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Speaking to the Daily Mail, Bryden delivered a blunt assessment that should alarm every American taxpayer.
He believes al-Shabaab militants almost certainly benefited from money stolen through Minnesota’s welfare fraud schemes.
“Al-Shabaab taxes everything it can, including remittance companies,” Bryden explained.
That one sentence exposes the uncomfortable truth about how Somalia’s economy actually functions.
Why the Money Could Not Avoid Terrorists
Somalia does not operate like a normal country.
It is dominated by a shadow government run by al-Shabaab.
Bryden explained that the terror group raises between $150 million and $200 million every year through what amounts to a nationwide extortion system.
Farmers pay.
Truckers pay.
Shop owners pay.
Importers pay.
And critically, money remittance companies pay.
These remittance services are used by Somalis living overseas to send cash back home.
That system, known as hawala, moves roughly $1.5 billion annually into Somalia.
Al-Shabaab has deeply infiltrated that network.
“Where the money comes from or who receives it is incidental — it’s the business that is taxed, not the transaction,” Bryden stated.
In other words, once money enters Somalia, terrorists take their cut no matter its source.
Even businesses operating in Mogadishu, supposedly under government control, are not safe.
Al-Shabaab uses intimidation, threats, and selective violence to enforce its tax regime.
Minnesota’s Fraud Numbers Are Staggering
The scale of Minnesota’s welfare fraud is almost impossible to comprehend.
At least $300 million was stolen from the Feeding Our Future program alone.
Another $220 million disappeared through autism program fraud.
In some communities, one in 16 Somali four year olds was diagnosed with autism.
That rate is triple the state average.
Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Program was supposed to cost $2.6 million per year.
Instead, it exploded to $104 million before being shut down due to rampant fraud.
When prosecutors add up all known schemes, they believe the true total could exceed $1 billion.
More than 50 individuals have already been convicted.
Dozens more cases are still working through the courts.
Court filings show that stolen funds were sent overseas or used to buy property across East Africa.
Federal Investigators Step In
The seriousness of the allegations prompted federal action.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an investigation on December 1 to determine whether US taxpayer dollars reached al-Shabaab.
“We are investigating allegations that under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans’ tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab,” Bessent wrote.
President Trump responded forcefully the next day, criticizing Somali immigrants and accusing them of ripping off the state.
Representative Ilhan Omar pushed back, calling Trump’s remarks xenophobic.
She dismissed the terror funding concerns, saying, “If there was a linkage in the money that they have stolen going to terrorism, then that is a failure of the FBI and our court system in not figuring that out.”
Bryden’s assessment suggests that Omar either does not understand Somalia’s economic reality or is deliberately minimizing it.
Somalia Is a Perfect Terrorist Money Trap
Somalia has been in near constant collapse since 1991.
Clan warfare, jihadist violence, and foreign intervention dominate daily life.
Al-Shabaab has spent nearly two decades trying to overthrow the UN-backed government.
It operates like a parallel state.
“Even much of the aid money that goes into Somalia gets taxed at some point,” Bryden explained.
That includes Western NGOs, UN agencies, and even US-backed operations.
Conservative researchers at City Journal concluded that “untold millions” were funneled through hawala networks.
Their investigation stated plainly that “the largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
Walz Faces Growing Scrutiny
Governor Tim Walz was in charge while the fraud exploded.
Critics argue his administration ignored warning signs and moved too slowly out of fear of alienating a politically influential voting bloc.
The Feeding Our Future case alone revealed fake children, forged meal counts, and phony rosters designed to siphon pandemic aid.
Some suspects fled the country as the FBI closed in.
One of them, Abdikerm Eidleh, is believed to have resurfaced in Somalia.
Bryden says locating him will be extremely difficult without knowing his clan affiliation.
“The clan is like a PO box,” Bryden said.
A Reckoning Is Coming
Multiple investigations are now underway.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer is demanding answers from Walz.
The Treasury Department is tracing financial flows.
Federal prosecutors continue filing charges.
Minnesota voters expected competence.
Instead, they may have gotten an administration that allowed taxpayer money to fuel terrorism abroad while chaos festered at home.
That is not just failure.
It is a breakdown that demands accountability.
