Ilhan Omar stood in a Minneapolis restaurant in 2020 and thanked them on camera for feeding children in need.
The owner of that restaurant was just convicted of stealing $16 million from a program meant to feed those same children.
Now the woman convicted of masterminding the entire $250 million scheme is saying Omar didn't just show up for a photo op – she kept the money flowing.
The Bill That Opened the Door
In March 2020, Omar introduced the MEALS Act – legislation that stripped the guardrails off the federal school nutrition program and let private restaurants collect government reimbursements for meals during the pandemic.
Safari Restaurant in south Minneapolis became the single largest meal site sponsor in the entire Feeding Our Future network under those waivers.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2055621695260475427?s=20
Omar praised Safari on Somali-language TV that same year, thanking them for feeding families and children.
Safari's co-owner, Salim Said, was convicted of defrauding the government of $16 million.
The Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee put it plainly: Omar's MEALS Act "took the guardrails off the federal school nutrition program, which created the conditions for Feeding Our Future."
The Jailhouse Accusation Democrats Can't Ignore
Aimee Bock founded Feeding Our Future and was convicted in March 2025 on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery.
She's sitting in Sherburne County Jail awaiting sentencing, with prosecutors seeking 100 years.
Speaking by video call to the New York Post this week, Bock said she struggles to believe Omar wouldn't have known about the scheme – and laid out exactly how she says it worked.
When federal waivers were set to expire mid-month, Bock says Omar's office stepped in to bridge the gap.
"There had been a couple times early on that there were some gaps – a waiver would be set to expire on maybe the 15th of a month, and then the renewal didn't kick in until the 1st," Bock told the Post. "There were a lot of people that had been reaching out to her office and staff, and I presume her personally, to work through some of those gaps."
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Those gaps, if left unfilled, would have interrupted the fraudulent billing.
Omar's office kept them filled.
Omar's name appeared six times in emails and text messages entered as evidence at Bock's federal trial – including one chain with the subject line "Help with USDA Food Program."
A Feeding Our Future employee named in that same email chain fled the country after being indicted in 2022.
She's Been Ghosting Investigators for Months
The Minnesota fraud committee asked Omar to testify.
She ignored them.
They set a formal deadline for documents.
She blew past it without a word.
Republicans on the committee tried to issue a subpoena.
Democrats voted as a bloc to kill it – three DFL members against five Republicans, one vote short of the six required.
State Rep. Kristin Robbins, the committee chair, sent letters to House Oversight Chairman James Comer and Senate Judiciary Chairman Ted Cruz asking for a federal subpoena.
"If she has nothing to hide, she should testify before our committee and produce the trial exhibits," Robbins said.
The Pattern Omar Hopes You Forget
Omar received campaign contributions from multiple Feeding Our Future defendants.
She only returned that money after the indictments started coming.
She wrote the law that stripped the oversight requirements from the program.
She filmed promotional videos at the restaurant whose owner stole $16 million.
Her name is in the trial exhibits six times.
Her former staffer Guhaad Hashi Said pleaded guilty to running a bogus food site that pocketed millions.
And while stonewalling every investigator who asked questions, Omar's reported net worth jumped from $51,000 to $30 million on her congressional financial disclosure in a single year.
She blamed a clerical error.
House Oversight Chair James Comer didn't buy it: "Who makes a multimillion-dollar mistake on their financial disclosure form?"
The House Oversight Committee has now formally referred Omar's finances to the House Ethics Committee.
Over 70 people have been convicted in this scheme.
Hungry kids were the cover story.
Your tax dollars were the prize.
Robbins framed it best: "It's the same story every time. Fraud is committed, information is suppressed, and the dysfunction continues."
Sources:
- Nicholas Ballasy, "Mastermind behind COVID meal fraud claims Omar knew about scheme," Just the News, May 17, 2026.
- Amy Curtis, "Woman Behind 'Feeding Our Future' Fraud Points the Finger at Minnesota Democrats," Townhall, May 18, 2026.
- "Congress asked to subpoena Ilhan Omar for refusing to cooperate with Minnesota House fraud investigation," Washington Examiner, May 2026.
- "House Oversight Committee refers Ilhan Omar financial concerns to ethics panel," Daily Signal, May 11, 2026.
- "Omar camp breaks silence on fraud probe, blames Walz, Trump," Fox News, May 2026.
- "Split vote blocks House fraud panel's attempt to subpoena Rep. Omar," Minnesota House Session Daily, May 2026.
