MN Dem Sen candidate in hot seat over upcoming event hosted by man enveloped in fraud scandal: 'Red flags'

Minnesota Lt.

Gov. and Democratic Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan is set to attend a fundraiser hosted by an individual who has served as the state’s Medicaid medical director during a time period where Medicaid fraud exploded onto the national scene.

Dr.

Nathan Chomilo has served as Minnesota’s Medicaid medical director since January 2020 and is listed as one of the hosts of an October 1 fundraiser supporting Flanagan, first reported by Townhall’s Dustin Grage.

Much of Minnesota’s broader fraud scandal has centered on Medicaid-funded programs, including autism services and Housing Stabilization Services, and although Chomilo was not the official responsible for processing payments, investigating fraud or overseeing the department’s program-integrity operations, the optics of Flanagan associating with him is sparking skepticism about Flanagan's commitment to tackling the fraud issue.

"Apparently, the people who were supposed to be watching the money are too busy raising it for Peggy Flanagan," Grage posted on X .

"This should raise some serious red flags." 'WE HAVE NOT SLOWED DOWN': MINNESOTA NOT OUT OF THE WOODS ON MASSIVE FRAUD SCANDAL, EXPERT WARNS "Things that make you go hmm… ," Chuck Darrell, former communications director at Minnesota Family Council posted on X.

"The number one thing going on with Minnesota's Medicaid program has been fraud over the last eight years of the Walz Flanagan administration ," Minnesota Republican State Rep.

Kristin Robbins told Fox News Digital.

"So he must have been aware.

He must have known and clearly he had oversight responsibilities.

He probably should have been held accountable for what was going on in the program and instead he's raising money for Penny Peggy Flanigan." "It just shows her disdain for the taxpayers," Robbins, the chair of the last legislative session’s Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, continued, adding that Flanagan has "shown time and again disdain for Minnesotans who aren't on board with her radical agenda and this is just another example of that." MN DEM SENATE CANDIDATE'S VIRAL HIJAB VIDEO TAKES NEW TURN AS WOMAN BESIDE HER FACES MAJOR STATE INVESTIGATION Chomilo was highlighted in an online profile in 2023, as warning signs were surfacing about potential Medicaid fraud in the state, as a healthcare professional who was focused on " incorporating community collaboration and racial equity into Minnesota’s Medicaid policy development." "Communities experiencing inequities in health and opportunity due to structural racism know what they need but often policymakers fail to incorporate their lived experience," Chomilo said.