MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – In the dense, bustling streets of Cedar-Riverside, where Somali and American flags hang side by side, and the smell of spiced tea lingers in the cold air, a massive fraud case has shaken one of Minnesota’s most tight-knit immigrant communities.

What started as an inquiry into pandemic-era child nutrition programs has grown into what federal prosecutors call the largest welfare fraud case in U.S. history, a $1 billion theft of funds meant for low-income families, schools, and children.

Caught in the center of the political firestorm is U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whose push to expand child nutrition access during COVID-19 is now being reviewed for its unintended, or possibly ignored, fallout.

Federal officials refer to the case as the “Feeding Our Future” fraud. Dozens of people have been charged, including 79 defendants of Somali descent, in a state that hosts the largest Somali population in the country.

Prosecutors describe a network of fake nonprofits, ghost meal claims, and money laundering schemes that siphoned money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Child Nutrition Programs.

Shell companies allegedly submitted bills for meals that never existed, then channeled the money into luxury cars, international transfers, and, under current Treasury Department review, suspected links to the Somalia-based terror group Al-Shabaab.

Minnesota Whistleblowers Come Forward

Whistleblowers from the Minnesota Department of Human Services say state leaders brushed aside early warnings. As those claims surface, critics are asking whether Omar’s drive to ease rules on child nutrition funding created a perfect opening for fraud, and how closely she and her allies crossed paths with those now convicted.

Omar, a former nutrition educator and anti-hunger organizer who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, has built much of her political identity on feeding children and fighting poverty. In 2020, when COVID school closures cut off daily meals for roughly 30 million students, she sponsored the bipartisan Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students (MEALS) Act.

Folded into the sweeping CARES Act under emergency authority, the law approved waivers meant to speed payments to off-site meal providers. The waivers relaxed routine audits and paperwork to move food to families faster. On the House floor, she argued that “bureaucracy” should not block hungry children from getting food, pointing to her own experience as a Somali refugee.

The measure passed with broad support and opened the door to about $250 million in additional federal child nutrition funds for Minnesota alone. Those dollars now sit at the heart of the fraud case. Prosecutors say many defendants used the very waivers approved during the pandemic to flood the system with fake invoices for meals that were never served.

Feeding Our Future, the nonprofit at the center of the scandal, allegedly moved tens of millions through a maze of businesses, including Somali-owned restaurants and sports clubs that reported feeding thousands of children per day. Investigators say in many cases the sites produced little to no food at all. Of the 87 people charged so far, a large share live in Omar’s district, turning what she once hailed as a policy win into a political liability.

Ilhan Omar Denies Everything

Omar’s office flatly rejects any suggestion that she aided or tolerated the fraud. “Rep. Omar fought to feed children during a crisis, not to enable theft,” said spokesperson Jeremy Slevin in a written statement. “Any claim that she is complicit is a baseless smear pushed by people who want to weaponize a tragedy against immigrants.”

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” last weekend, Omar condemned the fraud and its fallout in her own community. “Somalis are taxpayers too, and this hurts us all,” she said. She argued that warning signs were missed across many levels of government, calling the failure “systemic” and saying the breakdown came from weak federal oversight, not one piece of legislation. She also urged deeper probes into potential terrorism links and described any lapse in surveillance as “a failure of the FBI and courts.”

Even so, the personal and political connections around her are drawing new attention. Court records, campaign filings, and public photos show that Omar has had social and professional ties with several people now accused or convicted in related cases. In November 2018, she held her historic congressional victory party at Safari Restaurant on Lake Street, a well-known Somali restaurant partly owned by Salim Ahmed Said.

Said, 33, was convicted in March on 21 counts of wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering after prosecutors said he stole $5 million in child nutrition money. Safari claimed reimbursements for serving 5,000 meals a day to children.

