GOP Links Omar With Growing Medicaid Fraud Scandal In MN Somali Community
Republican challenger John Nagel is accusing Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of being closely linked to the $1 billion Feeding Our Future fraud scandal, which is based in her Minneapolis congressional district. Nagel, who is running against Omar in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, claims that legislation introduced by Omar contributed to the circumstances that allowed the fraud to take place.
“Where did this actually start?” Nagel said, Townhall reported. “She passed legislation. Her legislation actually started it, and it allowed people to get into Feeding Our Future.” Nagel pointed to the geographic concentration of the fraud.
“If you look at where the fraud is, it’s primarily her district, the district that I’m running in against her,” he said. “And it’s really odd to think that all the fraud just happened in a particular area.”
Omar introduced the Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students Act, known as the MEALS Act, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill allowed states to provide free meals to children during school closures through alternative methods such as grab-and-go distribution and eased eligibility requirements. Omar has denied any wrongdoing.
The legislation was passed by Congress with bipartisan support.
Nagel further alleged that individuals connected to Omar’s political circle financially benefited from the fraud scheme. He said Omar held campaign events at Safari Restaurant, a business tied to the Feeding Our Future investigation, and claimed she had personal familiarity with one of the restaurant’s owners who has since been convicted.
Nagel also asserted that Omar previously employed a staff member who was later convicted in connection with the case. Omar has not publicly addressed those specific allegations.
Last week, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., spoke on the Senate floor Thursday about a large fraud scheme uncovered in Minnesota involving nonprofit organizations linked to the state’s Somali community.
During his remarks, Tuberville accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Omar of failing to prevent the fraud and of defending individuals involved in the scheme. Federal prosecutors have said the case involves the misuse of hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds through child nutrition and other assistance programs.
“Fox News recently reported that members of Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar’s inner circle, people working for her, were personally profiting from this fraud,” Tuberville said. “Omar held at least one event at one of the restaurants named in the massive fraud scheme. And by the way, one of Congresswoman Omar’s staffers has already been convicted for his role in the fraud. It runs very deep.”
“All of this has taken place inside of Omar’s congressional district, and she’s doing everything she can to defend these Somali criminals,” he added.
Tuberville criticized Walz for permitting a scam involving a Somali non-profit that falsely claimed to be a housing assistance program.
“These people were empowered by the woke and clueless so-called governor Tim Walz, whose government handed the funds to these Somali criminals. He turned a blind eye,” argued Tuberville.
“For example, one of the scams run by the Somali nonprofit disguised itself as a housing assistance program. Sounds great,” he continued. “The initial budget for this program was $2.6 million. However, the annual budget quickly increased to over $100 million due to fake billing and fraud. And whose money is that? The American taxpayers.”
The senator urged for Walz to be jailed due to his complicity, also highlighting the governor’s expected tendency to label critics of the fraud as racists.
“Tim Walz had every opportunity to see this, investigate, and stop this fraud and corruption,” noted Tuberville. “Instead, he looked the other way. That makes him complicit. He should go to jail for this. Anybody else would. Now he’s trying to deflect by calling those who are angry about the Somali fraud ‘racist.’ That’s the word they always use.”
“This has nothing to do with racism. Somali immigrants stole more than $1 billion and counting from the American taxpayers. Again, proven. That should make every single American’s blood boil,” he added.
Vote To Remove Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar From Congress Being Considered By Republican Congressman
Minnesota - June 7, 2026
In a closely divided 5-3 vote that fell one short of the required threshold, Minnesota House Republicans failed to secure a subpoena compelling U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar to testify and produce documents tied to the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal.
The outcome on May 5 marked the dramatic conclusion of months of mounting scrutiny over the congresswoman’s legislative actions and community outreach during the pandemic-era program at the center of one of the largest federal fraud investigations in recent Minnesota history. The House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, operating under a bipartisan agreement that demands six votes to authorize a subpoena, saw every Republican member support the measure while all three Democrats opposed it.
Committee Chair Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) argued that the subpoena had become the only remaining tool after Omar repeatedly declined invitations to appear and failed to respond to formal document requests.
“We have reached out to Representative Ilhan Omar on multiple occasions, inviting her to testify and inviting and requesting documents,” Robbins said ahead of the vote. “The only tool left for us as a committee if we want to get these documents is to issue a subpoena.”
Republicans on the panel have focused on Omar’s sponsorship of the federal MEALS Act, enacted in March 2020. They contend the legislation loosened critical oversight requirements in federal child nutrition programs and helped create the conditions that enabled large-scale fraud.
“Representative Omar had some role, whether inadvertent or not,” Robbins said. “She passed the MEALS Act in March of 2020, and that took the guardrails off the federal school nutrition program which created the conditions for Feeding Our Future.”
