Vice President JD Vance announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration would withhold nearly $260 million in Medicaid funding for the Democrat-controlled Minnesota state government following the state&#8217;s massive fraud scandal.
Vance, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the administration&#8217;s anti-fraud crackdown during the State of the Union address on Tuesday night, said that Minnesota must prove that it &#8220;takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people&#8217;s tax money.&#8221; According to Vance, the Trump administration is withholding reimbursements for Medicaid services that Minnesota already paid for out of the state budget.
&#8220;What this means is that first of all, the providers on the ground in Minnesota have actually already been paid,&#8221; Vance said at a press conference alongside Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services. &#8220;What we&#8217;re doing is we&#8217;re stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that&#8217;s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer.&#8221;
Minnesota state leaders, including Democratic Governor Tim Walz, were informed of the Trump administration&#8217;s move, according to Oz, who said the federal government will hold the Medicaid payments until Minnesota properly addresses the fraud.
&#8220;If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up $1 billion of deferred payments this year,&#8221; Oz <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2026781835179565155">said</a>.
Oz assured reporters that the Medicaid funding freeze would not &#8220;hurt&#8221; Minnesota residents, since the state&#8217;s budget has a &#8220;rainy-day fund&#8221; to cover the lapse in funding.
&#8220;If providers and beneficiaries are worried about getting their money and services, please call your governor. These are services the governor has already paid for. We are just not reimbursing the state,&#8221; Oz said, adding, &#8220;This is not a problem with the people of Minnesota, it&#8217;s a problem with the leadership of Minnesota and other states who do not take Medicaid preservation seriously.&#8221;
Vance has zeroed in on 14 state programs in Minnesota, which include autism service providers and medical service transports that the administration believes are rife with fraud. The Trump administration is giving Walz 60 days to respond to its letter informing the state government of its freeze on Medicaid funding.
The vice president called out so-called services in Minnesota that have received millions in taxpayer dollars, only to make fraudsters rich. Federal prosecutors recently uncovered a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/federal-jury-finds-feeding-our-future-mastermind-and-co-defendant-guilty-250-million">massive fraud scheme</a> in Minnesota, resulting in dozens of convictions so far.
Minnesota&#8217;s “Feeding Our Future” program received federal funds and claimed to distribute meals to hungry children during the COVID pandemic, but allegedly never did so. The vast majority of those charged in the fraud scheme were of Somali descent.
Vance <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2026778961930268688">said</a> on Wednesday that the administration also found that a Minnesota program that was supposed to help kids with autism &#8220;has made a number of people rich, not by providing services to needy children, but by allowing fraudsters to take money that ought by right go to American citizens and to American families.&#8221;
Dr. Oz said at the White House press conference that the new Trump administration effort would be the &#8220;largest anti-fraud effort of its kind&#8221; in the history of the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services. Oz said that a fraud scheme in Minnesota pays mothers around $1,000 to falsely enroll their children as autistic and then Medicaid is billed for millions of dollars in &#8220;services that were never rendered.&#8221;
&#8220;These schemes disproportionately involve immigrant communities,&#8221; Oz <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2026781360266830026">added</a>. &#8220;They&#8217;re able to organize efforts, and sometimes they don&#8217;t understand what&#8217;s going on. And ultimately, it diverts resources away from kids who truly have autism.&#8221;
Daycare and learning centers linked to Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis area have also come under <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minneapolis-daycare-fraud-has-been-going-on-at-least-a-decade-and-theres-video-to-prove-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrutiny</a> for suspected fraud after independent journalist Nick Shirley posted a 42-minute video in December that showed him visiting numerous daycares that have received state funding, but don’t appear to be serving any children.

JD Vance

Vance Takes First Major Action As Fraud Czar With Sights Set On Minnesota

Fraud

Medicaid

Mehmet Oz

Minnesota

Tim Walz

Trump Administration

The Trump administration is proposing new regulations that would make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to receive work permits.
Under the Biden administration, as millions of illegal immigrants poured across the southern border, they were afforded the opportunity to receive work permits rapidly before even receiving immigration status. The new proposed rule would make it more difficult for illegal border crossers whose asylum claims have no standing to obtain work permits.
“For too long, a fraudulent asylum claim has been an easy path to working in the United States, overwhelming our immigration system with meritless applications,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said.
“We are proposing an overhaul of the asylum system to enforce the rules and reduce the backlog we inherited from the prior administration. Aliens are not entitled to work while we process their asylum applications. The Trump administration is strengthening the vetting of asylum applicants and restoring integrity to the asylum and work authorization processes,&#8221; the spokesperson added.
The plan would include a pause on the issuance of work permits for asylum seekers until they&#8217;re able to process applications within 180 days, according to the Friday notice.
It could take between 14 and 173 years to reach that benchmark, according to Reuters.
Once the rule is imposed, new illegal border crossers will be ineligible for work permits, according to the plan. Illegal immigrants who notify federal immigration authorities within 48 hours of crossing the border for fear of returning to their home country based on &#8220;persecution or torture&#8221; will be exempt from the rule.
&#8220;USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services] expects this rule to support another downward trend in the long term, but USCIS also expects that, upon implementation of this rule, new EAD [Employment Authorization Document] applications for pending asylum applicants would be paused for an extended period, possibly many years,&#8221; the notice read.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services currently has more than 1.4 million pending asylum claims on its plate, the agency said.
Work permits for asylum applicants are not considered &#8220;an entitlement,&#8221; according to the Department of Homeland Security, which &#8220;believes that this rule is key to disincentivizing aliens from using asylum primarily as a path to seek employment authorization in the United States and to ensuring more timely processing of asylum applications.&#8221;
The Trump administration will accept public comment for 60 days before attempting to move forward with the plan.
Some illegal immigrants who previously received work permits used them to obtain commercial driver&#8217;s licenses. While behind the wheel of heavy trucks, some of them caused fatal accidents.
Chinese <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-tour-bus-driver-with-new-york-license-accused-of-causing-fatal-wreck">illegal immigrant</a> Yisong Huang, 54, is accused of killing a 31-year-old truck driver and injuring several others in Tennessee on Dec. 9 while he was distracted by a video on his phone as he drove a tour bus.
Huang crossed the border illegally in 2023 and was swiftly released into the country. He was later granted a work permit and Social Security card.
On Wednesday, an Indian illegal immigrant, Singh Sukhdeep, behind the wheel of a semi-truck allegedly caused an accident that killed 64-year-old Terry Schultz in Hendricks County, Indiana.
Singh crossed the border illegally in 2018 and was released into the country because he was a minor at the time, federal law enforcement sources told The Daily Wire.
The illegal immigrant had a valid work permit at the time of the crash. The Indian national also had an Indiana commercial driver’s license, <a href="https://noticias.foxnews.com/us/illegal-immigrant-truck-driver-accused-killing-indiana-man-after-running-red-light" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Fox News.

