A Minnesota Republican lawmaker is formally demanding records from Rep. Ilhan Omar after the congresswoman failed to appear at a state committee hearing tied to the massive Feeding Our Future pandemic fraud probe, according to a letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
State Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, sent the letter to Omar on April 22. It criticizes her absence from a hearing she was invited to and requests a broad set of documents related to her potential ties to the scandal.
“Minnesotans and the Members of the House Fraud Prevention & State Oversight Committee were disappointed that you failed to appear before our committee to answer questions,” Robbins wrote.
The hearing centered on the MEALS Act, a federal COVID-19 relief measure Omar sponsored in 2020. Federal prosecutors say the expanded child nutrition program became a vehicle for one of the largest pandemic fraud schemes in U.S. history.
“She didn’t even respond, ghosted us,” Robbins told Fox News Digital. “And her Meals Act is what created the conditions that allowed Feeding Our Future to happen.”
Robbins said the committee has sent Omar multiple emails and multiple letters. She has not responded to any of them.
The records request covers a wide range of materials. Robbins is asking for emails, texts, and meeting records related to how Omar promoted federal child nutrition programs to constituents and the Minnesota Department of Education. The letter also targets a specific incident: a Somali-language television appearance in which Omar highlighted Safari Restaurant, a Minneapolis eatery, as a meal distribution site. That restaurant was later linked to the Feeding Our Future network. Lawmakers played the video during Tuesday’s committee meeting.
Robbins is also requesting documentation of any contact between Omar and Aimee Bock, the nonprofit founder at the center of the case, as well as dozens of others who have been charged or implicated. The letter separately asks for communications with political donors who were later charged in the investigation.
Omar has a May 5 deadline to respond.
The Feeding Our Future case involves the alleged theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded child nutrition aid during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors believe the broader fraud crisis in which it is embedded reaches into the tens of billions.
Omar is navigating multiple overlapping controversies. In addition to the fraud inquiry, she faces a possible ethics investigation into her personal financial disclosures. Vice President JD Vance has also publicly accused her of immigration fraud.
