Trump Administration Knew About Minnesota Fraud And Did Nothing | EUROtoday

The Trump administration justified its lethal immigration crackdown in Minnesota as essential to fight fraud by Somali residents, a few of whom are accused of defrauding the federal authorities by a meals nonprofit.

President Donald Trump even claimed Gov. Tim Walz (D) declined to run for reelection as a result of he’d been “caught” stealing billions with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and “others of his Somali friends.”

But in 2020, the primary Trump administration was warned by the state that the nonprofit in query, Feeding Our Future, was possible engaged in fraud, and the administration declined to get entangled.

That yr, the Minnesota Department of Education requested the U.S. Department of Agriculture for help because it thought of taking motion in opposition to the nonprofit, which had contracts to offer meals for kids and adults with disabilities. Minnesota advised the USDA about startling development in Feeding Our Future’s reimbursements, which elevated 252% from 2019. While pandemic-driven adjustments might clarify a number of the enhance, Minnesota’s general reimbursements for the federal packages in query had solely gone up 14%.

A 2024 audit report by the Minnesota legislature inspecting the Feeding Our Future scandal stated officers with the Education Department complained that the USDA was unresponsive once they requested about tips on how to take care of issues introduced by the nonprofit.

“For example, one MDE official told us that in communications between MDE and USDA about initiating administrative action against Feeding Our Future, USDA pushed responsibility back to MDE, telling the department that it should make decisions consistent with federal regulations,” the report stated.

The report additionally stated that when the state requested about uncommon attendance patterns reported at baby meal websites ― particularly, good daycare attendance over an prolonged interval, which was a crimson flag for fraud ― the USDA stated the attendance sample was believable beneath pandemic rule adjustments in impact on the time. “When MDE reached out to USDA to notify it of unusual attendance patterns, USDA responded that perfect attendance would be possible due to the waivers,” in line with the report.

In April 2020, after the state hesitated to approve eight new feeding websites for Feeding Our Future, the group threatened to file a lawsuit accusing the federal government of racial discrimination in opposition to the Somali group that the group served.

A former USDA official, who requested anonymity throughout an interview with HuffPost, recalled a state official asking the federal authorities for help to defend in opposition to the allegations. The state sought a letter of help from the USDA saying the variety of meals Feeding Our Future claimed to be serving was implausible and may very well be an indication of fraud. “These numbers don’t look right, and the state is justified in taking the action that it is taking,” the previous USDA official recalled pondering. “We discussed it as being fraud.”

The official urged higher-ups at USDA to help the state’s suspicion of fraud, however they declined. They didn’t wish to get entangled.

“I was very frustrated and disappointed that we didn’t act faster,” the previous official stated. “We were waiting for it to hit the papers. When it did, nobody was surprised.”

The Feeding Our Future fraud ― in addition to extra fraud allegations involving Medicaid and different packages, plus a doubtful investigation by a right-wing YouTuber ― are what prompted the Trump administration to ship hundreds of federal immigration brokers to Minnesota. The stunning present of pressure has terrorized residents, killed two American residents and compelled a reckoning in Congress, the place Democrats at the moment are holding up authorities funding laws to demand reforms for Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement techniques. It’s the primary time the federal authorities has ever cracked down on welfare fraud with violence.

“This whole thing started during the first Trump administration, and what’s frustrating to me is, reading these news stories, there’s no acknowledgement of that,” the USDA official stated.

The USDA, its former chief Sonny Perdue, and the Minnesota Department of Education didn’t reply to requests for remark.

The state additionally introduced its considerations about Feeding Our Future to the USDA’s inspector normal workplace, which investigates fraud, “but that did not resolve the issue either,” then-MDE commissioner Willie Jett wrote within the 2024 report. The inspector normal’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark.

The state legislature’s audit concluded the MDE had all of the authority it wanted to chop off a corporation that flouted program guidelines, and it faulted the company for failing to be extra aggressive. In January 2021 the division declared Feeding Our Future “seriously deficient” after belatedly studying the IRS had revoked its tax-exempt standing, although it took an entire yr for funds to cease. That spring, the state advised the FBI about its fraud suspicions and a legal investigation started. Starting in 2022, dozens of individuals have been indicted for allegedly embezzling greater than $250 million in federal funds.