Tafoya links Flanagan to a friend’s autism-services center and alleges it is under fraud investigation
Michele TafoyaRepublican candidate for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, posting on her own X account
Michele Tafoya said Peggy Flanagan's longtime friend runs the Milestone Development Center, asserted that the center is under investigation for fraud, and said children with autism "are not a slush fund."
“This is Peggy Flanagan and her best friend of 25 years. That friend runs the Milestone Development Center. It’s now under investigation for fraud. Kids with autism are not a slush fund. Minnesotans deserve so much better.”
Original post
Where this statement fits
Michele Tafoya’s accusation that Peggy Flanagan is “hiding from” Minnesota’s welfare-fraud scandal
In a September 13, 2026 post, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michele Tafoya said her Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, “is hiding from the fraud” in Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future scandal and “let it happen.” Feeding Our Future was a nonprofit that authorities said fraudulently obtained federal child-nutrition funds during the COVID-19 pandemic; its executive director, Aimee Bock, was convicted at trial in 2025. Flanagan was not charged and has not been accused of personally approving fraudulent payments. Asked about the scandal on the podcast Lovett or Leave It on September 20, Flanagan said fraud “is completely unacceptable,” that she supported a new independent inspector general’s office, and that Minnesota is “prosecuting fraudsters” while President Trump “is pardoning the fraudsters” who defraud Medicaid.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Michele Tafoya’s own September 22 campaign post asserts that Peggy Flanagan’s longtime friend runs the Milestone Development Center and that it is under investigation for fraud. The source records Tafoya’s attribution; it does not independently establish the asserted investigation.
Before the quotation
The case already records Tafoya's September 13 accusation that Flanagan was "hiding from the fraud" in Minnesota's Feeding Our Future scandal and had "let it happen."
After the quotation
Tafoya's post did not identify the agency or proceeding underlying its assertion about an investigation; this record preserves her attributed campaign statement.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the case-level accusation that Flanagan hid from or enabled Minnesota welfare fraud, Tafoya expands and presses that accusation by linking Flanagan to a longtime friend and asserting the friend's center is under investigation. She presents the allegation as fact and does not qualify it, so this defends or presses the accusation rather than merely reporting it.
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- People and groups discussed
- Peggy Flanagan
More from this case
Read the full caseFlanagan says fraud response was outside her assigned duties
“I was not tasked with the fraud response ... My job as lieutenant governor ... is to lean on the issues that I’ve been leaning on for a long time, which is children and families.”Read statement
NRSC cites Angie Craig’s criticism as it describes Flanagan’s “role in the $9 billion+ fraud scheme”
National Republican Senatorial Committee
“Even Angie Craig tried warning Minnesotans about Peggy Flanagan's role in the $9 billion+ fraud scheme: "She continues to take absolutely NO accountability for any of the fraud... You were the #2 elected leader in Minnesota during that period of time."”Read statement
Flanagan says the governor “took the lead on fraud” and she “did not lead in this area of work”
“I certainly was part of conversations, but I did not lead in this area of work.”Read statement
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- Tafoya links Flanagan to a friend’s autism-services center and alleges it is under fraud investigation
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The Dispute Index. "Tafoya links Flanagan to a friend’s autism-services center and alleges it is under fraud investigation". First published: 2026-09-23. Last updated: 2026-09-23. https://disputeindex.com/events/1529-michele-tafoya-said-peggy-flanagan-s-longtime-friend