Investigators say the records were fake and that the money helped pay for a Tesla, Rolex watches, and wire transfers to Somalia. Omar, a frequent customer at Safari, paid more than $10,000 to the restaurant for campaign events during her time as a state lawmaker and later as a congressional candidate, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Links to Ilhan Omar

Another link runs through Guhaad Hashi Said, a Democratic political organizer who worked as Omar’s main “get-out-the-vote” force in the Somali community in the 2018 and 2020 election cycles. Hashi pleaded guilty in August to stealing $1.5 million from a youth athletic program that existed mostly on paper. Photos show Omar and Hashi together at marches and campaign events, sometimes with arms linked.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., has subpoenaed documents related to Hashi’s work and claims he functioned less as a volunteer and more as a political enforcer. “Omar’s inner circle profited while kids went hungry,” Comer said in a statement. “This isn’t coincidence; it’s corruption.”

The financial and social network stretches beyond her campaign staff. Federal campaign records show donors with ties to the Feeding Our Future scandal, including relatives of some defendants, gave about $7,400 to Omar’s political committees. Prosecutors now say part of that money can be traced back to the fraudulent nutrition payments.

A former staff member, Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, has been charged in a separate Medicaid fraud case that investigators say touches some of the same circles. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also released photos of Omar standing with Abdul Dahir Ibrahim, a Somali man living in the U.S. illegally who has a 2004 deportation order and a conviction for identity fraud.

Federal records connect Ibrahim to the Feeding Our Future case. He was arrested last week as part of a high-profile immigration sweep ordered by the Trump administration. In other photos, Ibrahim appears smiling beside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, D, at community gatherings, next to letters of support from allies such as state Sen. Omar Fateh.

Tim Walz Plays the Fool

Gov. Walz, Omar’s longtime political partner and now the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, faces his own set of allegations tied to the scandal. Former Minnesota Department of Human Services employees say senior officials in his administration suppressed fraud reports in the name of “equity” in districts with large immigrant populations.

They claim data was deleted and investigators were punished or sidelined when they pushed concerns. “Under Walz, we were told to look the other way,” one DHS worker told Fox News anonymously. Walz’s office denies those charges and insists that any oversight gaps came from federal speed and confusion during the pandemic response.

Comer has expanded his inquiry to include Walz, issuing subpoenas for emails between his office and Omar’s office. Those records cover joint appearances at Somali cultural events where some of the accused fraudsters were present.

Omar and Walz share long-standing political ties inside Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Walz has appointed several of Omar’s allies to state commissions and boards, and she campaigned for his 2022 reelection.

Their shared photos with Ibrahim, posted by DHS, have stirred anger among critics who see a pattern of favoritism. “It’s not just photos; it’s a pattern of ignoring risks in the name of representation,” said Bill Glahn, a fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative policy group.

In a written statement, Walz said the recent arrests show that “justice is blind,” while also defending Minnesota’s Somali community as “essential to our economy.”

Omar’s Wealth Questioned

At the same time, questions about Omar’s personal finances have resurfaced and are feeding public unease. Her 2024 financial disclosure, filed in May 2025, lists her household net worth in a range between $6 million and $30 million, a dramatic jump from her 2019 filing, which reported a negative $45,000. Most of the increase stems from her husband Tim Mynett’s business interests.

He owns Rose Lake Capital, a Washington, D.C., investment firm valued at between $5 million and $25 million, which claims to oversee about $60 billion in assets. He also has a stake in eStCru Wines, a California wine company valued at between $1 million and $5 million.

Omar reported no personal income from these companies, though conservative outlets like the Washington Free Beacon have questioned the timing and highlighted that Mynett’s firm advertises experience in “structuring legislation,” a phrase that echoes her MEALS Act effort.

Omar has waved off these reports as partisan attacks. In February, she called them “right-wing disinformation” and said she is “barely worth thousands,” pointing to student loan debt and a lack of real estate or stock holdings.

Fact-checking site Snopes has explained that the upper estimate in her disclosure reflects the full range of her spouse’s assets, not her individual wealth. Based on those filings, her personal net worth likely sits somewhere between $65,000 and $115,000.

Even so, in a district wrestling with the fallout from a major fraud scandal, many residents say the optics are hard to ignore. “She’s one of us, but how does her family thrive while we scrape by?” asked Amina Hassan, a Somali mother of three, during a recent community forum in Minneapolis.

