longer.blue

“ ICE paid nearly $500 million for a Minnesota prison that its owner had offered to sell to the state for just $75 million a year earlier, according to an investigation by KARE 11. The Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, which has been closed for 16 years, was sold to ICE in August for $495.6 million by private prison company CoreCivic, which donated $500,000 to the Trump-Vance inaugural committee. Newly unsealed emails show CoreCivic had offered it to Minnesota in May 2025 for $75 million, including upgrades. “It’s unexplainable,” said Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell. “I don’t know how they could justify this amount.” Attorney General Keith Ellison called on Congress to investigate “why Trump paid almost half a billion to a Trump donor for a prison worth just $75 million.” CoreCivic says the federal government set the price, and it stands to earn about $75 million a year more operating the facility.” From Aaron Parnas newsletter