Walz Ends Re-Election Bid As Omar Embroiled In Somali-Based Fraud Allegations
The Trump administration has cited allegations of fraud to justify expanding federal law enforcement activity in Minnesota. Federal authorities, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, have alleged widespread fraud at Somali-owned child care centers across the state.
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, and most of the roughly 70 defendants charged in the case are of Somali descent.
Governor Tim Walz announced on Monday that he will not seek re-election due to growing criticism over a scandal, as reported by CNN. Walz then wrote on X/Twitter that he had “decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”
Feeding Our Future is a nonprofit that prosecutors say falsely claimed to provide meals to children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in 2022, federal authorities charged dozens of people connected to the organization, most of them of Somali origin.
In March, a federal jury found nonprofit founder and executive director Aimee Bock and Salim Said guilty for their roles in a $250 million fraud scheme tied to a government-funded children’s nutrition program. Said was a co-owner of a local restaurant that supplied meals under the program.
Prosecutors alleged that Bock and Said used proceeds from the scheme to purchase property, luxury vehicles, and international travel.
Bock, who is not Somali, was the subject of federal raids on her home and offices and was convicted on seven federal charges, including bribery. She has not yet been sentenced.
Said, who is also awaiting sentencing, was convicted on 20 federal charges, including bribery and money laundering. Both face potential sentences of up to 30 years in prison, according to a CNN affiliate.
Meanwhile, amid the rising fraud allegations, a pair of companies owned by Tim Mynett, the husband of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), saw their reported valuations rise sharply in recent years, increasing more than twentyfold in less than a year, according to congressional financial disclosures. The growth has prompted questions about how the companies achieved such rapid gains.
Financial filings related to Omar’s assets indicate a significant increase in the reported value of Mynett’s business holdings since 2020, Fox News reported.
Omar reported a sharp increase in the value of Rose Lake Capital LLC, a firm co-founded by her husband, Tim Mynett, according to her 2024 congressional financial disclosure.
Omar listed the value of Rose Lake Capital at between $5 million and $25 million in 2024. In her 2023 disclosure, she reported the company’s value in the lowest category, between $1 and $1,000. Congressional disclosure forms require lawmakers to report assets in broad ranges rather than precise figures, but even under the most conservative assumptions, the reported valuation reflects a dramatic year-over-year increase.
Rose Lake Capital’s website describes the firm as facilitating work in deal-making, mergers and acquisitions, banking, politics, and diplomacy.
The company has listed several high-profile figures among its personnel, including Adam Ereli, a lobbyist who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Bahrain during the Obama administration. Archived versions of the website also indicate past involvement by former Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), as well as former Democratic National Committee officials William Derrough and Alex Hoffman.
Mynett, Omar’s third husband, co-founded Rose Lake Capital in 2022.
Amid increased public scrutiny of Omar over large-scale fraud investigations in Minnesota and questions about whether she could have benefited indirectly, Rose Lake Capital has removed the names and biographies of its team members from its website. It is not clear whether any of the previously listed individuals remain affiliated with the firm.
Another company connected to Omar’s financial disclosures, ESTCRU LLC, also reported a sharp increase in valuation. The winery, registered in Santa Rosa, was listed as being worth between $1 million and $5 million in Omar’s 2024 disclosure, compared with an estimated value of $15,000 to $50,000 the previous year.
The couple’s growing wealth comes as state and federal authorities uncover vast fraud networks in Minnesota, many tied to Somali-run nonprofits in Omar’s district.
Nearly 150,000 California Mail Ballots Rejected In Primary
California election officials are examining why nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the state’s June primary, with late-arriving ballots accounting for most of the increase.
The higher rejection rate comes despite years of election law changes designed to make voting more accessible and ensure more ballots are ultimately counted.
According to data compiled by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail-in ballots were rejected during the June primary, representing 1.73% of all mail ballots returned.
That marks an increase from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 ballots were rejected, or 1.56% of all mail ballots cast.
The largest reason for rejection was ballots arriving too late to qualify under California law.
State data shows that 93,479 ballots were rejected because they failed to meet the state’s deadline requirements.
California allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting experts believe many of the rejected ballots received postmarks dated after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted even if they arrived within the seven-day grace period.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the timing of postal processing appears to be a significant concern.
“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander said.
Election experts have questioned whether recent operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service may be contributing to delayed postmarks.
Earlier this year, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators wrote to the Postal Service expressing concern that mail-processing changes could affect ballot handling during federal elections.
Updated Postal Service procedures mean postmarks may reflect when mail is processed at regional facilities rather than when it first enters the mail system.
Because processing centers have been consolidated in some areas, election officials have warned that postmark timing could be affected.
Before the June primary, California election officials encouraged voters to mail ballots as early as possible because of potential postal delays.
The June election also featured a highly competitive race for governor, which some experts believe encouraged many voters to wait until the final days before casting ballots.
In addition to late-arriving ballots, approximately 44,000 ballots were rejected because election officials determined the voter’s signature did not match the signature on file.
Another 8,300 ballots were rejected because the return envelope did not contain a signature.
State records also show that 743 ballots were rejected because those voters had already cast another ballot.
Other rejected ballots involved missing ballots inside return envelopes or multiple ballots submitted in a single envelope.
The highest rejection rate in the state occurred in Tulare County, where 3.52% of returned mail ballots were rejected.
Alpine County and Merced County followed closely, each recording rejection rates of 3.36%.
California has frequently faced criticism for taking weeks to complete vote counting after major elections, largely because state law permits ballots meeting certain requirements to continue arriving after Election Day.
Following the June primary, President Donald Trump again criticized California’s election system, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into election administration in Los Angeles County.
Election experts emphasize that the increase in rejected ballots should not be interpreted as evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found documented cases of mail ballot fraud remained extremely rare, estimating roughly four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast, The Associated Press reported.
State officials have not identified evidence of widespread fraud connected to the June primary, but the increase in rejected ballots is expected to receive additional scrutiny as election administrators evaluate whether changes in postal operations, voter behavior or election procedures contributed to the higher rejection rate.