Surge Of Migrants Overwhelms Border Crossings

Trump Seeks Tougher Work Permit Rules For Illegals With Asylum Claims

Asylum

Department of Homeland Security

Donald Trump

Executive

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Kristi Noem

U.S.

Texas is suing a “radical gender” doctor whom the state alleges perpetrated medical fraud and attempted to subvert state law pertaining to gender treatments for minors.
Children&#8217;s Health System of Texas and <a href="https://utswmed.org/doctors/jason-jarin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Jason Jarin</a> <a href="https://www.childrens.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unlawfully</a> provided minors sex-rejecting medications, including puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, defrauded state insurance programs, and skirted state law, according to allegations in a <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/Petition_9.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“I will use every legal tool available to ensure radical gender activists like Jarin face justice for hurting our kids,” Paxton told The Daily Wire. “This criminal extremist not only permanently harmed children, but he also then defrauded Medicaid and stuck Texas taxpayers with the bill for this insanity. Experimental ‘transition’ procedures on minors are illegal, unethical, and will not be tolerated in Texas.”
In June 2023, Texas passed <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB14/id/2756089" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate Bill 14</a>, which banned sex-rejecting interventions for minors. Dr. Jarin, a Division Director at Children&#8217;s Health System of Texas and Associate Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, continued to provide children cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers after the law went into effect on September 1, 2023, the lawsuit alleges.
Dr. Jarin billed males for birth control medications that were intended to serve as cross-sex estrogen, fraudulently used diagnostic codes when billing for sex-rejecting procedures, and gave puberty blockers to “otherwise healthy children under the guise of ‘precocious puberty,’&#8221; according to the lawsuit.
Puberty blockers, which can cost thousands of dollars, are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of precocious puberty, an endocrine disorder in which early sexual development occurs in children. They <a href="https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116284/documents/HHRG-118-JU10-20230727-SD011.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are not FDA-approved</a> for the treatment of gender dysphoria.
“Although Texas law bans dangerous and experimental sex-rejecting procedures on children, the scourge of so-called ‘gender affirming care’ persists in the State of Texas,” the lawsuit reads. “Even worse, Texas taxpayers have been on the hook for millions of dollars in gender transition surgeries, hormones, and other procedures that turn otherwise healthy children and young adults into chronic medical patients.”
“Our top priority is the health and well-being of the patients and families we serve. We comply with all applicable local, state and federal health care law,” Children’s Health said in a statement.
“Due to ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
In 2015, Children’s and UT Southwestern jointly opened a gender clinic, called the GENder Education and Care, Interdisciplinary Support clinic (GENECIS), which had more than 1,000 patients before abruptly closing in March 2022 after facing “intense scrutiny” as the public became more aware of the horrors of gender medicine, the lawsuit describes.
However, despite the public-facing closure of the gender clinic, healthcare providers continued to provide sex-rejecting procedures to children through the Adolescent and Young Adult clinics at Children’s and the Department of Pediatric Gynecology.
“Most patients continued to see the same providers at the same locations, and the partnership between UT Southwestern and Children’s remained essentially the same,” states the lawsuit.
Both the GENECIS and Adolescent and Young Adult clinics were “overseen by overlapping department chairs at UT Southwestern,” which included the Department of Pediatrics chair, Dr. Jorge Bezerra, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology chair, Dr. Perrin White, and the Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics chair, Dr. Richard Adams, the lawsuit describes.
When SB-14 went into effect, Dr. Jarin and two former GENECIS clinic doctors, Dr. Brett Cooper and Dr. Mary Lau, met with UT Southwestern leadership, including Bezerra, White, and Adams, to “discuss the implication of SB-14 for both institutions,” according to the lawsuit.
Dr. Jarin was primarily tasked, alongside White, Lau, and Cooper, with creating a “wean protocol&#8221; that allowed patients to wean off of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in compliance with SB-14 over a “medically appropriate” period of time, according to the lawsuit.  Patients who attended mental health sessions and were prescribed the medications before June 1, 2023, were eligible for the “wean protocol.”
Paxton claims this protocol was an attempt to subvert compliance with SB-14 and “justify the continued, illegal prescription of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to children,” in the lawsuit.
The “wean protocol” decreased the dosing of sex-rejecting hormones at such a low rate that it would take “2 to 5 years to wean completely off,” allowing children to maintain the feminizing or masculinizing effects of the drugs until age 18, when they could legally return to their “pre-SB-14 dosage,” according to the lawsuit.
Furthermore, if patients met either of two “exception” criteria, they were permitted to discontinue weaning altogether.
The protocol required patients to maintain the reproductive hormone levels of the opposite sex “in perpetuity,” claiming this was necessary to protect their bone health.
If patients failed to maintain these artificially high hormone levels, which are the intended result of cross-sex hormone therapy, they were granted an &#8220;exception&#8221; from weaning off of the outlawed drugs, according to the lawsuit.
Paxton said “there was no legitimate medical basis for their recommendation regarding bone health,” and the protocol was “always a pretext for patients to continue illegal cross-sex hormones,&#8221; as stated in the lawsuit.
&#8220;There is no evidence to justify maintaining these hormone levels over prolonged periods of time. The vast medical literature on this topic shows that these hormonal treatments did not produce the desired effect of improving psychological well-being,” <a href="https://donoharmmedicine.org/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpm&amp;utm_campaign=gg&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=20707841002&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAo-mml0lKhEjcTG1qPvNZ-1InzHPM&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAhtvMBhDBARIsAL26pjGko9yt7rnE12NZnMRYmHQmENC5qfv_zJoBEEi7b_Tigf_gGa9qfHEaAu4wEALw_wcB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Do No Harm</a> chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb told The Daily Wire. “Moreover, they are involved with all of the unfortunate side effects, including the potential for sterility as well as a number of genital problems associated with prolonged exposure to contra-sex hormones.&#8221;
Patients were also granted an exception from weaning off cross-sex hormones if their mental health team failed to document their “mental health stability at least every six months,” according to the lawsuit.
The same initial intake criteria used by UT Southwestern and Children’s to begin medicalizing gender confused children was used to continue cross-sex hormone therapy under the wean protocol, according to the lawsuit.
The 75-page lawsuit outlined multiple allegations of billing fraud and the subversion of SB-14, providing examples from multiple patients.
In the lawsuit, Texas claims both defendants violated the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act and the Texas Business &amp; Commerce Code. It also claims Dr. Jarin “knowingly” violated SB-14 “with respect to at least twelve minor patients.”
“Jarin and Children’s conspired to subvert compliance with SB-14 and to receive reimbursement for gender interventions in violation of State law. Defendants conspired to violate SB-14 and therefore receive reimbursement from Texas Medicaid in violation of State law and regulation,” states the lawsuit.
The federal government has not stated an intention to get involved in the Texas situation, but allegations of Medicaid fraud could draw interest from the Department of Justice.
UT Southwestern Medical Center did not immediately respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.

Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Says Radical Doctor Broke The Law To Give Minors Sex-Rejection Interventions

Texas

Transgender

The Trump administration arrested an illegal immigrant who pretended to be a United States citizen to become a corrections officer in Minnesota.
The alleged &#8220;serial immigration fraudster,&#8221; 45-year-old Morris Brown of Liberia, was captured on January 15 after going AWOL from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/serial-immigration-fraudster-working-as-a-minnesota-corrections-officer-arrested" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Federal authorities said the &#8220;serial fraudster was identified as part of the major enforcement operation that targeted suspected immigration fraud in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area last fall,&#8221; and had &#8220;multiple violations of U.S. immigration law, including overstaying his student visa and making false claims to U.S. citizenship.&#8221;
While the Trump administration recently ended its massive immigration sweeps in Minnesota, dubbed &#8220;Operation Metro Surge,&#8221; officials have made clear that they will not pull federal officers investigating fraud from the North Star State.
“Operation Twin Shield continues to deliver results as the Department of Homeland Security relentlessly pursues those who seek to cheat our immigration system,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement Wednesday.
“This alien tried every trick in the book to remain in the United States after losing legal status. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure he faces justice for his many violations of the law,&#8221; Edlow added.
Brown came into the country in 2014 on a student visa that was &#8220;terminated&#8221; in 2015 after he failed to enroll &#8220;in a full course of study,&#8221; USCIS said.
He also joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2014, despite having no legal immigration status, and went AWOL the next year. He was later apprehended and discharged under other than honorable conditions in 2022.
He applied for a green card under the Liberian Refugee Fairness program in 2020, but was ultimately denied &#8220;due to misrepresentations, including his failure to disclose prior military service and his false claim to U.S. citizenship,&#8221; according to USCIS.
Brown then applied for citizenship &#8220;based on prior military service&#8221; in 2024.
Federal investigators probing allegations of fraud in the Twin Cities looked into Brown&#8217;s citizenship application, finding &#8220;evidence of marriage fraud and prior instances where he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen in official documents,&#8221; USCIS said.
It was also discovered that he was employed as a corrections officer with the state.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections confirmed that Brown was employed from May 2023 to October 2025, saying that they&#8217;ve provided his employment documents to USCIS, <a href="https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/uscis-former-minnesota-corrections-officer-arrested-in-operation-targeting-immigration-fraud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to local news outlet KSTP.
The department claimed to have adhered to federal document verification requirements when it hired Brown, the outlet reported.
“If these federal allegations are accurate, this individual engaged in sophisticated efforts to misrepresent their identity, extending well beyond Minnesota. We are grateful to USCIS and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] for their work in investigating and addressing immigration fraud,” Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said. “We will continue to comply with federal law and work professionally with our federal partners.”
USCIS notified ICE of its findings, resulting in Brown being placed into removal proceedings and facing possible prosecution for his alleged fraud offenses.
Since the Trump administration commenced its mass deportation campaign, federal authorities have discovered several other instances of illegal immigrants working as law enforcement officers.
In early February, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-orleans-police-recruit-turns-out-to-be-illegal-immigrant-fraudster">ICE revealed</a> that officers had arrested an illegal immigrant from Cameroon who was just one week away from graduating from the New Orleans Police Department academy.
In October, federal authorities nabbed Radule Bojovic, an illegal immigrant from Montenegro, who was employed as a police officer with the Hanover Police Department in Illinois.
A judge later granted Bojovic a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-releases-illegal-immigrant-cop-from-ice-custody" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$2,500 immigration bond</a>, and the police department has since allowed him to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-cop-previously-nabbed-by-ice-returns-to-work-for-illinois-police-department" target="_blank" rel="noopener">return</a> to work.

