Michele Tafoya just got a powerful new line of attack in Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate race.
The Republican nominee can now point to a state investigation involving an autism provider run by a longtime friend of her Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
Flanagan has not been accused of taking part in fraud, and no public evidence ties her to the providers’ operations or billing.
The political problem is harder to wave away. Minnesota has already lost staggering sums through taxpayer-funded programs, and Flanagan has served as Gov. Tim Walz’s second-in-command since 2019.
Fox News Digital reported that the Minnesota Department of Human Services confirmed open investigations into Milestone Development Center and Spectrum Therapy Center.
DHS said both providers were terminated from Minnesota’s Medicaid program several months ago as part of the state’s 2026 revalidation process. The agency described revalidation as a review of whether providers have the required credentials and comply with state and federal rules.
Both providers appealed their terminations. Because the investigations remain open, DHS said it is legally barred from disclosing further details.
Milestone is operated by Nimco Ahmed, a longtime Democratic-Farmer-Labor activist. Flanagan said in a widely circulated December video that she and Ahmed had been friends for nearly 25 years.
Ahmed stood beside Flanagan during a December visit to a Somali market. Flanagan wore a hijab and defended Minnesota’s Somali community as scrutiny of state-program fraud intensified.
Nimco Ahmed—Peggy Flanagan’s friend of nearly 25 years—runs an autism center under investigation by Minnesota DHS. The center was also terminated from Medicaid.
Flanagan has been part of the administration as Minnesota’s fraud crisis exploded. Now she wants a promotion.
Why…
— Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) September 21, 2026
The state confirmation followed allegations from a former therapist who worked at Milestone for roughly two months in late 2023.
Alpha News reported that Grant Morgan said he worked directly with clients six days a week but did not see a Qualified Supervising Professional or Board Certified Behavior Analyst overseeing the work.
Morgan also alleged that some practitioners appeared unqualified and that he was never asked to complete or sign the session notes used to document services tied to Medicaid payments.
He said he saw what he considered billing-fraud warning signs, but he acknowledged that he did not handle billing and did not claim firsthand knowledge that fraudulent claims had been submitted.
Ahmed denied the allegations. She said Milestone had the required professional oversight, that every child receiving services had an autism diagnosis and that the center followed state requirements and underwent regular audits.
Ahmed also accused Alpha News of bias and said the scrutiny was driven by her Somali background. The owner of Spectrum denied the former therapist’s allegations as well.
MN Dem Senate candidate's viral hijab video takes new turn as woman beside her faces major state investigation.
Nimco Ahmed stood beside Peggy Flanagan during the viral December video defending Minnesota’s Somali community. Now the autism center Ahmed operates is under an open… pic.twitter.com/IC1v3aEKoU
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 21, 2026
The story widened again Monday when Alpha News reported that Ahmed had also worked on Amy Klobuchar’s first U.S. Senate campaign in 2006. Campaign-finance records cited by the outlet indicated that Klobuchar’s campaign paid Ahmed nearly $8,000.
That history does not prove wrongdoing by Klobuchar, Flanagan or Ahmed. It does show why the investigation is becoming such a combustible issue inside Minnesota’s long-dominant DFL network.
EXCLUSIVE: CEO of autism center under investigation was part of Klobuchar's first Senate campaign
Back in 2006, Nimco Ahmed, the CEO of an autism center now under state investigation, joined the "Klobuchar team" during Amy Klobuchar's first Senate run, according to a profile at… pic.twitter.com/3p4PPFXlVy
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) September 21, 2026
No criminal charge against Ahmed or the two providers was reported. DHS has not publicly described the scope of either investigation.
There is also no public evidence that Flanagan had a role in the providers’ operations, Medicaid billing or the conduct under review.
The damage for Flanagan is political: the investigation ties another uncomfortable fraud story to someone in her orbit while Republicans are demanding answers about what Minnesota’s executive branch knew and when.
The Associated Press reported after the August primaries that dozens of people had already been convicted of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars meant for food, shelter, health care and child care.
Republicans immediately made those failures central to their general-election strategy. Tafoya argued that years of one-party control had left Minnesota taxpayers paying the price for a government that did not enforce accountability.
That argument is especially dangerous for Flanagan because she cannot present herself as a complete outsider to the administration. She has served alongside Walz for nearly eight years.
The AP noted that Republicans had gone two decades without winning a statewide Minnesota race. That history still makes the state difficult territory for the GOP, but it also explains why party strategists see the fraud crisis as a rare opening rather than another routine campaign talking point.
Tafoya and Republican gubernatorial nominee Lisa Demuth began pressing that case immediately after the primary. They argue that repeated oversight failures are the predictable cost of leaving one party in charge for too long.
Democrats counter that Republicans are trying to pin criminal conduct by private actors on an entire party. Yet every new investigation forces Flanagan to defend the administration’s oversight record instead of setting the terms of the race herself.
The Senate race itself remains competitive and unusually quiet for a contest with national implications.
MPR News reported Monday that both nominees had kept relatively low public profiles with only weeks left before Election Day. The outlet noted that major rallies, public campaign stops and policy rollouts had become scarce following the bruising August primaries.
MPR found that neither campaign had held a news conference since winning its nomination. Both candidates remained active online and issued statements, but voters had fewer chances to see them answer questions in public.
That quieter contest makes every late-breaking accountability story more consequential. A vacuum does not stay empty for long, and Tafoya is now filling it with the issue Republicans believe gives them their best chance to break Minnesota’s statewide losing streak.
Tafoya still has to persuade voters that a former national sports broadcaster can turn campaign criticism into effective Senate leadership. Flanagan will try to keep the focus on Tafoya’s alliances, past commentary and support for President Trump.
But the latest investigation pushes the race back onto ground Republicans want: public money, government oversight and responsibility for failures that happened on the Walz-Flanagan watch.
Flanagan is not accused of participating in the alleged misconduct. That distinction matters.
It may not stop voters from asking why another politically connected operator ended up under scrutiny in a system Minnesota’s leaders were supposed to police.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
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