As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promises to follow the stolen money “to the Middle East and Somalia,” the case has grown into more than a discussion about missing dollars. It has exposed deep tensions in Minnesota’s progressive project and raised sharp questions about how to support new Americans without opening the door to abuse.

Omar, who remains defiant on X, urged residents to stay focused on fair treatment. “This isn’t about race; it’s about accountability,” she wrote. With criminal trials approaching and the 2026 midterm elections moving closer, her once-rising profile in national politics now faces steady scrutiny.

For families like the Hassans, the sense of betrayal cuts straight to daily life. “We trusted the system to feed our kids,” Amina said, staring at the boarded-up doors of a meal site that once handed out free food boxes.

“Now it’s feeding doubt.” As federal agents and auditors sort through records and bank transfers, Minnesota waits, not only for convictions and sentences, but for some path toward healing in a community that feels both targeted and abandoned.

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Minnesota Terror Claims and Voter Fraud Shake Walz’s 2026 Re-election Hopes

America needs to pay attention. The 2024 election ink is barely dry, and the gun-control crowd is already racking up the next round. While people argue over winners and losers, the anti-Second Amendment machine keeps grinding along. Here are five of the biggest current threats to the right to keep and bear arms, all unfolding right now.

1. The Federal “Assault Weapons” Ban Returns, And This Version Is Worse

Kamala Harris may have lost, but her agenda did not disappear. Her allies are already pushing a new, harsher version of the 1994 Crime Bill-style ban to newly elected Democrats who owe them political favors.

Capitol Hill sources tell The Post that the draft bill runs about 400 pages and is packed with restrictions. It bans AR-15s by name, outlaws magazines over 10 rounds, and only lets current owners keep their rifles if they register them with the ATF under the National Firearms Act.

That means a $200 tax stamp for each gun, fingerprints, and a 6-to-12-month wait just to hang on to firearms already bought legally. One Senate staffer called it “the mother of all backdoor registries.”

With budget reconciliation still an option, supporters would only need 50 Senate votes plus the vice president to ram it through.

2. ATF On The Warpath, And The “Zero Tolerance” Crackdown Is Underway

Joe Biden may have failed to install David Chipman as head of the ATF, but the agency kept the aggressive playbook. Over the last 60 days, ATF has reportedly pulled more Federal Firearms Licenses than in all of 2019.

Their new favorite move is simple and brutal. One mistake on a single Form 4473, and a local gun shop can lose its license for good. Under this “zero tolerance” approach, small family-owned dealers are shutting down by the dozen.

Fewer FFLs means fewer places to buy guns and ammo. It is slow-motion gun control by bureaucracy.

And the pressure is not just on dealers. The same ATF that flip-flopped on pistol braces is said to be finishing a rule that would turn roughly 40 million pistol-braced firearms into unregistered short-barreled rifles overnight.

Merry Christmas from the federal government.

3. Turbocharged Red-Flag Laws Are Headed For Traditionally Pro-Gun States

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C. already have red-flag laws. Now the anti-gun lobby thinks it smells an opportunity in states that used to be safe. Everytown and Giffords are dumping tens of millions of dollars into campaigns in places like Missouri, Texas, and Georgia.

Their new talking point is simple: “Extreme Risk Protection Orders are just common sense.”

Translation in plain English: a hostile ex, bitter neighbor, or angry coworker can file a secret statement, a judge signs off without hearing from the gun owner, and a SWAT team shows up before sunrise to seize the guns.

No criminal charge. No conviction. No actual due process before the raid. The firearms are gone first, and the court fight comes later.

Getting them back is another nightmare. In many states, even if the owner wins, they still have to pay the storage bills to reclaim their own property.

4. The Hidden Credit-Card Gun Registry No One Wants To Admit Exists

Anyone who thinks the government cannot track gun and ammo purchases needs to rethink that belief. Starting next year, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express will use a new Merchant Category Code for gun stores.

Every purchase at a gun shop, from a case of 9mm to a simple cleaning kit, will be tagged in a separate category. Banks are already telling investors this will help with “risk mitigation.”

