Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is seeking to dissolve 23 nonprofits his office says were created or revived to defraud the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

In 23 separate civil lawsuits filed Wednesday, Ellison’s office alleges the entities collected reimbursements from the program for meals they never provided.

Most of the “sham nonprofits” named in the suits were headed by people who have been indicted in the Feeding Our Future criminal investigation, Ellison’s office said in a news release.

“An independent civil investigation conducted by the Charities Division of the Attorney General’s Office also revealed that the nonprofits were all created or revived around the start of the pandemic to capitalize on the Federal Child Nutrition Program, did not appear to have legitimate nonprofit activities on site, showed evidence of misuse in bank records when located, were abandoned or gave false addresses, failed to comply with state and federal reporting requirements that would have allowed regulators to detect the fraud, and failed to comply with the Attorney General’s investigation — all providing grounds to shut the organizations down under Minnesota’s civil nonprofit corporation laws,” Ellison’s office said in a news release.

A majority of the entities named in the suits are located in Hennepin County, while three are in Ramsey County, one is in Dakota County, one is in Rice County and one is in Stearns County.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his staffers Thursday night that he knew many were shaken professionally and personally by the Israel-Hamas war — a message he sent amid unhappiness among some Muslim and Arab employees over how the U.S. is approaching the crisis.

Blinken’s note to staff wasn’t a response to reports of the frustrations, a person familiar with the issue said. He had planned to write to department employees about the Middle East crisis but wanted to wait until he returned from a visit to the region, said the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.

Blinken’s note described his trip, which was repeatedly extended and saw him visit Israel and several Arab countries, some of them multiple times. The secretary applauded staffers for moving quickly to deal with logistics and other aspects of the trip and overall crisis.

“I know that, for many of you, this time has not only been challenging professionally, but personally,” he added. “Some of our colleagues in the region, especially among our locally employed staff, have been directly affected by the violence, including by losing loved ones and friends.”

He went on to note that even in the United States, there have been “ripples of fear and bigotry” against Arab Americans, Muslims and Jews.

He insisted, however, that the administration’s approach to the crisis has been balanced.

“President [Joe] Biden has made clear from the beginning of the crisis — as I underscored across the region — that while we fully support Israel’s right to defend itself, how it does so matters. That means acting in a way that respects the rule of law and international humanitarian standards, and taking every possible precaution to protect civilian life,” he wrote.

The Biden administration’s initial reaction to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel was to offer unqualified support to the Israelis, insisting they had the right to defend themselves against the militant group.

That jarred many State Department employees who worried it gave Israel a green light to take measures that would unfairly punish ordinary Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is based. Due to an Israeli siege, water, electricity and fuel are in short supply now in the territory.

The Biden administration’s approach has especially upset Muslim and Arab staffers — but not only them — who felt the language was not nuanced and deaf to longstanding Palestinian concerns. Some worried it would also lead to bad policy outcomes and more long-term violence in the Middle East.

In more recent days, Biden, Blinken and others have adjusted their language. They are more likely now to urge Israel to avoid hurting civilians and to more openly acknowledge the suffering of the Palestinians. They also have promised to send millions in aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

Amid the tumult, some Arab and Muslim staffers have considered quitting, but they also weigh the possibility that they might be able to do more good if they stay at the department.

That keeps some people going, one State Department employee said. “But when you’re talked over or ignored enough times, it can cause folks to break.”

President Joe Biden used a rare Oval Office address Thursday night to forcefully advocate for aiding both Israel and Ukraine.

And he laid out a dark vision of what would happen should that aid, along with America’s larger commitment to defending democracy, not be delivered.

“History has taught us, when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and the world keep rising,” Biden said.

Biden’s speech came a day after he returned from a whirlwind trip to Israel to stand in solidarity with its longtime ally. Ahead of what could be an escalation of violence in the Middle East, Biden laid out the stakes in clear terms, saying that while Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hamas “represent different threats,” they both want to “completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”

The president spoke quickly at first, reading from a teleprompter, before slowing his rhetoric as his address drifted toward more somber points. He coughed at times, and pointed his finger down on the desk at others. More generally, he offered a tone of sobriety, describing a world with a number of serious fires in desperate need of being put out.

Biden linked the fresh fight in Israel to the invasion of Ukraine, trying to revive fading support for a war that has dragged on for more than a year and a half.

He used the primetime moment to make the broad case to the public as to why a pair of conflicts on the other side of the globe were so vital to American national security. And he did so by stressing the need to combat the rise of authoritarianism. Biden is poised to make a massive $100 billion spending request on Friday, which would include assistance for Ukraine and Israel.

He called it “an urgent budget request” that would provide “an unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security.”

“It’s a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American security for generations. Help us keep American troops out of harm’s way. Help us build a world that is safer, more peaceful, more prosperous for our children and grandchildren,” Biden said.

The president will have to navigate a series of ideological differences if he seeks all of the aid in a single congressional vote. While there is wide support for funding Israel, a small number of vocal Republicans have begun balking at sending more aid to Ukraine. All funding could end up being complicated by the political paralysis that has gripped Congress.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has been without a speaker now for weeks, making it impossible to pass any legislation, including the aid that Israel has said it urgently needs. Republicans on Thursday ditched a plan to temporarily empower Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) as interim speaker amid ongoing divides in the caucus, once again placing the House at an impasse.

Biden on Thursday also mourned the lost Palestinian lives, two days after a rocket exploded at a hospital in Gaza, reportedly killing hundreds of civilians. He stated, definitively, that Israel was not responsible for the explosion. But he also noted that people in Gaza were in desperate need of food, water and medicine.

His recognition of the magnitude of tragedy also striking Palestinians — among the strongest since the beginning of the conflict — comes amid criticism from top Arab American and Muslim leaders about the White House’s posture during the crisis.

The president also named Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian American boy who authorities say was stabbed to death because he was Muslim.

“We can’t stand by and stand silent when this happens,” Biden said. “We must without equivocation denounce antisemitism. We must also without equivocation denounce Islamophobia. And to all you hurting, I want you to know I see you. You belong. And I want to say this to you: You’re all American.”

Underscoring the importance of the moment, the address was only the second time Biden has delivered formal remarks from the Oval Office since becoming president. In June, he spoke from behind the Resolute Desk about a bipartisan agreement to avoid defaulting on the nation’s debt.

Biden has earned kudos among Israel’s defenders for standing firmly with the country. But his trip to the country was marred by conflict in the region. A summit scheduled for Amman featuring Jordanian, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders was canceled after the explosion at a hospital in Gaza. And while Biden was still on the ground in Tel Aviv, protests across the region dramatically escalated, including demonstrations at the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital. U.S. officials have expressed deep private concert that the unrest in the region could explode once Israel begins its seemingly imminent ground operation into Gaza.

In many ways, Biden’s overarching message Thursday night was an illustration of the lofty themes he has hit throughout his presidency: reframing the century ahead as a battle between democracies and autocracies.