Rep. Bachmann wants to work with Rep. Ellison on fighting Medicaid fraud

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is hoping to work with Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) on Medicaid reform, according to a report.

Bachmann told a group of Minnesota business owners that she wanted to work with Ellison on fighting Medicaid fraud in their home state.

"Minnesota is the poster child for Medicaid fraud. If we're going to have a system, we need a system that works for the poor. Right now, it's not working. I've been in communication with Rep. Ellison and hope to work with him on this issue," Bachmann said Monday, according to Patch.com.

If Ellison, the only Muslim member of Congress, does team up with Bachmann, it would be a shift from a recent, tense exchange between the two that began when Bachmann and a number of other Republicans sent letters to the inspectors general of five government agencies (Departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, National Intelligence, and State) suggesting the agencies had been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood and other "radical" groups.

The letters also accused Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the wife of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) of being an infiltrator for the Islamist group. The letter and the Abedin accusation in particular drew wide criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

In July, Bachmann also suggested Ellison had ties to organizations that financed terrorists, according to Patch.com.

"Well, [Ellison] has a long record of being associated with CAIR [the Council on American-Islamic Relations] and with the Muslim Brotherhood," Bachmann said during an interview on the Glenn Beck Program. "CAIR is an unindicted co‑conspirator, as stated in the large terrorist financing case that we’ve had in the United States of America and so he came out and essentially wanted to shut down the inspectors general from even looking into any of the questions that we were asking."

Ellison, in response to the letters, challenged Bachmann's accusations.

"A careful review of your 16-page response reveals that you fail to provide any credible evidence for your claims, engage in guilty by association, and continue to rely on discredited sources."