Tipsheet

Senator Ted Cruz Chairs First Senate Hearing on Minnesota's Somali Fraud Scandal

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  February 05, 2026 2:15 PM

Senator Ted Cruz chaired the first-ever hearing on the rampant Somali fraud in Minnesota yesterday, hoping to shed light and get accountability for the billions of taxpayer dollars that were stolen by Somali fraudsters. That story was blown wide open by independent journalist Nick Shirley at the end of last year, when Shirley and fellow journalist David Hoch visited the Somali daycares in the area and found them empty of children. Shirley testified before Congress back on January 22, saying he was there to "speak on behalf of all hard-working, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens here inside of the United States."

Hoch testified earlier today, too, saying he'd been investigating the fraud for years and that Governor Tim Walz was aware of the fraud and failed to act on it.

Senator Ted Cruz said the fraud in Minnesota was neither "accidental nor unforeseeable," and called it the "product of deliberate inaction, willful blindness, and calculated abuse."

"Federal prosecutors in Minnesota now estimate that half or more of the $18 billion spent since 2018 across 14 Minnesota welfare programs may have been lost to fraud. If confirmed, the amount stolen would rank among the largest welfare frauds in American history," Cruz said. "In Minnesota, a welfare system designed to uplift the most vulnerable children was treated like an open ATM, exploiting both taxpayers and the public trust extended to immigrant communities. Over the last decade, Minnesota Democrats didn't just fail to stop the fraud. They made it easy and profitable, and in a totally lawless fashion, silenced anyone who pointed it out. Taken together, the record shows that the fraud was not accidental or unforeseeable, but was the product of deliberate inaction, willful blindness, and calculated abuse."

In December, a group of whistleblowers working in Minnesota government said Governor Tim Walz knew about the fraud and punished anyone who tried to investigate or end it.

That fraud, Senator Cruz said, harmed children and the public.

"Taken together, the evidence before this committee leads to one unavoidable conclusion. Minnesota was warned. Minnesota's Democrat leadership failed to enforce the laws it passed, and that failure allowed organized fraud to flourish, harming children, betraying families, and robbing the public of trust and resources," Cruz noted.

Last month, we covered a story by journalists Dustin Grage and Nick Sotor that showed how a legitimate autism resource center, one that had operated in accordance with the law and above board for more than two decades, faced closure thanks to the fraud.

Jennifer Larson's Holland Center Autism and Therapy Clinic serves hundreds of autistic children and their families — children and families that have no other place to go. But because the Democrats failed to crack down on fraud, and then issued blanket reporting requirements on all businesses, Larson was unable to meet her $250,000 biweekly payroll. 

And as bad as that failure is, it gets even worse. Senator Cruz noted that thanks to this fraud, the Minnesota taxpayers are now the single largest funders of the Somalia-based Islamic terror group Al-Shabaab.

"When billions of dollars are stolen from us welfare programs and sent abroad, there is no credible way to ensure those funds do not enrich jihadists within al Shabaab, as one confidential source told the Manhattan Institute, the largest funder of Al Shabaab, an Islamist terrorist organization in Somalia, is the Minnesota taxpayer," Cruz said. "Listen to that again. The single largest funder of Al Shabaab, a terrorist organization in Somalia, is the taxpayers of Minnesota."

Cruz also slammed his Democratic colleagues for failing to even mention the fraud.

"In that enormous word cloud, virtually nothing about $9 billion stolen from Minnesota taxpayers by Somali fraudsters with Democrat politicians knowing full well what is happening, facilitating it, and harvesting votes and campaign dollars from the people robbing the children of Minnesota," Cruz said. "My Democrat colleagues want you desperately not to focus on those facts. And so instead, miraculously, the Democrats have discovered the Sermon on the Mount. Well, this hearing is going to focus on $9 billion stolen from the taxpayers."