Senate Hopeful Praises Tim Walz After Fraud Engulfed State On His Watch
Adam Pack
Daily Caller
December 17, 2025
A massive fraud scandal is rocking her state, but Democratic Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig has been conspicuously silent.
Craig, a four-term lawmaker running in a contested Democratic primary in Minnesota’s 2026 Senate race, has largely avoided commenting on the multi-year welfare fraud schemes that occurred under Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s watch. When asked by the Daily Caller News Foundation whether the Walz administration bears responsibility for failing to protect stolen taxpayer dollars, Craig effusively praised the two-term governor and insisted they both have taken action to prevent fraud in the North Star State.
“I think the governor is taking and his team are taking an aggressive approach to crack down on fraud in Minnesota,” Craig told the DCNF in a brief interview Tuesday. “They’re prosecuting and putting the folks who are perpetrating the crime in jail.”
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At least ten of the 78 individuals charged or convicted in the Feeding Our Future scheme since 2022 were residents of Craig’s district, including Aimee Bock, the nonprofit’s founder.
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Craig’s constituents Abdiaziz Shafii Farah and Mohamed Jama Ismail were sentenced to 28 years and 12 years, respectively, for stealing over $40 million alongside their co-conspirators. Farah and Ismail, who were owners and operators of Empire Cuisine and Market LLC — a restaurant in Craig’s district — helped launder the fraudulent proceeds, according to the DOJ.
Abdimajid Mohamed Nur was also sentenced to 10 years in connection with the scheme originating out of Empire Cuisine & Market.
Other constituents implicated include Dorothy Jean Moore, who was charged in June 2025 for defrauding the federal program of $1.4 million. Asha Jama, Abduljabar Hussein, Mekfira Hussein, Khadar Jigre Adan and Abdihakim Ali Ahmed also pled guilty for their role in the laundering scheme.
Amid her silence on the ongoing fraud scandal, Craig told the DCNF she’s worked to combat fraud at the federal level in recent years.
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The Senate hopeful said she introduced a bill in 2022 to crack down on fraud in federal programs, but the DCNF could not identify fraud prevention legislation introduced by Craig that year.
The DCNF found legislation sponsored by Craig in later years that would have toughened penalties for fraud in federal programs in response to the scandal’s early revelations.
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Neither bill advanced beyond introduction and had zero cosponsors.
A spokesperson for Craig did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment before publication.
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President Donald Trump responded to the developing fraud scandal in late November by pledging to revoke the temporary protected status of Somalis in Minnesota, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ramped up enforcement operations in the weeks since.
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Craig is vying against Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith. Flanagan is running to Craig’s left and has secured endorsements from independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Craig and Flanagan have railed against Trump’s criticism of the Somali community in Minnesota, but have said little about the Somalis convicted in the fraud schemes.
“I’ve got news for you, Mr. President: in Minnesota, we stick up for our neighbors,” Craig wrote on X. “And our Somali community isn’t going anywhere.”
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