In practice, that means financial companies will know where someone shops, what type of products they buy at gun stores, and how often they spend money there. Pair that with a growing federal data appetite and an IRS boosted by 87,000 new agents, and it begins to look like the skeleton of a national registry created without a single vote in Congress.

That is not just slippery. That is a greased slide.

5. Supreme Court Packing, The Nuclear Option Still Waiting In The Wings

The left has not dropped its dream of expanding the Supreme Court. Progressive favorite Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reintroduced her court-packing bill last week, and this time it has 72 co-sponsors.

Add four new justices who see the Second Amendment as a “colonial relic,” and landmark decisions like Bruen and Heller could vanish overnight. The entire modern foundation of gun rights could get shredded in a single term.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg once called Roe v. Wade a case of “heavy-handed judicial activism.” Imagine what a bench stacked with nine AOC-style justices would do to the right to keep and bear arms.

So What Now? Conservative Action Plan For 2025

First, join a gun-rights group today. NRA, GOA, or a strong state-level rifle association, they all count. Membership numbers are the headcount that politicians look at before they vote.

Second, light up the phones. Call both senators and make it clear that any “assault weapons” ban needs to die in committee, or they will face a primary challenge.

Third, buy standard-capacity magazines now, while they are still legal in most of the country. Waiting for a ban to pass is a losing plan.

Fourth, get a concealed-carry permit if possible, even in permitless-carry states. Constitutional carry is great until a big-city prosecutor decides to make an example out of a gun owner caught in a gray area.

Fifth, vote in every primary election, not just in November. The so-called moderates who cut deals on gun control usually win in low-turnout primaries that hardly anyone watches.

Last, talk to that anti-gun cousin at Thanksgiving. Share facts, not insults. If gun owners let the other side control the story, they lose the culture fight before the legal battle even starts.

The Second Amendment is not a favor from politicians. It is not a bargaining chip. It is the backbone that protects every other right written on that “parchment barrier” the Founders warned about.

Gun-control activists are not hiding their goals anymore. They are coming after firearms through laws, regulations, banks, and courts. The only real question is whether gun owners will still have their rights when that 3 a.m. knock hits the front door.

Stack up knowledge, stay informed, stock up on legal gear and ammo, and never hand over a right without a fight.

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Chicago’s Mayor Puts Partisan Poison Over People’s Safety as Trump Troops Roll In

PORTLAND– Night after night, outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southeast Portland, a stark scene plays out. Black-clad Antifa protesters in masks set off fireworks, shouted at federal agents, and chanted “Abolish ICE.”

The walls, layered with fresh graffiti, bounce sound back into the streets. Beneath the noise, a troubling pattern has emerged. Elderly homeless people are being pushed to the front, used as shields and distractions. Portland police warn that Antifa-linked organizers are preying on the most vulnerable, urging them to rattle gates and spark confrontations while others hang back.

Portland Police Sgt. John Edwards set out the concern in a September memo, later disclosed during Oregon’s lawsuit over the Trump administration’s National Guard deployment. He wrote that older rough sleepers had been coerced into walking up to the gate to cause a distraction, or told to shake it for effect.

These are not eager recruits. They are men and women in their 70s and 80s, found near shelters and lured with food or a bed for the night. In one case last week, a 78-year-old veteran in a thin coat was pushed forward to hammer at the fencing while explosives burst overhead.

Federal officers held back, a choice that highlights the cynicism of the tactic and the harm it risks.

Feds Crackdown on Antifa

The pattern is not a one-off. Since June, nightly actions at the ICE site have grown more aggressive. The FBI has recorded more than 147 arrests for offences that include arson and assaults on officers. The Department of Justice has brought several indictments, among them cases over lasers aimed at Border Patrol aircraft and attempted forced entries.

The White House amplified the alarm. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote on X that it was a coordinated campaign of domestic terrorism against federal operations. Nearby residents describe the area as a war zone. One woman said she keeps a gas mask inside her home to cope with tear gas and smoke. Shops close early, families move out, and the city’s homelessness crisis deepens as shelters strain to cope.

Pro-Trump and pro-police demonstrators clashed with anti-fascist counterprotesters on the 87th day of protests against police violence and systemic racism. Despite violence in the streets, police were notably absent and never declared an unlawful assembly.

