Republican John Nagel, who is seeking to unseat Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, says that she has “deep ties” to those who have been charged and, in many cases, convicted of fraud against the American taxpayer.
The Justice Department uncovered and prosecuted more than $1 billion in fraudulent payments from COVID-era programs, mostly going to those from the Somali community in Minnesota, from which Omar hails.
Of the 87 people charged in the schemes, all but eight are of Somali descent, CBS News host Margaret Brennan pointed out during an interview with Omar on Sunday.
For example, acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said in a March news release that “Aimee Bock and Salim Said took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to carry out a massive fraud scheme that stole money meant to feed children.”
“The defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds. That money did not go to feed kids. Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles. Today’s verdict sends a message to the community that fraud against the government will not be tolerated,” the prosecutor said.
Nagel told Fox News that the “Feeding Our Future” program at the center of the scandal came about as a result of the 2020 MEALS Act, introduced by Omar and passed with bipartisan support.
“If you look at where the fraud is, it’s primarily her [5th Congressional District], the district that I’m running in against her. And it’s really odd to think that you know all the fraud just happened in a particular area, and it was a bill that she, you know, particularly put together,” he said.
Ilhan Omar. Crafted the legislation for the programs. She associated with many of the convicted fraudsters. FBI evidence shows emails from her office to convicted fraudsters. Somalilanders say to speak out against llhan Omar brought threats against them. Which kept much of her… https://t.co/fvuQ6DRuPY
— John Nagel for Congress MN-5 (@Nagel4Congress) December 12, 2025
Fox reported, “Members of Omar’s inner circle personally profited from the $1 billion welfare fraud scandal in her district that has placed her Somali constituency under a White House microscope, Nagel said. He also said that Omar held events at one of the restaurants, Safari Land, which was named in the fraud case, knew one of its now-convicted owners and had a staffer who was also convicted.”
“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. “They kind of control the politics. She had all of her fundraising things. I mean, that was sort of her hangout. That’s where she spent money, got donations.”
According to the Justice Department, Salim Said is a co-owner of the Safari Land restaurant.
Further, Guhaad Hashi Said, “sometimes referred to as an ‘enforcer’ for Omar’s campaign, is one of the over 70 people who have been indicted for his role in the Feeding Our Future scandal,” Fox noted.
Nagel asserted, “There’s a lot of really deep, deep ties.”
“I think time will tell with the investigation,” he added. “But again, there’s just too much circumstantial evidence to look at this and say, she had to have known something, or what staff member knew something?”
“A whole lot of people that were convicted donated a whole lot of money. Omar says that she gave the money back,” Nagel highlighted. “Well, if you go into public records, she gave some money back, but there’s a whole lot more money there that she didn’t report. And I think if people were just to go through the everyday records that are out there, you’ll find out that her involvement in the money that she has is questionable.”
Brennan asked Omar on Sunday, “Why do you think this fraud was allowed to get so widespread?”
“I want to say, you know, this also has an impact on Somalis, because we are also taxpayers in Minnesota,” the lawmaker replied.
.@IlhanMN says Somalis in Minnesota are actually the victims of the massive fraud scandal in which 91% of the perpetrators are of Somali descent: “It’s been really frustrating!” pic.twitter.com/T5ODvFjYe1
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 7, 2025
“We also could have benefited from the program and the money that was stolen,” Omar continued. “And 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.”
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