President Trump said Rep. Ilhan Omar “knows everything there is to know” about fraud in Minnesota and should be jailed or deported to Somalia.
Mr. Trump posted late Sunday on social media that Somali-led fraud schemes have bilked the government of $19 billion in Minnesota and that Ms. Omar is aware of the schemes.
“Fake ’Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, a constant complainer who hates the USA, knows everything there is to know,” the president posted. “She should be in jail, or even a worse punishment, sent back to Somalia, considered one of the absolutely worst countries in the World. She could help to MAKE SOMALIA GREAT AGAIN!”
Ms. Omar, Minnesota Democrat, is a naturalized American citizen who immigrated to the U.S. as a Somalian refugee when she was a child. She has not been linked to any Somali-led cases of fraud in Minnesota.
Federal authorities have convicted dozens of people, mostly Somalians, of stealing $300 million in taxpayer funding for a pandemic meals program and suspect similar fraud in Medicaid.
Ms. Omar’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Trump did not elaborate why he suspects Ms. Omar has knowledge of fraud in Minnesota.
But two Republican senators are raising suspicions that a Minneapolis-based charity for which she secured $1 million in taxpayer funds could be a fraudulent operation and have asked the Department of Justice to investigate.
The nonprofit group Generation Hope MN bills itself as a “Somali-led” organization offering drug addiction recovery services. It says it helps “East African youth” get “culturally specific treatment.”
Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Mike Lee of Utah said there is something suspicious about the operation, such as its locations. One is a shared space with a Somali restaurant, and the other is a home in a residential area.
The GOP senators also noted the organization’s relatively paltry staffing and financing, as reported to the IRS on its nonprofit tax disclosure forms.
“This spending profile suggests minimal direct services, opaque financial reporting, and heavy reliance on contractor payments — conditions that should trigger immediate scrutiny, not federal taxpayer dollars,” the two senators said in a letter asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this story.
