State Rep. Kristen Robbins is running for Minnesota's Republican gubernatorial nomination. (Kristin Robbins campaign)
"I've been chair of the fraud committee since last January, and this has really been my main focus over the last year of the legislature," she said. "And even though we're out of session, I've continued to keep the fraud committee having hearings monthly, because this issue is so enormous, we still don't have our arms around it. So we're continuing to dig in."
The first federal charges against alleged fraudsters in the case were filed three years ago. Fast-forward to today and there are now upwards of 75 defendants in the $250 million scheme.
The case revolves around a nonprofit named Feeding our Future, which partnered with the Minnesota Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute meals to children.
OMAR ALLIES TIED TO MASSIVE MINNESOTA COVID MEAL FRAUD SCHEME INVOLVING SOMALI COMMUNITY
Prosecutors charged that Feeding our Future and affiliated food distribution sites raked in millions of dollars by submitting fake meal counts and invoices to trick state and federal officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of the people charged are of Somali descent. Minnesota has the largest Somali population of any state in the country.
The U.S. Treasury says its investigating whether tax dollars from Minnesota's public assistance programs made their way to Al-Shabab, a Somali-based affiliate of al Qaeda, which the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after speaking to troops via video from his Mar-a-Lago estate on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Last month, the president announced he was ending temporary deportation protections for Somali immigrants in Minnesota and claimed that "Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State."
Walz on Thursday called Trump's comments "vile racial racist lies" and "slander towards our fellow Minnesotans."
Asked about the president's comments, Robbins said, "the bulk of the fraud that we've uncovered so far is in the Somali community. And one of the reasons the fraud has perpetuated based on whistleblowers who reach out to me is that they were afraid to say that out loud, because they were afraid of having political retribution or being called racist."
"So we do have to say that. Say it out loud. Most of the fraud is in the Somali community," she added.
But Robbins also emphasized that "most of the best whistleblowers are also in the Somali community. Both things are true. So certainly, that's where most of the fraud is. But also there's a lot of people in the Somali community who want to clean it up."
Republican gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota state Rep. Kristin Robbins spotlights her anti-fraud efforts during a campaign news conference. (Kristin Robbins campaign)
Robbins told Fox News Digital that her efforts taking aim at the fraud may boost her bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
"I certainly know where all the problems are and how this massive fraud scandal has been allowed to flourish under Tim Walz," she said. "I think I can speak directly to it and take him on, directly on the debate and on the details. I think I'm most qualified."
And Robbins added, "I'm also most qualified to solve it when I'm governor. So I've already rolled up my fraud plan of how we were going to standardize internal controls, how we're going to have an Office of Inspector General, how we are going to hold employees in the state accountable. So I think I will be the one who can solve the problem for Minnesota."
Robbins, who was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2018, represents a purple district in the Minneapolis suburbs. She has touted that in the crowded field of GOP gubernatorial contenders, she's the "only conservative Republican who’s a proven winner in the suburbs."
Robbins served as Minnesota state chair of former U.S. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's 2024 Republican presidential campaign.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
And on Thursday, Haley praised Robbins in a fundraising email to supporters.
"We have to stop Tim Walz and elect a leader who will fight to end this corruption!" Haley wrote. "Kristin Robbins has spent her career fighting fraud and she’ll do the same as governor."
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/walz-has-been-absolute-failure-combating-fraud-gop-gubernatorial-challenger-robbins-argues