Federal Agents Descend On Minneapolis For Immigration Enforcement Operations

‘Serial Fraudster’: Feds Nab Minnesota Corrections Officer Who Lied About U.S. Citizenship

Feds Capture Illegal Immigrant Who Became Minnesota Cop, Went AWOL From National Guard After Lying A

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that multiple Chinese nationals and American citizens had been charged with carrying out a marriage fraud scheme targeting members of the U.S. military. 
The scheme involved recruiters paying Americans tens of thousands of dollars to enter into “sham” marriages with Chinese nationals for immigration purposes, according to the Justice Department. In one instance, investigators said that a female member of the Navy married and met a Chinese national on the same day at a wedding service in Las Vegas. 
The charged individuals were Anny Chen, Sha Xie (China), Linlin Wang (China), Jiawei Chen (China), Yafeng Deng, Hailing Feng, Kiah Holly, Xionghu Fang (China), Tao Fan (China), Jaden Bullion, and Kin Man Cheok (China). None of the defendants, except Bullion, had lawyers listed to represent them. They could not immediately be reached for comment. 
The indictment was unsealed on Tuesday and said that conspirators “preferred to recruit U.S. citizens who were members of the U.S. armed forces to join the conspiracy and marry Chinese nationals.” 
The entire conspiracy stretched from March 2024 to February 2025 and took place in Florida, New York, and Nevada, according to the indictment. In general, a recruiter would promise to pay an American $10,000 to marry a Chinese national, $20,000 after a valid ID was issued to the Chinese national, and another $5,000 after they divorced. 
The eleven named in the indictment are alleged to have worked with Raymond Zumba (former Navy reservist), Brinio Urena (former Navy recruiter), Jacinth Bailey (Navy), and Morgan Chambers (Navy). Lawyers for Bailey and Chambers declined to comment. 
In July, Zumba <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/naval-reservist-pleads-guilty-paying-bribe-obtain-department-defense-identification">pleaded guilty</a> to attempting to bribe the spouse of an individual working in the personnel office of the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. Zumba hoped to obtain ID cards in exchange for cash. 
In March 2024, investigators said that Anny Chen and another conspirator recruited Zumba to marry Sha Xie, a Chinese national. The marriage took place in Brooklyn in April of that year, and wedding photos were taken to perpetuate the scheme, according to the indictment. Zumba allegedly received $10,000 from Chen for the marriage. 
Zumba was then accused of recruiting Urena in May 2024 to “enter into a sham marriage with a Chinese national in exchange for a cash payment.” 
In another example of the conspiracy, the Justice Department said that Chambers met and married Jiawei Chen in Las Vegas on October 4, 2024, according to the indictment. She was allegedly paid $10,000 in a restaurant restroom by Chen for the marriage.
The others were alleged to have engaged in similar activities and messaged about plans to participate in the scheme.

U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Visits Shanghai

Marriage Scam Exposed: DOJ Busts Chinese Scheme Targeting U.S. Military

China

Department of Justice

Military

U.S. Military

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced Thursday morning that she is running for governor of Minnesota in hopes of becoming Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s successor.
Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, opted not to seek a third term after being embroiled in Medicaid fraud scandals in the state, which have garnered national attention.
“Minnesota, we’ve been through a lot,” she said in her campaign launch video opening her remarks, highlighting the recent tensions with federal immigration authorities as well as the June 2025 murders of two high-profile Democratic state lawmakers.
“I’m asking Democrats, independents, and Republicans to join our campaign – it is a homegrown one born in a moment like no other. It is for people who believe in something bigger than ourselves,” the senator, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, continued.
Assuming Klobuchar clinches the Democratic nomination, she could face a general election contest against Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth or MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, both of whom are seeking the Republican nomination.
The <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/governor-race-ratings">Cook Political Report</a> ranks the race as “Likely Democrat.” A Klobuchar victory would also create a vacancy in Minnesota&#8217;s U.S. Senate delegation, allowing her to appoint an interim replacement until a special election is held. Klobuchar was re-elected to the Senate in 2024 with more than 56% of the vote, defeating Republican Royce White, a former NBA player.
There’s already a closely watched Senate race in the state with the retirement of Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, as Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan are in a heated Democratic primary, and former sports reporter Michele Tafoya and White are seeking the Republican nomination. The contest is currently ranked “Likely Democrat,” but it’s caught the attention of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is backing Tafoya.
The electoral fireworks come at a serious moment for the state. Border czar Tom Homan has taken charge of Operation Metro Surge following the controversial fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents. The surge has led to widespread arrests of illegal immigrants and sparked protests, legal challenges, and sharp criticism from state and local officials who are calling for the federal presence to be scaled back.
Democratic leaders, such as Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Walz, have been at odds with the Trump administration over how to tackle immigration enforcement in the state.

Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate In Charleston Ahead Of SC Primary

Amy Klobuchar Jumps Into Governor’s Race As Minnesota Remains Under Federal Scrutiny

