New Problems in Minnesota

Just when we thought we could finally take a break from Minnesota, yet another fraud story broke.

Now Republican Senator Joni Ernst is trying to remove federal funding for a Minnesota organization (Generation Hope) that reportedly has questionable ties and the same address as a Somali restaurant. And this time, “Squad” Member Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-5), along with Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, all have ties to funding this organization.

As reported by Fox News:

Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst is working to strip more than $1 million of federal funds earmarked for a Somali-led Minnesota addiction recovery organization that shares an address with a Minneapolis Somali restaurant, Fox News Digital learned.

“The scale and frequency of fraud in Minnesota is staggering, but I fear just the tip of the iceberg,” Ernst told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “Congress owes it to the American people to clean up the mess instead of letting the same politicians who created it keep pigging out at the trough. I am putting a stop to this madness, protecting taxpayers, and empowering the Department of Justice to hold every single criminal accountable.”

Capitol Hill lawmakers unveiled a new spending package Monday that totals at least $174 billion and is slated to receive a vote from House lawmakers later this week. Within the package, Ernst’s office found that Omar had earmarked $1,031,000 through the Department of Justice for a group called Generation Hope MN in Minneapolis. The earmark is co-led by Minnesota Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith in the Senate.

Generation Hope MN is a 501(c)(3) that was established in 2019 to create a “a better, safer, and more connected community for individuals experiencing drug addiction and substance use disorders in the greater East African community of the Twin Cities Metro area,” according to its website.

“We are a Somali-led organization, and our team includes individuals in recovery, mental health professionals such as licensed counselors and peer recovery support specialists, and community members,” the website states.

The group’s website lists two addresses for the addiction recovery center in Minneapolis, including a location on Cedar Avenue.

The same Cedar Avenue address is also listed as the location for a Somali restaurant called Sagal Restaurant and Coffee. . . .

The owner of Sagal Restaurant, Fartune Del, confirmed to Fox News Digital Tuesday evening that Generation Hope MN does operate out of additional office spaces above the restaurant.

As of today, hearings are underway examining the fraud that has rocked Minnesota. Members of the DOJ are testifying. Conservative state lawmakers are sounding the alarm. And all of this is happening while the state is already under intense national scrutiny for what’s been called “industrial-scale fraud.”

At this point, even Governor Tim Walz – who spent years downplaying the problem – has been politically sidelined by the fallout. That alone tells you there was far more here than the Left initially admitted.

And now the fraud potentially extends to Rep. Omar and Sens. Klobuchar and Smith, who all earmarked $1 million in federal DOJ funds for a single nonprofit in Minneapolis.

Now let me be crystal clear: Funding addiction recovery is not the problem. Helping people of any background battling substance abuse is a legitimate and important goal. If taxpayer dollars are going to be spent, few would argue against helping people get clean, get stable, and rebuild their lives.

But this isn’t a broad grant program administered through a state agency. This is a direct earmark to one specific organization at the exact moment Minnesota’s grant system is being exposed as fundamentally broken.

And yes, questions naturally arise when the organization’s listed address is shared with a restaurant. That does NOT mean wrongdoing. It does NOT indicate the group isn’t doing real work. According to its own materials, it meets in multiple locations, including community spaces. That alone is not a crime.

But in a state where auditors have found backdated documents, missing invoices, nonexistent records, and bureaucrats actively covering for mismanagement, you cannot expect the public to simply shrug and move on. And that’s the real issue here.

This isn’t just about fraud in the narrow, criminal sense. It’s about the broader problems Americans are fed up with: waste, fraud, and abuse.

In one documented case, an organization received $672,000 in a single month out of a $1.6 million grant, despite being unable to provide basic documentation to justify it. Worse, state employees allegedly fabricated records after the fact to cover up the failure.

That’s not compassion. That’s corruption. Which is why the ACLJ is taking action.

Today, the ACLJ is filing six separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests – at both the federal and Minnesota state levels – targeting the Department of Health and Human Services, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, the Governor’s Office, and multiple state agencies tied to these grants. The goal is simple: sunlight.

Transparency is not political. It’s the taxpayer’s right. And this story doesn’t stop at Minnesota.

Even the Los Angeles Times – not exactly a conservative outlet – has acknowledged that Minnesota may not be alone. California, under Governor Gavin Newsom, is now facing similar questions about COVID funds, unemployment insurance, homelessness spending, and community college aid.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included more discussion of the latest developments out of Minnesota. We were also joined by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy Ric Grenell, who reacted to the report that California and Newsom may be the targets of the next fraud investigation.

Watch the full broadcast below: