Report revives claims Minnesota fraud funded terrorism. Here’s what we know.

Minnesota s Republican Congressional delegation and state lawmakers are calling on the U S Attorney s office to investigate whether fraud schemes helped fund terrorism after President Donald Trump pledged that he would end temporary legal protections for Somali immigrants in Minnesota Trump s move and GOP calls for an scrutiny come on the heels of a overview from a conservative think tank alleging that specific of the millions of dollars stolen from the state through fraud ended up in the hands of the Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab It s not the first time there have been claims of a link between fraud in Minnesota and terrorism The same premise was at the center of a similar local news story that spurred action at the state Capitol and a nonpartisan state inquiry that located no definitive connection between fraud and terrorism Citing unnamed sources and a former counterterrorism investigator writers for City Journal a publication of the Manhattan Institute claim that particular money sent back from Minnesota to Somalia through informal networks likely would have benefited the group which controls large swaths of Somalia The document shows no definite link between hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud this decade in Minnesota and terrorist groups though it asserts that al-Shabaab received cuts of money transferred from the U S to Somalia through the hawala system an informal money transfer setup used by the Somali diaspora City Journal s source for this claim is Glenn Kerns a former detective with the Seattle Police Department who investigated hawala networks while working with a federal terrorism task force in the s In then-retired Kerns shared similar findings with KMSP-TV or Fox day care fraud in Minnesota and money transferred to areas controlled by al-Shabaab in Somalia An agency whistleblower claimed million in stolen tax dollars had gone overseas Legislative auditor research in A subsequent record by the nonpartisan Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor couldn t substantiate contends that money went to terrorist groups overseas The overview identified fraud though there was no evidence that it reached million OLA did acknowledge however that money obtained through fraud sent overseas could end up going to terrorists We determined that federal regulatory and law enforcement agencies are concerned that terrorist organizations in certain countries including Somalia obtain and use money sent from the United States by immigrants and refugees to family and friends in those countries the review revealed City Journal authors Ryan Thorpe and Christopher Rufo a conservative activist and author who rose to prominence as an opponent of critical race theory in American development cite Kerns work as a piece of evidence that money continues to fund the Somali terrorist group as well as two unnamed sources For every dollar that is transferred from the Twin Cities back to Somalia Al-Shabaab is taking a cut of it announced one unnamed source described as a former member of the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force A second unnamed source claimed the largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer It s unclear though how much money the group might have received GOP calls for scrutiny Members of the Minnesota Senate and House Republican caucuses sent letters to U S Attorney Daniel Rosen on Monday asking Minnesota federal prosecutors to investigate the charges Minnesota U S Rep Tom Emmer U S Rep Michelle Fischbach U S Rep Brad Finstad and U S Rep Pete Stauber sent a similar letter on Friday Dozens of fraud cases have emerged in Minnesota in latest years with much of it centered at the state s Department of Human Services Acting U S Attorney Joe Thompson estimated in July that fraud in the state could top billion In the largest episode federal prosecutors allege a scheme centered around the nonprofit Feeding Our Future defrauded the governing body of million in federal funds from a pandemic-era meal plan In that circumstance the money was administered by the Minnesota Department of Development The notion that these dollars could be flowing to foreign terrorist organizations adds a truly disturbing additional element state House Republicans explained in their letter If substantiated to be true immediate action must be taken at the state and federal level to crack down on remittances and other payments that are making their way to terrorist organizations DFL leaders condemn Trump s move on protections The office of Minnesota Gov Tim Walz noted it has not heard anything about the claims from state or federal law enforcement The U S Attorney s office did not respond to requests for comment Democratic-Farmer-Labor leaders have condemned Trump s pledge to revoke temporary protective status for Somali displaced persons in Minnesota claiming the administration was using the description to pursue deportations as part of an anti-Muslim and xenophobic agenda Dozens including U S Reps Betty McCollum Ilhan Omar DFL legislators and activists gathered at the Capitol on Monday to address reporters Omar stated incidents of fraud could not be blamed on the Somali neighborhood at large Related Articles Washington state s paid leave campaign struggles Will MN be different St Paul Mayor-elect Kaohly Her announces transition association MN paid family curative leave will leverage input selfies to fight fraud MN lawmakers hear about impact of canceled federal higher teaching grants Special MN House elections set for St Paul Woodbury seats There is not a single piece of evidence that the president or his cronies have put forth that there are any single pool from taxpayers in Minnesota that has gone to aid and abet terrorism she mentioned That language puts the lives of Somalis not only in Minnesota but across the country in danger And if the president assumed that and he had evidence he would take people to court A little over Somalis have temporary protective status nationwide with around in Minnesota The status protects immigrants from deportation There are more than Somalis in Minnesota the the bulk of any state