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FIRST ON FOX: Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst is working to strip more than $1 million of federal funds earmarked for a Somali-led Minnesota addiction recovery organization that shares an address with a Minneapolis Somali restaurant, Fox News Digital learned.
“The scale and frequency of fraud in Minnesota is staggering, but I fear just the tip of the iceberg,” Ernst told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “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.”
Capitol Hill lawmakers unveiled a new spending package Monday that totals at least $174 billion and is slated to receive a vote from House lawmakers later this week. Within the package, Ernst’s office found that Omar had earmarked $1,031,000 through the Department of Justice for a group called Generation Hope MN in Minneapolis. The earmark is co-led by Minnesota Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith in the Senate.
Generation Hope MN is a 501(c)(3) that was established in 2019 to create a “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,” according to its website.
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“We are a Somali-led organization, and our team includes individuals in recovery, mental health professionals such as licensed counselors and peer recovery support specialists, and community members,” the website states.
The group’s website lists two addresses for the addiction recovery center in Minneapolis, including a location on Cedar Avenue.
The same Cedar Avenue address is also listed as the location for a Somali restaurant called Sagal Restaurant and Coffee. The restaurant’s website describes the restaurant as a “culinary haven” that “brings the authenticity of Somali cuisine to Minneapolis” that was established in 1998. Google Maps, Fox Digital found, also lists a neighborhood association group as also sharing the Cedar Ave. location.
The owner of Sagal Restaurant, Fartune Del, confirmed to Fox News Digital Tuesday evening that Generation Hope MN does operate out of additional office spaces above the restaurant.
“We have 8 office spaces on upper level of the building. Generation Hope (is) using space to help people in need of addiction,” Del told Fox Digital in an email when approached for comment about the shared address.
The other location listed on the addiction recovery group’s website shows a commercial property located on Minneapolis’ Harmon Place.
Ernst is readying an amendment in the Senate to redirect the more than $1 million in funding to a Department of Justice account dedicated to fraud prevention and enforcement, Fox Digital learned.
A review of documents published by Omar’s office promoting the earmark for the project listed the address for Generation Hope MN as sitting on “Cedar Ave. South” — not just “Cedar Avenue” as it’s described on Generation Hope’s website. The Cedar Ave. South address also pulls up the Sagal Restaurant on Google Maps, Fox Digital found.
Yelp reviews for the café and restaurant going back at least a decade praise it as serving “delicious” “Authentic Somali meals,” holding an average of four and half stars out of five based on reviews.
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Omar’s office previously described on its website that the fiscal year 2026 funding to Generation Hope would be used to address the “opioid crisis by combining this workforce readiness programming with addiction recovery, mental health, and housing support,” and “reduce recidivism and addiction while enabling greater opportunities for sustainable employment in the city, helping capable workers grow in their skills and education.”
“The funding would be used for targeted reentry support in Minneapolis including job-specific training, computer skills development, peer support services, and access to education, so that participants are equipped with the tools and resources necessary for workforce success. The initiative integrates a tailored support model with practical job training through partnering with certified apprenticeship programs to provide participants with industry-recognized certifications,” Omar’s office continued.
IRS documents, specifically IRS Form 1023-EZ which is needed to apply for recognition as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, showed the three chiefs of Generation Hope MN listed the same address for a five-bedroom home in Minnepolis as their primary residence, Ernst’s office found.
Abdirahman Warsame, a local author, co-founded Generation Hope MN in 2019, he told a media outlet for Minnesota refugees called Sahan Journal in 2022, when he published a book of poetry chronicling a “recovering addict’s journey to sobriety.”
Fox News Digital is looking into whether the group has received previous funds from the federal government.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Warsame, Omar’s office, Klobuchar’s office, Smith’s office, Generation Hope MN for comment on the shared address and earmarked funds Tuesday evening but did not immediately receive replies.
Ernst’s efforts, as well as other Republican-led efforts, to strip the roughly $1 million in favor a project focused on fraud prevention and enforcement comes as Minnesota faces a massive fraud scandal.
Minnesota was allegedly home to a massive COVID-era scheme that allegedly involved money laundering operations related to fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers and Medicaid services, according to investigators. Dozens of arrests have been made since 2022, mostly from the state’s large Somali community.
Local officials speculate the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion, as additional details come to light.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz dropped out of his re-election effort Monday amid the fallout of the fraud scandal, while President Donald Trump has slammed Omar, Walz and other Minnesota elected officials for the fraud. Walz, who has served as governor since 2019, took ownership of the fraud as it occurred under his watch, but argued multibillion figures were “sensationalized” by Republicans.
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