# Ellis *United States ex rel. Ellis v. City of St. Paul* is a False Claims Act qui tam case against the [[City of St. Paul]], known in the record only through a Department of Justice internal email and the congressional record built around it. In the email, dated March 8, 2012, the government states that it "has agreed to decline to intervene in Ellis."[^1] On April 15, 2013, a joint congressional staff report alleged that DOJ agreed to decline intervention in two False Claims Act qui tam cases against Saint Paul in exchange for the City withdrawing *Magner* from the Supreme Court.[^2] No public docket number for *Ellis* is recoverable. The project's validated dossier records that the case's existence rests on the congressional record and the quoted internal email.[^3] The record does not establish who filed the case, in which court or on what date, or what it alleged. No DOJ [[Office of Inspector General]] report on the matter was located.[^7] ## Who The joint staff report was released by [[House Oversight]] Chairman Darrell Issa, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, and Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Chuck Grassley.[^2] The report names Thomas E. Perez, then Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and Fredrick Newell, the relator in the companion case. It also names three people acting for Saint Paul: Mayor [[Christopher Coleman]], whom it describes as having accepted the arrangement; City Attorney Sara Grewing; and [[David Lillehaug]], the City's outside counsel, who the report states negotiated with Perez.[^2] The pack does not identify the author or recipients of the March 8, 2012 email, and it names no relator for *Ellis*.[^1] ## What The March 8, 2012 email, as reproduced in Senator Grassley's correspondence, reads: "Government declined to intervene in Newell, and has agreed to decline to intervene in Ellis, in exchange for defendants withdrawal of cert. petition in Gallagher case."[^1] It is the only document in the record that names *Ellis* in the government's own words. It links the case to [[Newell]] and to a certiorari petition in the [[Gallagher]] case.[^1] The report is titled *Department of Justice's Quid Pro Quo with St. Paul: How Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez Manipulated Justice and Ignored the Rule of Law*. It alleges that Perez instructed career attorneys to omit any discussion of *Magner* from the declination memoranda. It states that career staff described the situation as "weirdness" and "ridiculous," and that Newell was reduced to a "bargaining chip."[^2] The companion case, *United States ex rel. Newell v. City of St. Paul*, was filed in May 2009. It alleged that the City obtained approximately $62 million in HUD grants from 2003 to 2009 by falsely certifying compliance with [[Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act]] of 1968. The Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal of *Newell* on "original source" grounds (No. 12-3894).[^4] On May 7, 2013, the subcommittees held a joint hearing, *[[DOJ's Quid Pro Quo with St. Paul]]: A [[Whistleblower]]'s Perspective*, in Rayburn 2154 (Serial Nos. 113-23 and 113-6). Witnesses included Newell, Senator Grassley and Senator Isakson.[^5] House Oversight Democrats issued a minority memorandum based on a review of more than 3,500 pages and six interviews. It concluded that "Mr. Perez and other Department officials acted professionally." The memorandum described the investigation as part of "a broader political campaign to undermine the legal safeguards against discrimination." Professor Stephen Gillers submitted an ethics statement for the minority.[^6] ## When - May 2009: *Newell* filed.[^4] - February 2012: the government declined to intervene in *Newell*, the same month *Magner* was dismissed.[^4] - March 8, 2012: DOJ email records the agreement to decline to intervene in *Ellis*.[^1] - April 15, 2013: joint staff report released.[^2] - May 7, 2013: joint subcommittee hearing.[^5] - August 28, 2013: Eighth Circuit affirms dismissal of *Newell*.[^4] The record carries no filing, declination or disposition date for *Ellis* itself.[^3] ## How much The report and the hearing announcement put forgone potential recovery at as much as $200 million. The report states that DOJ's Civil Fraud Section valued *Newell* at $86 million, and that more than $62 million in HUD funds was allegedly falsely certified.[^2] The record does not assign any figure to *Ellis* separately.[^3] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record carries two pairs on *Ellis*, both in the Ramsey package. AI-Ramsey-003 (rank 3) sets the March 8, 2012 email beside the presidential action *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (May 2026).[^8] AI-Ramsey-017 (rank 17) sets the absence of any recoverable docket beside *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025).[^9] The pairings are the project's. The record does not establish that either order refers to Saint Paul or to this case. ## Notes [^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, internal email (March 8, 2012), as reproduced in Senator Grassley's correspondence — text of the agreement to decline to intervene in *Ellis*. Recorded in Warren_E_Burger_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §V.c (validated; dossier note 20) and at-issue row AI-Ramsey-003; no source URL in pack. [^2]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Committee on the Judiciary, and Senate Committee on the Judiciary (minority), *Department of Justice's Quid Pro Quo with St. Paul: How Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez Manipulated Justice and Ignored the Rule of Law* (April 15, 2013) — 64-page joint staff report: allegations, named persons, dollar figures. Recorded in Warren_E_Burger_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §V.c (validated; dossier notes 5–6); no source URL in pack. [^3]: Warren_E_Burger_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §V.c, *The congressional finding* (2026-09-02) — no public docket number for *Ellis v. City of St. Paul* is recoverable; existence rests on the congressional record and the quoted email (validated; citing dossier notes 6 and 20). No source URL in pack. [^4]: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, *United States ex rel. Newell v. City of St. Paul*, No. 12-3894 (August 28, 2013) — filing date, allegations, February 2012 declination, affirmance of dismissal. Recorded in Warren_E_Burger_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §V.c (validated; dossier note 21); no source URL in pack. [^5]: House subcommittees, joint hearing, *DOJ's Quid Pro Quo with St. Paul: A Whistleblower's Perspective* (May 7, 2013), Serial Nos. 113-23 and 113-6 — date, venue, witnesses. Recorded in Warren_E_Burger_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §V.c (validated; dossier note 22); no source URL in pack. [^6]: House Oversight Democrats, minority memorandum (2013) — minority conclusion and Gillers ethics statement. Recorded in Warren_E_Burger_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §V.c (validated; dossier note 23); no source URL in pack. [^7]: Warren_E_Burger_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §V.c, *The congressional finding* (2026-09-02) — negative finding: no DOJ OIG report on the *Magner*/*Newell*/*Ellis* matter located; the March 2013 OIG report concerns the Voting Section (validated; dossier note 24). No source URL in pack. [^8]: The White House, *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (May 2026) — presidential action paired with at-issue row AI-Ramsey-003. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/05/restoring-integrity-to-americas-financial-system/ [^9]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — presidential action paired with at-issue row AI-Ramsey-017. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/