Omar declines to answer questions on Feeding Our Future probe

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., declined to answer questions about her ties to the Feeding Our Future fraud case when approached by Fox News Digital in the halls of Congress on Monday.

Omar was asked whether she had urged Minnesota Democrats to block a state-level subpoena in the investigation and whether she would cooperate with a House Oversight Committee subpoena. She did not respond to either question.

The case centers on a scheme that federal prosecutors say cost taxpayers roughly $250 million. Omar sponsored the MEALS Act in 2020, a COVID-19 relief measure that Republicans say expanded USDA waiver authority and enabled the fraud.

The Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee invited Omar to testify this month and requested documents, including emails, texts and meeting records with the Minnesota Department of Education. The panel also sought records of her contacts with individuals charged in the case, such as nonprofit founder Aimee Bock, and communications related to her promotion of Safari Restaurant as a meal site.

Omar missed the response deadline, and a subpoena vote failed after Democrats blocked the effort. State Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the committee, said Omar "ghosted us."

Bock, who faces a possible 50-year prison sentence, said in a jailhouse interview that many operators in the program were from the Somali community and had contacted Omar's office for help with waivers.

A recent 84-page committee report accused Gov. Tim Walz's administration of creating a "culture of tolerance" that allowed fraud. It estimated $300 million in federal meal program fraud and up to $9 billion in Medicaid fraud were stolen from taxpayers. The report also said Omar's MEALS Act loosened anti-fraud safeguards.

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar and Walz's office for comment but did not hear back.