Amy Klobuchar

Congress

Senate

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ended his campaign for re-election, a stunning reversal and likely the end of the political career of a man who many pundits projected would be the Democratic nominee for president as early as 2028.
But if a once-popular governor can be toppled by widespread welfare fraud, where does that leave other Democratic presidential hopefuls?
The revelations of staggering levels of fraud in Minnesota — and Walz’s preemptive exit from the big stage — should send a chill down the spines of Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, and JB Pritzker, who are likely sitting on powder kegs of fraud themselves. What are the odds that Tim Walz is an outlier among blue-state governors with the exact same political philosophy and ideology? Unlikely.
Federal prosecutors allege more than <a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/12/18/u-s-attorney-fraud-likely-exceeds-9-billion-in-minnesota-run-medicaid-services/">$9 billion</a> in Minnesota Medicaid dollars were stolen by scammers primarily from the state’s Somali community, an enormous sum, equivalent to roughly three-quarters of <a href="https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Somalia-GDP-2024-release-text-v3-2025.pdf">Somalia’s GDP</a>. Investigations are ongoing, and the real total loss may be even higher.
Welfare programs are an enormous money pot that inevitably attracts scammers. And the bigger the pot, the bigger the potential payoff for thieves. With state budgets the size of those in California, Illinois, and New York, not to mention Democrats’ general posture toward welfare expansion, it would be truly shocking if there were less fraud in those larger states.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requested data from the states on who is receiving food stamps early last year, including identifying information like Social Security numbers and, importantly, immigration status. The Trump administration has previously discovered that more than one million people were illegally receiving <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/cms-doge-identify-wasteful-duplicate-medicaid-enrollments.html">Medicaid in multiple states</a> — and it’s likely the same with food stamps and SNAP benefits. Individual states are not able to detect this kind of fraud: only the federal government can find it by comparing recipients across the states.
But Democrats have refused to help the Trump administration find fraud. In fact, <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-sues-trump-administration-over-illegal-demands-states">in July</a>, 22 blue states sued to block the Trump administration from requiring the data. Democrats want the federal government to pay for food stamps without knowing who is receiving them.
Tim Walz and the other 21 governors have all seen the information they are currently hiding from the feds. In the absence of transparency from these elected officials, federal investigators, journalists, and citizens of goodwill all need to keep digging until the American people get the truth and law enforcement can bring fraudsters to justice.
Food stamp fraud is a known fact. According to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), more than <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107753.pdf">$10 billion</a> in the food stamp program is wasted every year — <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/key-statistics-and-research">more than 10%</a> of the program. Some blue states have even higher error rates: Massachusetts and D.C. overpay by an average of more than <a href="https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-fy24QC-PER.pdf">13%</a> — and New York and New Jersey aren’t far behind at more than 12%. That means that one out of every eight dollars in these states is wasted — and this is just the waste, fraud, and abuse that we know about.
Nearly <a href="https://thefga.org/research/categorical-eligibility-in-food-stamps-is-fraud-by-design/">every Democrat-run state</a> in America also uses an accounting gimmick called Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility, or BBCE, to hide its own erroneous payments from the federal government. BBCE means that if someone receives a non-monetary TANF benefit, like a brochure or the number to a welfare agency hotline, the state assumes that they qualify for food stamps, too, without bothering to check their assets to see if they are actually eligible. The result is an explosion in the welfare state, costing taxpayers more than <a href="https://thefga.org/solution/promoting-work-over-welfare/bbce/">$11 billion per year</a>, with the benefits going to people with liquid assets well above the limits set in federal law.
The good news is that, thanks to a new law signed by President Trump, states with high error rates can no longer waste federal tax dollars with impunity. States with food stamp payment error rates over <a href="https://www.sas.com/en_us/news/press-releases/2025/november/payment-integrity-food-assistance.html">six percent</a> are now legally required to start paying back a small part of the cost of the program. Left-wing Massachusetts could owe more than <a href="https://www.wwlp.com/news/massachusetts/understaffed-dta-faces-steep-snap-penalty-risks/">$250 million per year</a>. Deep-blue Maryland may be on the hook for more than <a href="https://marylandmatters.org/2025/12/03/maryland-may-face-more-than-300-million-in-new-snap-costs-due-to-high-payment-error/">$300 million</a>. This is a great first step, and not only will it help repay federal taxpayers, but it will also encourage states to finally get their act together and stop wasting money.
As the old story goes, criminals rob banks “because that’s where the money is.” And there are no bigger pots of money than the federal treasury and the bloated budgets of blue states. Attorney General Bondi and investigators across the country are beginning to look at where the real money is — and the fallout could bring down the entire top-tier slate of 2028 Democratic presidential nominees.
* * *
Adam Gibbs is the communications director for the Foundation for Government Accountability.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Opening Day Of World Economic Forum (WEF) 2026

