Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that federal officials are investigating whether Minnesota taxpayer money was diverted to al Shabaab, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization affiliated with al Qaeda.
Bessent announced on X that the Treasury Department is reviewing allegations that “under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans’ tax dollars may have been diverted” to the terror group. He cited a Nov. 19 City Journal report that claimed millions from Minnesota welfare programs “ultimately landed in the hands of al Shabaab,” according to unnamed law enforcement sources. Several Minnesota Republicans, including Rep. Tom Emmer, have urged federal prosecutors to investigate.
Gov. Tim Walz’s office referred CBS News to remarks he made last week, saying he welcomes an investigation and will cooperate fully. Walz emphasized that state leaders must determine where stolen welfare money ended up.
Minnesota continues to weather a series of high-profile fraud scandals. Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of people in a $250 million scheme tied to Feeding Our Future, alleging that the nonprofit and its partners stole federal nutrition funds during the COVID-19 pandemic by submitting fake meal reports. Authorities have also filed fraud cases involving housing programs and autism services.
A significant number of defendants in these cases are Somali Americans. Kayseh Magan, a former investigator in the Minnesota attorney general’s office, wrote last year that while Somali Minnesotans are implicated in several schemes, they are also frequently victims.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted Minnesota’s Somali community. He recently ended temporary deportation protections for Somali nationals in the state and claimed—without evidence—that “hundreds of thousands of Somalians are ripping off our country” and that Minnesota has become a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
Walz and other Democratic officials have defended Somali Minnesotans against broad accusations. Walz warned last month that unfounded claims of terrorism ties risk demonizing an entire community: “Do not paint an entire group of people with that same brush… when there is no proof of that.”
Allegations that state money flows to terror groups have circulated in Minnesota for years. A 2019 report by the state’s Office of the Legislative Auditor said it could not substantiate claims that Child Care Assistance Program funds reached terrorist groups, though it noted it was “possible” that some funds sent overseas might eventually end up in terrorist hands.
Andy Lugar, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota under both Biden and Obama, told the Star Tribune that defendants in the Feeding Our Future scandal “were looking to get rich, not fund overseas terrorism.”
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