Tipsheet

Treasury Secretary Just Made a Major Announcement About Minnesota Taxpayer Funds Going to Terrorists

Jeff Charles
Jeff Charles  |  December 02, 2025 1:15 PM

The federal government is now investigating alleged taxpayer funds being sent to a terrorist organization in Somalia. 

This comes after it was revealed that taxpayer funds had been funneled to Al-Shabaab, a radical Islamic terrorist organization based in Somalia, through Minnesota’s mismanagement of several federal programs. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that the department “is investigating allegations that under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans’ tax dollars my have been diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab.”

Bessent also stated that the agency “will share our findings as our investigation continues.”

Al-Shabaab uses terrorism to impose its version of Islamic law on the populace. Its objective is to overthrow the Somali government and establish an Islamic government. The group has been responsible for many deadly terrorist attacks in the region and in other African nations. 

A report exposed how millions of dollars from taxpayer-funded welfare programs have been fraudulently sent to the terrorist group by some individuals in Minnesota’s Somali community. These schemes included the creation of fake daycares and other programs to collect federal funds. After collecting the money, they would allegedly send it to Al-Shabaab. 

It is not known how much money made its way to the terrorist group, but a City Journal report suggested that it could amount to “untold millions.”

This is part of a larger pattern of fraud cases involving Minnesota’s welfare programs. Prosecutors allege that the state has been a hotbed of welfare fraud. One example is the “Feeding Our Future” scam, which was ostensibly aimed at providing free meals to low-income children through federal child nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the Justice Department alleged that the group created over 250 fake meal sites claiming to serve 91 million meals. The problem was that none of this happened. They used fake invoices and child name lists to con the federal government into giving them at least $240 million in funds. The DOJ has charged more than 70 people in connection with the scam.