Welfare Fraud Threatens Top-Tier Democratic Presidential Nominees Ahead Of 2028

Welfare Fraud Threatens Top-Tier Democratic Presidential Nominees Ahead of 2028

2028 presidential election

Democrats

Elections

Gavin Newsom

J.B. Pritzker

Josh Shapiro

Minneapolis

Somalis

Minnesota’s decline did not occur overnight. It was engineered, year after year, under the failed leadership of Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Democrats. Ideology replaced oversight, political narratives replaced accountability, and “compassion” became an excuse for corruption.
In 2009, Forbes magazine named Minneapolis the safest city in America. Today, however, our state is a shell of itself, no longer known for clean government or competent leadership. It is now known for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bessent-blasts-coward-tim-walz-for-withholding-security-amid-fraud-probe-anti-ice-protests">fraud and abuse.</a>
Across the state, hundreds of childcare centers are under investigation for allegedly stealing <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/01/12/opinion/annual-600b-federal-fraud-is-killing-us-crack-down-now/">billions of taxpayer dollars</a> meant to help children. Federal auditors are demanding proof that children were even present at these make-shift daycares with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minneapolis-quality-learing-center-is-officially-closed-state-records-show?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Minneapolis+Quality+%E2%80%98Learing%E2%80%99+Center+Is+Officially+Closed%2C+State+Records+Show">misspelled names</a> and fake addresses. Minnesotans are rightly asking how such a massive scheme could operate openly for years without intervention. The answer is obvious and uncomfortable: Tim Walz and Minnesota Democrats allowed it to happen.
A recent press conference captured the rot. A daycare operator claimed that enrollment records, documents that would supposedly exonerate his organization, were conveniently stolen during a break-in. Worse yet, as he spoke about his business, he wore <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15426835/minnesota-somali-daycare-fraud-nokomis-daycare-glasses-interpreter.html">designer sunglasses</a>, valued at thousands of dollars.
This was not an isolated failure. Under Tim Walz, widespread fraud has become a recurring pattern. The <a href="https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/feeding-our-future-investigation/full-coverage-feeding-our-future-fraud-scheme/89-c288f8ca-2b8d-405f-b027-e15035bf42bf">Feeding Our Future</a> scandal exposed the laundering of federal nutrition funds, even as warning signs were ignored and whistleblowers were pushed aside. Oversight collapsed. Agencies failed. The amount of fraud in Minnesota can be tied up neatly in one sentence: Tim Walz awarded Ayan Abukar the &#8220;Outstanding Refugee Award,” and four years later, Abukar is one of thousands of Minnesotans convicted of what may be the <a href="https://knsiradio.com/2025/01/27/one-sentence-one-plea-announced-in-250-million-feeding-our-future-fraud-scheme/">largest case of fraud</a> in American history.
This only exposed the central deception of Democratic governance: the idea that fraud-ridden bureaucracies are synonymous with compassion. They are not. Real compassion demands accountability, because every dollar stolen through fraud is a dollar taken from a child who needs help.
I know what government assistance is meant to do because I grew up relying on it. I was raised by my divorced mother on welfare in Harlem and later with my father in a trailer park in Oklahoma. Nothing about my childhood promised success, and the only way out was hard work. I delivered pizzas to put myself through college. I went on to serve as an Army officer stationed in South Korea on the DMZ. Five years later, I was the first in my family to begin a business career in the private sector. My life is a living case study that the promise of America is available to everyone, regardless of race or social station — if they embrace it.
That path was only possible in the United States. But I wouldn’t have been able to do that in today’s Minnesota.
Minnesota Democrats outright reject the very principles of hard work, merit, grit, and dedication. Under their leadership, fraudsters live lavishly while working families are lectured about “equity.” Agencies distribute billions of taxpayer dollars with no verification. Democrats moralize about social justice while presiding over the largest fraud scandal in American history. And unfortunately, fraud is only one symptom of a much deeper problem.
Sadly, the same Democratic ideology that tolerated corruption has also undermined public safety in our state. Under Governor Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, Minneapolis, once one of America’s safest major cities, fell into <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/us/minneapolis-government-george-floyd.html">chaos</a>. In 2020, rioting and looting turned entire neighborhoods into war zones while Walz hesitated, excused, and justified lawlessness. We witnessed politicians excuse rioting and looting for four-days while families fled Minneapolis and trust evaporated.
Let’s be honest – it’s not any better today. The Left’s open border policies that began under Joe Biden’s administration have further strained local resources and eroded confidence in the rule of law. We’re seeing violent rioters destroy businesses, fight law enforcement, and cause chaos in our streets. Meanwhile, they are encouraged and egged on by Democrat leaders. Meanwhile, crime is out-of-control and families are scared to have dinner or see a show in Minneapolis.
As a result, businesses have left the state in droves, and we have quickly become a desert for opportunity and economic growth. Taxes continue to skyrocket, and both families and small businesses leave for safe havens. They don’t have to move far. It’s not only Florida, Tennessee, or Texas; instead, they are finding refuge in the neighboring states of Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas. From an economic perspective, nearly every economic indicator in Minnesota has been in free fall for a decade.
If this state were a publicly traded company, its leadership would have been fired and its stock dumped years ago.
Now, Tim Walz is <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/01/05/us-news/gov-tim-walz-expected-to-drop-reelection-bid-amid-minnesota-somali-fraud-probe-report/">stepping aside</a>, and Minnesota Democrats want voters to believe the damage leaves with him. The sad truth is, Walz is not the exception; he is the product of a one-party system that normalized failure. This fraud did not occur in one day. It happened over years, in plain sight, while Minnesota’s legislators from both parties voted, agencies approved payments, and oversight mechanisms failed again and again.
Let me be clear — we can’t fix the problems in St. Paul by electing another legislator from St. Paul. We need someone like me, a political outsider and a successful businessman. You don’t have to look far to see how President Trump has revitalized our economy with his business background and shook up the status quo to Make America Great Again. That’s what I want to emulate in Minnesota.
If we want to dismantle the largest fraud case in American history and restore trust in our state’s government, Minnesota needs leadership fundamentally different from what Democrats have to offer. We need someone willing to audit aggressively, prosecute decisively, and dismantle corrupt systems without fear of political backlash. We need a leader who understands that compassion without accountability is not kindness, it is betrayal. Minnesota does not need another lecture from progressives. It needs a reckoning.
This November, we have a once-in-a-generation moment to elect a leader that rejects the notion of socialism – doubles down on free market capitalism and our country’s Judeo-Christian founding principles. The future of Minnesota looks bright if we choose wisely.
* * *
Kendall Qualls is an Army veteran, business leader, and the leading Republican gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Tim Walz announces he won’t seek reelection for Minnesota governor, January 2026

Minnesota Is A Case Study In Democratic Failure. Here’s How We Fix It.

Opinion

Republicans

President Donald Trump accused Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) of having knowledge of billions of dollars in alleged fraud, saying Sunday night that she should be jailed or face &#8220;worse punishment.&#8221;
“There is 19 Billion Dollars in Minnesota Somalia Fraud. Fake ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan [sic] Omar, a constant complainer who hates the USA, knows everything there is to know. She should be in jail, or even a worse punishment, sent back to Somalia, considered one of the absolutely worst countries in the World,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “She could help to MAKE SOMALIA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump has long feuded with Omar and repeatedly called for her to return to her homeland of Somalia. During his first term, controversy erupted after a &#8220;send her back&#8221; chant broke out at a rally while he was discussing her.  
Earlier on Sunday, Trump claimed Omar and Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz supported the protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota because doing so helped distract attention from political pressure on them. 
“ICE is removing some of the most violent criminals in the World from our Country, and bring them back home, where they belong,” Trump said. “The thugs that are protesting include many highly paid professional agitators and anarchists. Is this really what Minnesota wants? The crooked Governor and ‘Congresswoman’ Omar, who married her brother, don’t mind because it keeps the focus of attention off the 18 Billion Dollar, Plus, FRAUD, that has taken place in the State! Don’t worry, we’re on it!”
Minneapolis has been the focus of anti-ICE protests since an agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman who was driving her vehicle toward him. Some of the demonstrations have turned violent, with federal officers being assaulted and federal vehicles targeted with vandalism. 
Trump has considered invoking the Insurrection Act and sending in troops if ICE agents continue to be impeded in Minnesota. Government officials <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-readies-1500-troops-for-potential-minnesota-deployment-u-s-officials-say?author=Reuters&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Pentagon+Readies+1%2C500+Troops+For+Potential+Minnesota+Deployment%2C+U.S.+Officials+Say">said</a> Sunday that they had ordered 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska to prepare for deployment to Minnesota if needed. 
The protests come at the same time federal officials have initiated numerous investigations into alleged welfare fraud schemes that have taken billions of dollars in federal funding.  
As these investigations play out, the Trump administration has frozen<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-freezes-welfare-funds-to-five-blue-states-over-fraud-concerns?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Freezes+Welfare+Funds+To+Five+Blue+States+Over+Fraud+Concerns"> funding</a> for programs that provide childcare and food assistance. This includes Department of Health and Human Services-operated programs like the Child Care Development Fund, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and the Social Services Block Grant program.

