Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN) has argued that Somalis in America are the real victims of the massive welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota, which has cost taxpayers at least $1 billion.
When Omar was asked on Sunday how these fraud schemes got so out of hand in her state, the rep cast Somalis as victims.
“I want to say this also has an impact on Somalis, because we are also taxpayers in Minnesota,” the Democrat told host Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation. “We also could have benefited from the program and the money that was stolen. So it’s been really frustrating for people to not acknowledge the fact that we’re also, as Minnesotans, as taxpayers, really upset and angry about the fraud that has occurred.”
Last week, Omar said she feared Trump supporters would turn violent against Somalis in America, citing President Donald Trump’s comments about the massive fraud.
“There is a possible danger that a lot of the people who follow the president have exhibited violence in many cases, especially in my case, whenever he has said something about me that is derogatory or says I’m a threat to the country, I have gotten death threats,” Omar said on CNN airwaves.
“There are so many people that have been incarcerated over the years that have been encouraged by the president’s words,” she claimed. “And so there is fear for Somalis, not just in Minnesota, but across the country, that some of these people might attack and harm them.”
Billions of tax dollars have been stolen in the state of Minnesota during the tenure of Democrat Governor Tim Walz. According to City Journal, at least a billion dollars – potentially more – in welfare and social service schemes have largely been connected to the Somali community. Moreover, some of the stolen money was allegedly funneled to the Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab.
Omar, who’s been reportedly connected to some of the fraudsters, seemed to blame other Democrat leaders in her state during an interview on Sunday, asking how all this fraud took place without any “alarms” going off.
“That is what I alluded to in my letter that I had sent to the Secretary of AG was to see where things were going wrong,” she said. “How can this amount of money disappear fraudulently without there being alarms … set off? And it is something that, you know, we have to continue to investigate. We have to continue to ask those questions.”
According to the New York Post, Omar held parties at one of the key restaurants named in the fraud scandal, and knew one of its owners, who is now convicted of stealing millions in funds. Additionally, one of her own staffers has been convicted of stealing millions. Omar even introduced a bill, the 2020 MEALS Act, that has been linked to $250 million in fraud.
Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller said last week that the welfare fraud scandal is far worse than the American people have been led to believe. It apparently involves “complicit” state government officials and totals a lot more stolen money than original early estimates stated, he said.
“We believe that the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars, through welfare fraud, in American history,” he said on Fox News. “We believe we have only scratched the very top of the surface of how deep this goes.”
Some of the scams involved “pretending that children have autism” and “pretending to enroll people in food programs,” Miller said. “The total bill, the total tab for this, is going to be far beyond the numbers being reported. We believe the state government is fully complicit in this scheme and we believe that what we are going to uncover is going to shock the American people.”
Related: The Somali Welfare Fraud Scandal Is Even Worse Than You Think