The Feeding Our Future scandal stands as one of Minnesota’s most significant public corruption cases in recent decades. Federal prosecutors allege that organizers and associates diverted hundreds of millions of dollars intended to feed low-income children through fabricated meal claims, shell nonprofit organizations, and fraudulent reimbursement requests. Dozens of individuals have been charged, including nonprofit founder Aimee Bock and multiple business operators connected to Minnesota’s Somali community.
Committee Republicans specifically sought communications between Omar’s office and several individuals named in the federal investigation, along with records related to her public promotion of Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, a business later linked to the scandal. Robbins also referenced a Somali-language television appearance in which Omar highlighted the restaurant as a meal distribution site during the pandemic.
“We thought it’d be very helpful to understand from Rep. Omar’s perspective how she thought the MEALS Act impacted the community, why she brought it, what communication she had with the fraudsters,” Robbins said during the hearing.
Democrats on the committee strongly opposed the effort, accusing Republicans of politicizing the investigation and targeting Omar for partisan advantage. Dave Pinto, the committee’s lead Democrat, questioned both the timing and practical purpose of pursuing a subpoena with only days remaining in the legislative session.
“Even if Omar were to testify or information is received, I do not see the committee doing anything with that information,” Pinto argued.
Pinto further referenced broader concerns about investigations involving political opponents under the current federal administration.
“We know the president and federal administration have got no hesitation going after political enemies and investigating them in all sorts of ways,” he said during the hearing.
The failed vote effectively prevents the Minnesota House committee from compelling Omar’s testimony or documents before the legislative session ends later this month. Nevertheless, Robbins signaled that Republicans are exploring alternative avenues to continue the pursuit.
“They’re fading,” Robbins said. “But I’ll certainly talk to our friends in Congress to see if they would be willing to issue a subpoena.”
Robbins noted that federal authorities retain “a whole menu of legal options” because Omar is a sitting member of Congress. The controversy unfolds amid broader Republican efforts at both state and national levels to highlight waste, fraud, and inadequate oversight in federal spending programs enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
New California Leader Announced After Overnight Count as Kash Patel Demands Recount Over Democrat Fraud
Primary voters in Folsom, Rancho Cordova, and Citrus Heights went to the polls on Tuesday night to decide who would represent California’s 7th Assembly District.
According to early results from the California Secretary of State’s Office, Josh Hoover, the Republican incumbent, has surged to first place with about 54 percent of the vote as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Democratic candidate Amy Slavensky got about 44 percent of the vote.
Based on reports from the Associated Press, the two candidates will face off in November. The seat went from being Democratic to Republican under Hoover in 2022.
Hoover, who lives in Folsom, was Kevin Kiley’s chief of staff when he was an assemblyman. He hosts the political podcast “Point of Order” and belongs to the bipartisan California Problem Solvers Caucus.
Slavensky came out of retirement to become the interim deputy superintendent for the San Juan Unified School District. She retired in 2021 as superintendent of the Amador County Unified School District.
California faced fresh criticism this week over Tuesday’s primary elections, with Democratic leaders warning that full ballot counting could take weeks.
In Los Angeles, incumbent Democrat Karen Bass fell short of 51 percent, forcing a November runoff. Republican Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV personality, leads Democrat and City Council member Nithya Raman.
With 62 percent of votes counted as of Wednesday night, New York Times figures as of Thursday morning show:
Karen Bass — 183,701 (35 percent)
Spencer Pratt — 157,116 (29.9 percent)
Nithya Raman — 119,809 (22.8 percent)
No Republican has won Los Angeles mayor in over three decades. Pratt’s performance signals voter frustration with the city after years of Democratic rule.
Spencer Pratt filed a complaint Tuesday on X against Karen Bass.
“Karen Bass just violated election law here,” Pratt wrote.
“She is so accustomed to breaking the law with no accountability, she even filmed herself doing it. Well, those days are over. We just filed a formal complaint for illegally gaming the election. We must protect our democracy.”
“Electioneering within 100 feet of a ballot box is AGAINST THE LAW. Soliciting votes at a ballot box is AGAINST THE LAW,” he wrote.
“These clear violations show a reckless disregard for the rule of law and our democratic process.”
“A person in a position of power such as Bass should be especially respectful of our democratic laws, but this is just emblematic of Karen’s mafia-like regime. It’s ‘rules for thee, but not for me,’” Pratt said.
Pratt posted a photo of the complaint. California law bans electioneering within 100 feet of ballot drop boxes. The complaint targets a Bass video showing her urging votes near a ballot box. A Bass spokesperson dismissed the complaint and questioned Pratt’s campaign.