The city’s response faces further heat. Critics claim the Portland Police Bureau is compromised. Freelance reporters who have covered the clashes for years say there are ties between some officers and Antifa-aligned groups. The dispute flared after the 2 October arrest of conservative journalist Nick Sortor.

He had stepped in to put out a burning American flag during a march. Video shows masked attackers, identified by witnesses as Antifa, jumping him, then PPB officers detaining him for disorderly conduct. The charge was later dropped. Sortor says the police took sides, a claim that has fuelled wider anger.

Portland Police Accused of Working With Antifa

Those allegations helped trigger a federal backlash. On 3 October, the DOJ, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, opened a civil rights investigation into the PPB. The inquiry is focused on viewpoint discrimination and possible coordination. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said Portland officers had been lenient with Antifa rioters while targeting journalists.

The FBI joined in, seeking unredacted reports, emails, and records related to the city’s zoning enforcement against ICE. Critics argue these moves were designed to hinder federal work. PPB Chief Bob Day rejected the claims as biased from both camps, saying his officers keep to the fairway of neutrality. Yet doubts persist, with 26 federal cases brought since June that link rioters to explosives and assaults.

Momentum built at the White House this week. On 8 October, President Donald Trump hosted an unusual roundtable. He appeared with Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Several independent journalists who have been attacked while reporting joined the meeting, including Andy Ngo, Katie Daviscourt, Savanah Hernandez, and Sortor. Trump praised them as truth-tellers ignored by major outlets. Ngo revisited his 2019 beating in Portland, where he said milkshakes mixed with cement were thrown. Hernandez, who faced bear spray in Seattle, said the press had excused violence as protest.

Feds Focus on Antifa Funders

The discussion pulled back the curtain on alleged funding. Seamus Bruner of the Government Accountability Institute presented research claiming more than 100 million dollars had moved through NGOs such as George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Arabella Advisors network, and Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss.

He said the money was laundering taxpayer funds into riot incubation, and cited links to European anarchist groups. Patel said investigators would map every donor, calling cross-border support a line that could reach treason. Noem compared Antifa to MS-13 and ISIS, calling it a sophisticated network that moves from city to city.

Trump moved quickly after the briefing. Building on a 22 September executive order that labelled Antifa a domestic terrorist organization, he told Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider foreign terrorist organization status. He argued that European roots made the case, opening the door to sanctions, asset freezes, and material support prosecutions. These are tools usually applied to groups like al-Qaeda or Hamas.

The order directs agencies to break up illegal operations, from recruitment to finance. Bondi promised a brick-by-brick takedown similar to cartel cases. DHS says arrests in Portland have surged, including suspects wanted for sex offences, murder, and trafficking, despite street blockades.

Opposition is fierce. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson took legal action to stop the National Guard deployment, calling it a federal takeover in a city where most protests have eased since the summer.

Legal voices warn that an FTO label could chill speech and bring activists under material support laws. Faiza Patel of the Brennan Center said ideology cannot be prosecuted. Trump allies point to Antifa texts that call for overthrowing the government and say that it is enough to act.

Manstream Media Shading the Truth

The media’s role hangs over the debate. Fox News and reporters like Ngo have amplified accounts of injuries and intimidation. CNN and The New York Times have often framed the city’s protests as theatrical but not existential.

At the roundtable, Trump asked which network was the worst. The panel pointed to MSNBC, accusing it of running cover for assaults. A White House statement attacked Fake News for ignoring local voices. It said streets were dirty, shops were closing, and people were suffering. Ngo, attacked several times, accused pundits of deception that lets violence grow.

Federal forces are on standby. A deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard troops, paused by Judge Karin Immergut, is now under appeal. The city holds its breath. A trans activist named Cassandra Rose, who once slept rough, rails against ICE outside the fence with a shepherd’s crook in hand.

For the elderly pressed into frontline roles, ideology is not the point. Survival has been twisted into risk. Trump’s crackdown promises order, but the price for a city already split may be high. In the haze of tear gas, legal fights, and claims on both sides, one fact stands firm. Portland’s scars run deeper than any banner can cover.

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