the conduct of certain uncharged individuals.

That sounds like witness intimidation. What say you, Steve Grove?

Raguse reports on a statement made by the Star Tribune,

The Minnesota Star Tribune cannot comment on stories we may or may not be working on, or on our reporting process. Any assertion that our editor has coordinated with Bock’s counsel is simply untrue.

They can, but they won’t.