MixCollage-19-Jan-2026-07-17-AM-2737

Trump Calls For Ilhan Omar To Be ‘Jailed’ Over Fraud, Warns Of ‘Worse Punishment’

Ilhan Omar

Somalia

As the Trump administration investigates rampant welfare fraud in Democrat states, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) wants to toughen the penalties for foreign fraudsters.
Cotton introduced a <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/welfare_fraud_deterrence_and_recovery_act.pdf">bill</a> on Thursday that would set mandatory minimums for non-citizens convicted of fraud and allow for automatic deportation for those convicted of fraud. The Trump administration has launched major fraud investigations into states like California and Minnesota, where dozens of Somali migrants have been charged with crimes.
“Migrants who steal Arkansas taxpayer dollars by committing fraud shouldn’t be let off with just a slap on the wrist,” Cotton told The Daily Wire. “My bill will ensure these criminals face harsher consequences.”
Cotton’s &#8220;Welfare Fraud Deterrence and Recovery Act&#8221; would impose a two-year minimum prison sentence for non-citizens or naturalized citizens convicted of stealing federal welfare funds. If the person stole more than $100,000 worth of funds, the sentence would be no less than five years, according to a copy of the proposal shared with The Daily Wire.
Defrauding federal welfare programs would also come with immigration consequences. Foreigners who were denaturalized would be barred from reentry into the United States and foreigners convicted of fraud would be subject to expedited deportation. Cotton’s bill would also make it easier to denaturalize someone convicted of fraud.
Under the bill, a Fraud Recovery Task Force would be established by the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute fraud cases.
Cotton’s proposal comes after the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-freezes-welfare-funds-to-five-blue-states-over-fraud-concerns?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Freezes+Welfare+Funds+To+Five+Blue+States+Over+Fraud+Concerns">froze funding</a> for programs that provide childcare and food assistance in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York as officials probe whether the benefits are being illegally funneled to non-citizens. The specific programs being halted in those states are the Child Care Development Fund, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and the Social Services Block Grant program.
Last week, Vice President JD Vance announced that a new assistant attorney general position out of the Justice Department would be formed to focus on fraud in Minnesota.
“To make sure that we prosecute the bad guys and do it as swiftly and efficiently as possible … we are creating a new assistant attorney general position who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud,” Vance said at a press briefing. “Now, of course, that person’s efforts will start and focus primarily in Minnesota, but it is going to be a nationwide effort, because unfortunately, the American people have been defrauded in a very nationwide way.”

Congress Is Running Out The Clock On Any Big Moves By Year’s End

Cotton Says Foreign Fraudsters Should Face Swift Deportation As Investigations Escalate

Crime

Tom Cotton

Senator Ed Markey appears to be blocking a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud in COVID-era government programs, seemingly siding with fraudsters and against the United States government.
The House of Representatives <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4495" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> the &#8220;SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension Act&#8221; in July by voice vote, signaling overwhelming bipartisan support. The <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/SM/SM00/20250722/118539/BILLS-119HR4495ih.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two-page bill</a> simply gives more time for prosecutors to charge people who swindled two COVID bailouts, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.
The programs were so fraud-ridden, and the dollar amounts so great, that investigators and prosecutors have a large backlog. Congress already added another five years to the prosecution window for the biggest COVID programs, the Paycheck Protection Program and unemployment bailouts.
But Markey, the top Democrat on the Senate panel overseeing the Small Business Administration, which took the lead on the pandemic recovery, appears to be using his position to block passage in the upper chamber. The Senate Small Business Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), <a href="https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2025/7/ranking-member-markey-votes-out-legislation-emphasizes-need-for-tariff-relief-for-small-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved the bill</a> in July. But it has <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1199?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22s1199%22%7D&amp;s=1&amp;r=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not been</a> brought to the floor for passage.
&#8220;Senate Democrats are blocking my commonsense bill to extend the statute of limitations for COVID crimes, meaning criminals like those recently exposed in Minnesota will get away with it simply because the clock will run out,” Ernst told The Daily Wire. &#8220;It should be a no-brainer to side with taxpayers instead of fraudsters.&#8221;
The apparent blockage raises the question of whether Democrats have become the party of fraud, siding with the likes of the notorious Somali fraudsters who cost the government billions but vote for Democrats as a bloc.
The Biden administration doled out COVID billions using a &#8220;pay and chase&#8221; philosophy, meaning they erred on the side of getting money out the door, with the justification that they would claw back wrongly paid payments later. But the schemes were so numerous that they are still being uncovered, so not extending the statute of limitations amounts to simply paying scammers and not chasing at all.
John Hart, a former Senate aide who now leads the spending watchdog group Open The Books, said under Senate procedure that if a bill passes a committee and has the support of the top Republican and Democrat on that committee, it is fast-tracked for passage by the full chamber. &#8220;If the committee’s ranking member, Sen. Markey, would give the go-ahead, it could be passed by unanimous consent. That process helps uncontroversial bills succeed without extensive Senate procedures,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire.
The restaurant program cost $29 billion, and the inspector general found that recipients representing 12% of that did not even file the required paperwork. The shuttered venue program, which bailed out concert halls, cost $15 billion, more than half a billion dollars of which was identified by SBA as <a href="https://www.sba.gov/document/report-25-21-sbas-oversight-shuttered-venue-operators-grant-recipients" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potentially improper</a>. Both programs ran out of money, meaning fraudsters likely stole slots from more deserving businesses.
A spokesman for Markey — who has represented Massachusetts in Congress since 1976 — did not return a request for comment on what, if any, objection he has to the bill.
<div id="attachment_1027513" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1027513" class="size-full wp-image-1027513" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2214429130.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2214429130.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2214429130-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2214429130-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2214429130-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Ed Markey, at right (Photo by Mel Musto/Getty Images)</div>
Hart said it&#8217;s hard to see a legitimate gripe.
&#8220;This issue ought to be unanimous. It could be on President Trump’s desk today. What, exactly, is controversial about prosecuting cases of fraud? Every dollar spent this way is unavailable for Americans who truly need it,&#8221; he said.
Reducing fraud in all government programs used to be an area of bipartisan agreement, with members of the minority party joining the majority in wonky policy discussions. After all, stopping fraud means liberals would have more money for other programs, or Republicans could use the savings to lower taxes.
If the Democrats have moved from the party of big government to the pro-fraud party, one contributing factor could be identity politics. The Biden administration drew the ire of the SBA inspector general by deciding <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sba-wont-even-try-to-collect-on-ppp-loans-that-are-supposed-to-be-paid-back-citing-equity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not to even attempt to collect</a> PPP loan repayment from businesses that were not eligible to have their loans forgiven, citing &#8220;equity&#8221; as justification.
In the state of Georgia alone, two state legislators, both of them black Democrats, have been accused of <a href="https://georgiarecorder.com/briefs/a-second-georgia-house-democrat-is-accused-of-unemployment-fraud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stealing</a> from COVID bailout funds. In Virginia, a former state legislator, an Arab Democrat, was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/11/11/covid-relief-fraud-ibraheem-samirah/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> of taking fake PPP loans.
The case of an African-born <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/usaid-contracting-officer-charged-with-pandemic-bailout-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USAID employee</a> who stole PPP loans raises the question of whether the Biden administration even attempted to stop fraud. He got money on the basis that his purported company did not make as much money in 2020 as it did in 2019 due to the pandemic. But state records and federal tax returns would have shown that the company didn&#8217;t even exist.
Markey, as the top Democrat on the committee overseeing perhaps the most-defrauded government spending spree in history, is the poster child for the notion that Democrats may now simply be apathetic, or even in denial, about fraud — even as fraud in places like Minnesota reaches such heights that it could make Great Society-style programs impossible.
Last month, Hart, along with this reporter, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wires-luke-rosiak-will-testify-before-the-senate-on-massive-federal-dei-scheme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> before the Senate Small Business Committee about reducing fraud. Most Democrats on the committee didn&#8217;t bother to attend, and those who did — led by Markey — made no attempt to find ways to reduce fraud, instead suggesting that the programs at issue were not enough billions to care about, or using their time on anti-Trump tirades about topics outside of the committee&#8217;s jurisdiction.
Ernst was surprised, saying, &#8220;Individuals who used Barbie dolls as their photo identification were approved for SBA loans. This is totally unacceptable. &#8230; [Markey] said the largest amount of waste, fraud, and abuse is not in the Small Business Administration programs. &#8230; This is, however, the Small Business Committee. &#8230; Are my Democrat colleagues saying we should be ignoring billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse?&#8221;

