Jacob Frey acknowledged that fraud involving taxpayer-funded programs in Minnesota is “very real” during a nationally televised interview while warning against holding entire communities responsible for the crimes of individuals.
Frey made the comments on NBC’s “Meet the Press” as Democratic officials across multiple states shifted attention toward claims of harassment tied to online reporting about the fraud.
“Let me ask you about the leadership in your state,” host Kristen Welker said. “Dozens of people in Minnesota have been charged and convicted with stealing millions of dollars of taxpayer money for taxpayer programs.”
“Do you think Governor Walz did enough to stop the fraud in your state?” Welker asked. “And do you support his decision not to run for reelection?”
“Well, look, Governor Walz is the reason we’ve got paid leave and family leave in Minnesota,” Frey said. “He’s the reason we’ve got free school lunches.”
“But did he do enough to combat fraud, Mayor?” Welker pressed, interrupting him.
“Obviously, everybody could have done more to prevent fraud,” Frey said. “And I think that’s a fair point to make.”
“Look what he’s doing right now, he’s setting up a whole bunch of infrastructure to do that,” Frey added.
“The fraud’s real,” Frey continued. “We’ve all got to acknowledge that. When somebody commits fraud, you investigate it, you charge, you prosecute, and you put the person in jail. You do not hold an entire community, any community, accountable for the actions of individuals.”
His remarks came as Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty issued a statement addressing reports of harassment directed at members of the Somali community.
“Our office is receiving a large number of reports of members of the Somali community being sent hateful, threatening, and disturbing messages,” Moriarty wrote.
“This is the predictable, and absolutely unacceptable, result of far-right propagandists demonizing an entire group of people for the actions of individuals who share their ethnicity,” she continued.
Moriarty urged anyone receiving threats to report them to law enforcement, saying prosecutions could begin once cases are filed.
“We are always ready to support our community and do everything in our power to keep each other safe,” she said.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said his office was reviewing the conduct of individuals publicizing the fraud allegations, not the fraud itself.
“My office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking,” Brown wrote on X.
“We are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims being pushed online,” he added.
Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is facing new questions about her family’s sudden wealth as her husband’s venture capital firm quietly scrubbed its website amid widening federal investigations into what officials describe as one of the largest welfare fraud schemes in U.S. history.
Omar and her husband, political consultant Tim Mynett, reported assets between $6 million and $30 million in 2024—a stunning leap from near insolvency when she entered Congress six years ago.
A New York Post report found that Mynett’s firm, Rose Lake Capital, saw its value rise from under $1,000 in 2023 to as much as $25 million a year later. The company, based at a WeWork in Washington, D.C., claimed to manage “$60 billion in previous assets” through its officers—until those names were quietly deleted from its website this fall.
“This reeks of political privilege,” said Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center. “Omar entered Congress broke, and now she’s worth tens of millions while her husband’s firm erases its records. She owes voters an explanation.”
