Representative Ilhan Omar is facing scrutiny after attempting to steer more than $1 million in federal funds to a Somali-led addiction recovery group that appears to share an address with a Somali restaurant in Minneapolis.
According to The Post Millennial, the controversy emerged on Monday as lawmakers rolled out a sprawling new spending package of at least $174 billion, within which Iowa Senator Joni Ernst discovered a $1,031,000 earmark Omar had directed through the Department of Justice to an entity called Generation Hope MN. The funding request was bundled with other Minnesota-related earmarks co-led by Democrat Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, highlighting how easily such provisions can be buried inside massive appropriations bills.
Ernst told Fox News that the earmark was pitched as support for a substance abuse clinic, but her staff determined that the group was operating out of a restaurant and overseen by three individuals who all listed the same residential address. Tons of red flags, Ernst said, noting that Congress ultimately stripped the earmark from the bill and pointing to the case as a textbook example of how federal dollars have been flowing to bad actors in Minnesota.
Generation Hope MN, founded in 2019, describes itself as a Somali-led nonprofit focused on addiction recovery and outreach. According to its website, the organizations mission is to build "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, yet the site lists two addresses for its recovery center, one of which is also home to Sagal Restaurant and Coffee, as well as a neighborhood association identified on Google Maps.
Fox News reported that the restaurants owner claimed the recovery operation uses space above the dining establishment, raising further questions about the groups structure and transparency. Promotional documents from Omars office backing the earmark listed Generation Hope MNs address on Cedar Ave. South, a variation from the Cedar Avenue used on the groups own website, with the Cedar Avenue South location matching the Sagal Restaurant address on Google Maps, while IRS records reportedly show the three leaders of Generation Hope MN all claiming the same five-bedroom Minneapolis home as their primary residence.
Ernst, a Republican known for targeting wasteful spending, said she is now working to reroute the stripped earmark into a Department of Justice account focused on fraud prevention. "The scale and frequency of fraud in Minnesota is staggering, but I fear just the tip of the iceberg," Ernst told Fox News, adding, "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."
Even as questions mount over her earmark practices, Omar spent the weekend leading protests outside a Minneapolis ICE facility, continuing her pattern of siding with activists against federal law enforcement. Omar was reportedly denied entry to an ICE processing center and was filmed confronting masked federal agents, later insisting on social media, Members of Congress have a legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained, and declaring, The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities.
Login