Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Newsmax on Friday that the Minnesota fraud scandal that has engulfed the state is a systematic failure by Gov. Tim Walz and the entire Democratic Party.
"Tim Walz was alerted that this was an issue, or this could be an issue. He decided to turn a blind eye to it," Mullin said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight."
Minnesota is confronting a fraud scandal in its social services agencies, with many of those implicated being of Somali descent.
The state has the nation's largest population of Somalis.
Mullin said Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who was born in Somalia, has a lot to answer for.
"If you follow the money, it even gets worse," Mullin said. "A lot of this money was funneled all the way back to Somalia.
"It went to al-Shabab, the terrorist organization," he added. "It is extremely concerning that literally our taxpayers were defrauded of billions of dollars, possibly to fund a terrorist organization that we are fighting against."
Federal prosecutors have already convicted dozens in the Twin Cities in connection with a $250 million scam involving the nonprofit Feeding Our Future.
The culprits stole taxpayer money intended to feed schoolchildren and spent the money on luxury houses and cars.
The White House said the fraud exceeds $1 billion.
Mullin said he doesn't believe Omar loves America.
"You would think she would embrace this country that has given so many of her other Somalians an opportunity to get away from the crime-ridden terrorist country that they have," Mullin said.
"And Omar had an opportunity to be an example of what America could bring: actually being elected to the United States Congress," Mullin said.
"And instead she goes out and has this ridiculous rhetoric against the United States that sounds anti-American," Mullin added.
"I don't believe she embraces this country. I don't think she loves this country.
"She wants to change this country," he continued. "There's a reason why everybody left the lawless hellhole that you left from, and now you're wanting to bring it to the United States."
"You want to defraud the United States of hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, and send it back to that country, to the criminal organization that ran you out to begin with?" Mullin said.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.