.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA)

This Democrat Is Singlehandedly Blocking The Prosecution Of COVID Fraudsters

COVID

Ed Markey

Joni Ernst

Politics

Small Business Administration

The federal prosecutor at the center of Minnesota&#8217;s massive welfare fraud investigation resigned on Tuesday as the Trump administration ramps up its broader push to uncover additional fraud in the state.
Joseph Thompson announced his resignation in an email without providing a reason for his abrupt departure, the Minnesota Star Tribune <a href="https://www.startribune.com/joe-thompson-us-attorney-who-uncovered-massive-fraud-in-minnesota-resigns-from-office/601563206">reported</a>. Thompson was the second-in-command at the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office in Minnesota and made a name for himself as the lead prosecutor in the Feeding Our Future fraud case, which resulted in more than 50 guilty pleas and seven convictions. He was appointed by President Donald Trump last May to serve as acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota until Daniel Rosen assumed the top position in October.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to represent the United States and this office,” Thompson wrote in his email.
Two other prosecutors from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office also announced their resignations on Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Jacobs, who also prosecuted the Feeding Our Future case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda Williams will also be leaving their posts.
Thompson&#8217;s resignation comes as he is being floated as a candidate for the Justice Department&#8217;s new assistant attorney general <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vance-announces-new-assistant-attorney-general-to-crack-down-on-nationwide-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">position</a>, which will focus on combating fraud. The new role was announced by Vice President JD Vance last week, and Vance said that the position&#8217;s &#8220;efforts will start and focus primarily in Minnesota.&#8221;
It&#8217;s unclear if Thompson&#8217;s resignation is related to his potential candidacy for the new DOJ position. The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/us/3-prosecutors-quit-after-push-to-investigate-ice-shooting-victims-widow.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share">reported</a> that &#8220;people with knowledge&#8221; of the situation said Thompson&#8217;s resignation is over disagreements with the Justice Department&#8217;s push to investigate the wife of Renee Good, the Minneapolis woman fatally shot by a federal agent last week. Thompson opposed the Justice Department&#8217;s strategy as well as its decision to shut out state authorities from the shooting investigation, according to the Times.
The Justice Department did not say whether Thompson&#8217;s resignation was related to the shooting investigation. A DOJ official told The Daily, “As with any officer-involved shooting, each law enforcement agency has an internal investigation protocol, including DHS. As such, ICE [Office of Professional Responsibility] has its own investigation underway. This runs parallel to any FBI investigation.&#8221;
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O&#8217;Hara argued that the timing of Thompson&#8217;s resignation raises questions about the Trump administration&#8217;s justification for surging federal law enforcement and immigration agents in Minnesota.
“When you lose the leader responsible for making the fraud cases, it tells you this [immigration enforcement] isn’t really about prosecuting fraud,” O’Hara said.
Thompson&#8217;s work uncovering the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scheme threw Minnesota into the spotlight before more allegations of fraud involving Minneapolis&#8217;s large Somali population got the attention of the White House. Most of those implicated in the Feeding Our Future fraud case were of Somali descent, and now, the Trump administration is looking into claims of fraud being committed at Somali-run businesses and daycares, while swaths of immigration enforcement agents have been deployed to the Twin Cities.

Joe Thompson

U.S. Attorney Who Led Prosecution Of Sprawling Minnesota Fraud Ring Abruptly Resigns

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