{"id":2537963,"date":"2026-01-15T14:15:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senators-urge-doj-to-probe-isis-linked-somali-nonprofit-after-omar-tried-to-earmark-1m-for-it-the-federalist-13\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T14:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:18:08","slug":"senators-urge-doj-to-probe-isis-linked-somali-nonprofit-after-omar-tried-to-earmark-1m-for-it-the-federalist-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senators-urge-doj-to-probe-isis-linked-somali-nonprofit-after-omar-tried-to-earmark-1m-for-it-the-federalist-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators Urge DOJ To Probe ISIS-Linked Somali &#8216;Nonprofit&#8217; After Omar Tried To Earmark $1M For It &#8211; The Federalist"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenators-urge-doj-to-probe-isis-linked-somali-nonprofit-after-omar-tried-to-earmark-1m-for-it-the-federalist-13%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2537963&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>overview: Republican Sens. Joni Ernst and Mike Lee have asked Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to open an investigation and suspend federal funding eligibility for Generation Hope MN, a Minnesota nonprofit founded in 2019 that works on addiction recovery. The senators say publicly available IRS filings and other records show &#8220;red flags&#8221; about the group&#8217;s legitimacy,operational capacity,and financial stewardship,and they request referrals to other DOJ components for further inquiry.<\/p>\n<p>Allegations cited include: the three directors listing the same five-bedroom Minneapolis home as their residence; the group operating from office space above a Somali restaurant (Sagal Restaurant and Coffee); and a 2023 IRS Form 990 showing just $51,353 in revenue, an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >executive director working 30 hours weekly<\/a>, and more than $12,000 in travel-figures the senators say are inconsistent wiht managing taxpayer dollars. Ernst and Lee also tie the association&#8217;s spending profile to fraud-risk patterns revealed in recent Minnesota COVID-era welfare scams.<\/p>\n<p>The request follows an attempt by Rep. Ilhan Omar and Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith to earmark $1 million in DOJ funding for Generation Hope MN; that earmark was exposed and removed by the House. The senators note that the group&#8217;s founder, Abdirahman Warsame, has an older brother who was arrested in 2015 for allegedly attempting to join ISIS, and they say the founder has downplayed that relative&#8217;s actions. Generation Hope MN did not respond to requests for comment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Republican Sens. Joni Ernst and Mike Lee are asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to probe a Minnesota-based non-profit that &ldquo;exhibits a troubling pattern of red flags around its legitimacy&rdquo; and is run by a Somali man whose brother was arrested for allegedly trying to join ISIS.<\/p>\n<p>Ernst and Lee are asking Bondi to &ldquo;initiate suspension proceedings to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senators-urge-doj-to-probe-isis-linked-somali-nonprofit-after-omar-tried-to-earmark-1m-for-it-the-federalist\/\" title=\"... Urge DOJ To Probe ISIS-Linked Somali &#039;Nonprofit&#039; After Omar Tried To Earmark M For It - The Federalist\">protect ongoing federal interests pending full investigation&#038;rdquo<\/a>; and to refer &ldquo;relevant matters to other DOJ components for further inquiry&rdquo; in relation to <a href=\"https:\/\/generationhopemn.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Generation Hope MN<\/a>, a tax-exempt organization founded in 2019 that is focused on addiction recovery and substance abuse disorder, according to a copy of the letter obtained exclusively by The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>Somali-born Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/appropriations.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-appropriations.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/fy26-cjs-cpf-table.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tried<\/a> to earmark $1 million in congressionally appropriated Department of Justice funding to Generation Hope MN. The funding was exposed by Ernst and Lee, and removed by the House.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Still, Ernst and Lee are asking the Department of Justice to probe the organization to ensure its legitimacy. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Based on publicly available records and Internal Revenue Service filings, Generation Hope, MN exhibits a troubling pattern of red flags around its legitimacy, operational capacity, and financial stewardship,&rdquo; the letter states. <\/p>\n<p>According to the letter, there are &ldquo;questionable operational&rdquo; footprints for Generation Hope MN.<\/p>\n<p>The IRS 1023-EZ form which organizations use to apply for recognition as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senators-urge-doj-to-probe-isis-linked-somali-nonprofit-after-omar-tried-to-earmark-1m-for-it-the-federalist-2\/\" title=\"... Urge DOJ To Probe ISIS-Linked Somali &#039;Nonprofit&#039; After Omar Tried To Earmark M For It - The Federalist\">tax-exempt organization allegedly show &#038;ldquo<\/a>;the three directors of Generation Hope MN listed the same address for a five-bedroom home in Minneapolis as their primary residence,&rdquo; according to the letter.  <\/p>\n<p>Further, Generation Hope MN&rsquo;s website lists two addresses, including &mdash; according to the letter &mdash; an address &ldquo;publicly associated with Sagal Restaurant and Coffee, a Somali restaurant.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>The owner of this coffee shop has stated Generation Hope MN occupies office space above the restaurant, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/left-wing-dems-steer-1m-addiction-group-operating-above-minneapolis-somali-restaurant-amid-fraud-fallout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fox News<\/a>, but Ernst and Lee say in their letter that &ldquo;this shared address with a commercial establishment, combined with the absence of dedicated program facilities or visible service infrastructure, raises substantial doubts about the organization&rsquo;s independent operations and scale&hellip;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The last publicly available IRS 990 form for Generation Hope MN comes from 2023 and &ldquo;reflects a financial profile inconsistent with a functioning nonprofit capable of responsibility managing taxpayer dollars,&rdquo; the letter states. Some of those alleged inconsistencies include a revenue of only $51,353 which includes government fees and contracts, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senators-urge-doj-to-probe-isis-linked-somali-nonprofit-after-omar-tried-to-earmark-1m-for-it-the-federalist-3\/\" title=\"... Urge DOJ To Probe ISIS-Linked Somali &#039;Nonprofit&#039; After Omar Tried To Earmark M For It - The Federalist\">executive director reportedly worked<\/a> just 30 hours each week, and more than $12,000 in travel, which Ernst and Lee say is &ldquo;an unusual cost for an organization whose mission is focused on serving Minneapolis&rsquo; East African community.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ernst and Lee say that &ldquo;While no identical misconduct is alleged here, Generation Hope MN&rsquo;s spending profile fits a fraud-risk pattern that has already cost taxpayers billions across Minnesota programs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks it has been revealed that Minnesotans were the victim of a massive Covid-era welfare scheme that involved money laundering operations through daycare centers, housing programs, and Medicaid services &mdash; most with ties to the Somali community.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, Generation Hope MN founder Abdirahman Warsame&rsquo;s older brother, Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame, was arrested in 2015 for alleged preparing to move to Syria to join ISIS, a terrorist organization. <\/p>\n<p>Abdirahman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YYcdcZHN3UE\">has downplayed<\/a> what Abdirizak did, even claiming during a TED talk that the United States never &ldquo;fully accepted them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And when they were taken, people whispered about them, but it was rarely asked, &lsquo;How did it come to this? What does it mean to grow up in a country that never fully embraces you but never lets you go?&rsquo; None of them with priors and all of them faced an uncertain future in a country that never fully accepted them. Soon after, they were sent into a system that was never designed to help them and certainly not there to protect them.<\/p>\n<p>As Ernst and Lee ask: &ldquo;Should someone with such associations be considered worthy of taxpayer funding? &hellip; It is undeniable that expressing admiration for someone who sought to commit atrocities against the United States raises most serious concerns.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to The Federalist, Ernst said, &ldquo;It is almost too insane to believe: Congress trying to send $1 million to an &lsquo;East African&rsquo; addiction center operated above a Somali Restaurant and run by three&nbsp;people&nbsp;who live in the same house, with a relative who tried to join ISIS.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Lee criticized Congress for planning to send the $1 million earmark, saying that despite the widespread fraud, &ldquo;Congress planned to send $1 million to yet another Somali aid organization, Generation Hope MN. Stopping these funds is not enough: we should pursue every red flag, uncover every wrongdoing, and suspend federal eligibility for taxpayer dollars.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Generation Hope MN did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ernst, Lee ask AG to probe MN nonprofit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2537964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-8.22.19-PM-scaled-e1768440542540.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[71004,34264,71005,16697,67773],"class_list":["post-2537963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-doj-probe","tag-ilhan-omar","tag-isis-linked-nonprofit","tag-somalia","tag-terrorism-financing"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-8.22.19-PM-scaled-e1768440542540.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2537963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2537963"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2537963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2537967,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2537963\/revisions\/2537967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2537964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2537963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2537963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2537963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}