January 1, Ilhan Omar Linked to Minneapolis Fraud Scandal

Wyatt’s Take

• Republican challenger accuses Ilhan Omar of opening the door to massive welfare fraud.
• Omar’s associates and events are tied to businesses named in the scandal.
• Demands rise for transparency and leadership changes in Minnesota.

John Nagel, running against Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minneapolis, blames her for enabling a billion-dollar fraud scandal hitting headlines.

Nagel argues Omar’s legislation made it easy for groups tied to her district to take advantage of the program at the heart of the fraud.

“Where did this actually start? She passed legislation. Her legislation actually started and it allowed people to get into Feeding Our Future. If you look at where the fraud is, it’s primarily her [5th Congressional District], the district that I’m running in against her,” Nagel said.

He points to the 2020 MEALS Act, introduced by Omar, which critics say helped the scam grow. Nagel says it’s important to find out who helped Omar write this bill.

He says people close to Omar made money from the Feeding Our Future scandal, putting her Somali base in the national spotlight.

Omar held events at Safari Land, a restaurant named in the fraud case, and had ties to convicted owners and staffers.

“If you look at the Safari Land restaurant, if you’re gonna be in politics, you need to go through the people at the Safari Land restaurant,” Nagel said.

Guhaad Hashi Said, a member of Omar’s inner circle, is among those indicted for their role.

Nagel insists the connections are deep, raising questions about Omar’s knowledge of the fraud.

“There’s a lot of really deep, deep ties,” Nagel said.

The federal government and Congress are now investigating not just the local groups involved, but also Minnesota’s governor and other leaders linked to the situation.

President Trump recently called out Omar and the Somali community over the massive fraud.

Nagel claims some of the stolen money went to Omar, who he says returned only part of it.

“A whole lot of people that were convicted donated a whole lot of money. Omar says that she gave the money back,” Nagel said.

Nagel believes removing corrupt officials is key, saying Minnesota needs honest leadership to stop future fraud.

“The things that we can do to fix this is you get yourself a new competent, honest governor, you get yourself a new honest, competent AG,” Nagel said.

He warns the problem is like a “cancer” that will keep spreading unless cut out completely.

Omar, for her part, blames the speed of COVID relief programs and lack of guardrails for the scandal.

“I think what happened is that, you know, when you have these kind of new programs that are, um, designed to help people, you’re oftentimes relying on third parties to be able to facilitate. And I just think that a lot of the COVID programs that were set up — they were set up so quickly that a lot of the guardrails did not get created,” Omar said last week.

Want to see leaders in Washington held accountable for letting tax dollars go missing? Stay tuned and stand up for integrity in our government.

Wyatt Matters

Folks in middle America know the pain when waste and fraud take food off the table for honest families. Strong values demand leaders who protect our money and put our communities first, not politicians who turn a blind eye to corruption.

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