&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Did stolen Minnesota welfare funds funnelled to terror group al Shabaab? Trump administration probes explosive claim")
The Trump administration is digging into whether any Minnesota tax money was funnelled to al Shabaab, a Somalia-based militant group which the US designates as a foreign terrorist organisation, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, said Monday. On X, Bessent said that the inquiry is tied to what he called the "feckless mismanagement" of the Biden administration and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Walz, Biden and al-Shabaab
In a X post, Bessent said that the US treasury was "investigating allegations that under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans' tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist organisation Al-Shabaab." He flagged a report from the conservative outlet City Journal that cited unnamed law enforcement officials and alleged that millions stolen from state welfare programs may have "ultimately landed in the hands of the terror group Al-Shabaab". That report prompted several Republican lawmakers, including Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, to urge federal prosecutors to investigate.
Walz's office, meanwhile, pointed to the governor's recent comments that he welcomes a full review into where the defrauded welfare money went and vowed to cooperate with federal authorities and investigators.
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What fraud?
According to CBS, Minnesota has been dealing with a series of major fraud scandals linked to public assistance programs, most notably the massive Feeding Our Future case. Prosecutors say dozens of figures stole $250 million in federal nutrition aid under the guise of helping distribute meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fraud charges have also been brought in housing and autism-related programs.
Many of the defendants in these cases come from Minnesota’s large Somali community, a fact that has fuelled political attacks. Kayseh Magan, a former investigator in the state attorney general’s office, wrote last year that while some scammers came from within the community, many community members were also victims of the schemes.
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Trump has repeatedly targeted Somali immigrants in the state. He recently claimed Minnesota had become a "hub of fraudulent money laundering activity," and announced an end to temporary deportation protections for Somali nationals. He went further last week, accusing "hundreds of thousands of Somalians are ripping off our country and ripping apart that once great state", but without offering any evidence.
Walz and other Democrats have pushed back, warning against blanket attacks on Minnesota’s Somali population. Walz told reporters last month ""Do not paint an entire group of people with that same brush, demonizing them, putting them at risk, when there is no proof of that."
