By Phillip C. Parrish, Candidate for Governor of Minnesota 2026
Rosemount, Minnesota—right in the heart of Dakota County—is ground zero for the thieving grifting MNDFL criminal syndicate at work. While they gaslight the public about “protecting the environment,” their machine is selling off University of Minnesota land to Big Tech cronies like Meta, greenlighting secret military hypersonic projects next door, and letting recyclers like Spectro Alloys keep pumping out the haze. All of it hidden behind NDAs that the same DFL players now pretend to “ban” so they can bait Republicans into looking like the bad guys. It’s the same racketeering playbook they’ve run for decades: enable the corporate carve-outs in secret, crush small businesses and family farms with regulation hell, then run the clickbait-mailer-wire-fraud donation scam pretending they’re the heroes. Same syndicate that looted daycare fraud, COVID relief, and Feeding Our Future—now looting aquifers, air quality, transparency, and the dreams of honest Minnesotans.
Let’s name the names and map the scam, because sunlight is the best disinfectant for cockroaches.
The NDAs: The Syndicate’s Favorite Secrecy Weapon
Meta didn’t roll into Rosemount with a public welcome mat. They used a shell company—Jimnist LLC—and forced city officials to sign ironclad NDAs so residents wouldn’t know about the water-guzzling data center on former UMore Park land until the ink was dry. UMN Regents quietly sold off 280 acres of that polluted ground to Meta for tens of millions while the public got zero real input. Local enablers like City Administrator Logan Martin and the council crew who greenlit “Project Bigfoot” under secrecy were happy to play ball. Same story with North Wind’s $1 billion hypersonic aerospace complex right next door—another UMN land flip funded by Walz’s DEED machine, complete with defense contractor secrecy. Spectro Alloys? Decades of EPA and MPCA violations for hazardous dust and stormwater dumps, yet the syndicate’s appointees keep issuing the permits.
Who enabled it? Governor Tim Walz personally hyped these deals as “economic wins.” His MPCA commissioner Katrina Kessler oversees the “monitoring” that somehow never finds cumulative impacts when it matters. Star Tribune publisher Steve Grove—fresh off being Walz’s own DEED Commissioner—makes sure the coverage stays soft. This is the revolving-door syndicate in action.
The Two-Tiered Syndicate: Crushing Small Businesses and Family Farms While Greasing the Connected Cronies
Here’s the sickest part of the MNDFL racket: they weaponize regulations against the little guy while handing get-out-of-jail-free cards to anyone who greases the right palms. Small businesses and family farms in Rosemount and across Dakota County are buried under MPCA permit backlogs that drag on for 476 to 586 days on average for water and Tier 2 air permits—some sitting unassigned for over 1,400 days. That’s according to the Minnesota Chamber Foundation’s own data. Only a tiny fraction meet the state’s 150-day goal. Family farmers trying to expand or comply with new water-quality rules get surprise fee hikes, endless paperwork, and delays that kill cash flow. NFIB Minnesota just called out Walz in April 2026 for ignoring the crushing costs of his Paid Family and Medical Leave mandate and payroll taxes that are hammering small operators with thin margins.
Meanwhile, the connected players sail through. Meta’s data center got the Walz DEED fast-track treatment—personal announcement, UMN land flip, and construction underway before locals could blink. North Wind’s hypersonic project? Same greased runway via defense ties and state funding. Spectro Alloys racks up violations but keeps operating with fines and minor upgrades instead of shutdowns. Walz’s own February 2026 Executive Order 26-03 admits the permitting system is broken and orders MPCA to “streamline” with AI and two-stage reviews—but funnels the real help through DEED’s “Business First Stop” for “complex projects” (translation: Big Tech and defense cronies who donate or play ball). Small businesses get the regulatory hammer. The syndicate’s friends get the red-carpet bypass. That’s not governance—that’s racketeering dressed up as environmental protection.
The Bait-and-Switch: DFL “Heroes” Push Bills After the Grift
Now the same machine is grandstanding. Sen. Jen McEwen (DFL-Duluth) leads the charge for a two-year data center moratorium. Sen. Erin Maye Quade (DFL-Apple Valley)—whose district sits right next to the Rosemount Meta beast—co-sponsors the NDA “ban” and moratorium bills. Rep. Emma Greenman (DFL-Minneapolis) co-authors the House version with a few token Republicans. They’re all suddenly “pro-transparency.” Rosemount’s own city council just passed a one-year moratorium on new data centers (April 21 vote)—conveniently after the Meta project was already locked in and sailing through.
This is textbook bait. The syndicate creates the opacity, rigs the deals, crushes the competition with red tape, then flips the script to paint any Republican pushback as “anti-environment” or “pro-polluter.” Some Republicans fall for it every time—opposing stricter versions in committee so the DFL can scream “they chose Big Tech over families.” It’s the same sick twisted narrative they’ve used forever: loot first, virtue-signal later, and bait the opposition into the trap while the real criminals skate.
Wire and Mail Fraud for Clickbait and Donations—Again
Here’s the criminal kicker: while they hide the deals and hammer small businesses, the MNDFL machine and their nonprofit grifter allies flood mailboxes and inboxes with alarmist fundraising appeals. “Protect Minnesota’s water!” “Fight Big Polluters!” Wire transfers and mailed checks pour in from scared families and donors. Clickbait headlines from their media allies rack up the ad revenue. All while they do the exact opposite of what they claim—fast-tracking the very projects draining aquifers, burying small operators under paperwork, and hiding the impacts. Wire fraud via online donation platforms. Mail fraud via deceptive campaign and nonprofit solicitations. It’s the same racketeering enterprise I exposed in “The Minnesota Syndicate” report: decades of federal dollars looted through the same networks, now dressed up as environmental heroism. The DFL machine doesn’t fear God or the Constitution—they fear exposure.
The Vision Worth Fighting For
Minnesota doesn’t need more DFL “oversight.” We need leaders who fear the Lord, love this constitutional republic, and refuse to let the syndicate loot another acre or another aquifer—or strangle another small business with selective regulations. Imagine a Minnesota where NDAs are illegal from day one, where families and family farms—not server farms or secret military projects—come first in water and air decisions, where agencies answer to working Minnesotans instead of Walz cronies and Big Tech checkbooks. A level playing field where small businesses get fast, fair permitting and the cronies get real accountability. Where whistleblowers are heroes and grifters sweat in the light of real justice. A state rebuilt on faith, hard work, and truth—where our kids inherit clean land, honest government, thriving local businesses, and a future not sold off in backroom deals.
That’s the Minnesota we’re taking back in 2026. No more tables left unflipped. The syndicate is sweating because this time the people see the game.
Phillip C. Parrish
Candidate for Governor of Minnesota 2026
Campaign Manager: Heidi Wanty at heidi@parrish4mn.com
1 (612) 460-1717
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