Dem lawmaker moves to conceal WA state daycare provider info amid Somali fraud allegations

As independent journalists continue digging into alleged fraud inside Washington’s daycare subsidy system, Democratic State Senator Lisa Wellman has pre-filed legislation that critics say could make it significantly harder for the public to verify whether taxpayer-funded childcare operations even exist.

The proposal, Senate Bill 5926, was pre-filed on December 22 and expands public records exemptions for childcare providers, shielding a broad range of identifying information from disclosure. Supporters frame the measure as a safety tool designed to protect providers from harassment or threats. Opponents argue it is arriving just as journalists are using public data to uncover suspicious daycare listings tied to large sums of taxpayer funding.

SB 5926 comes as independent journalists, inspired by Nick Shirley’s exposure of daycare fraud in Minnesota, have been scouring government websites to find similar fraud across the US. Additionally, Wellman was one of the primary sponsors of the Keep Washington Working Act, the bill that made Washington a so-called “sanctuary state,” and critics of the bill suggest her new legislation is an attempt to shield illegal immigrants from federal authorities.

In the bill’s legislative findings, lawmakers acknowledge that existing confidentiality provisions apply most clearly to licensed family home childcare providers but argue that the same risks now extend to childcare workers in centers and other settings. The bill seeks to widen protections statewide by restricting the disclosure of “personal information” for anyone licensed or certified by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to provide childcare.

Under the legislation, exempt information would include a wide range of details that could identify a provider or location, such as a person’s name, home address, GPS coordinates, personal phone number, personal email address, date of birth, emergency contact information, and other personally identifying information. It also covers sensitive identifiers like Social Security and taxpayer identification numbers, driver’s license numbers, and financial information such as bank account and direct deposit details. The bill does not limit these protections to home daycare operators; instead, it extends them to licensed family home providers, licensed childcare centers, school-age or out-of-school-time programs, and essentially any location licensed or certified through DCYF.

The bill contains language specifying that certain program-level information must remain public, such as business addresses, program capacity, licensing status, inspection results, and public safety findings required by state or federal law. Yet critics say this limitation provides little comfort, because the current dispute centers on whether state records and publicly available listings are reliable enough to begin with. Watchdogs argue that if the government database contains discrepancies, missing location details, or inconsistent licensing information, the only way for journalists and taxpayers to validate the entries is through independent verification, and restricting identifying information could make those efforts far more difficult.

The bill is also landing amid an intensifying political confrontation between Washington officials and independent journalists who say they are uncovering early warning signs of a subsidy scandal similar to one previously exposed in Minnesota. This week, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown issued a warning aimed squarely at independent journalists, accusing them of harassing daycare providers and engaging in unsafe conduct. Brown said his office had received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being “harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking.” He said his office is coordinating with DCYF to evaluate the fraud claims circulating online as well as the reported harassment, and urged anyone contacted by journalists to contact local law enforcement or report incidents to state hotlines and reporting websites.

Keep reading

Newsom’s Massive Fraud Scandal No One Is Talking About

Everybody’s buzzing about that Minnesota Medicaid mess with Gov. Tim Walz. Some are even calling it the largest fraud scandal ever. If only.

Blue-state fraud is undoubtedly a problem, and Walz should be held accountable if he did indeed look the other way. But what happened in the land of 10,000 lakes is tiny compared to the fraud in California under Gavin Newsom.

Heck, it makes Minnesota look like pocket change.

A fresh 92-page bombshell from the California State Auditor lays it all out.

“This latest report was issued by the state auditor, and that’s a nonpartisan position; that state auditor now puts eight state agencies on the high-risk list of agencies to watch out for, for things like fraud and mismanagement as well as waste,” Newsmax correspondent Heather Myers revealed last week.

“Here’s a look at that 92-page report. Newly added to the high-risk list is California’s food stamp program. If the state doesn’t get the improper payments under control, it could cost an extra $2.5 billion. Also on there is the Department of Finance, which was tasked with giving out COVID relief funds. Critics say $32 billion of that was taken by fraudsters. Then there are infrastructure issues like California’s deteriorating dams, and also the high-speed train that’s already cost taxpayers 18 billion without a single section of track complete.”

But wait, there’s more!

Other reports cite $24 billion spent on the homeless issue that critics claim the state lost track of. More recently, there’s a report that says California cell phone users paid a surcharge for years to upgrade the state’s 911 system,” she added.

Tallied all up, California taxpayers lost $70 billion to fraud.

But here’s where things get really interesting. While pressure is on in Minnesota to get to the bottom of the state’s fraud, California seems to be under the radar.

Now get this. Right in the middle of the fraud apocalypse, a new ballot initiative seeks to impose a one-time 10% wealth tax on billionaires’ assets.

Keep reading

The DOJ is flaunting the law on the Epstein Files. Why isn’t Pam Bondi in handcuffs?

Congress’s newly minted Epstein Files Transparency Act—a bipartisan law co‑authored by Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna—was supposed to leave no room for discretion. It required Attorney General Pam Bondi, who serves President Donald Trump, to release all unclassified Justice Department records related to Jeffrey Epstein within thirty days. Trump signed the bill, but his Justice Department blew the deadline and produced only a small fraction of the documents, many of which were blacked out. The co‑authors have responded by drafting impeachment articles and exploring inherent contempt. Their outrage raises a broader question: why can the executive branch ignore the law with impunity, and why does this seem to happen over and over again?

The impetus for the transparency law lies in the horrific pattern of abuse that Epstein orchestrated for decades and the government’s failure to stop it. Even after survivor Maria Farmer told the FBI in September 1996 that Epstein was involved in child sex abuse, officials did nothing. The latest document release confirms that the bureau was tipped off a decade before his first arrest. Many of the new documents show that Epstein’s scheme went far beyond one man; the files include photographs of former presidents, rock stars, and royalty, and testimony from victims as young as fourteen. Campaigners say the heavy redactions and missing files—at least sixteen documents disappeared from the Justice Department website, including a photo of Donald Trump—betray the law’s intent. The omissions have fueled suspicions that the department is selectively protecting powerful clients rather than victims.

A law that leaves little wiggle room

In addition to the redactions, entire files vanished after the department’s release. Al Jazeera reported that at least sixteen documents disappeared from the Justice Department website soon after they were posted, including a photograph of Trump. Survivors expressed frustration: Maria Farmer said she feels redeemed by the disclosure yet weeps for victims the FBI failed to protect, and critics argue the department is still shielding influential individuals. The missing files underscore that Bondi’s partial compliance is not just tardy but potentially dishonest; the law obligates her to release names of government officials and corporate entities tied to Epstein, and removing those names is itself a violation.

The statute instructs the attorney general to release all unclassified Justice Department records about Epstein within thirty days. This covers everything from flight logs, travel records, names of individuals and corporate entities linked to his trafficking network, to internal communications about prosecutorial decisions and any destruction of evidence. It prohibits withholding information to avoid embarrassment, and allows redactions only to protect victims’ privacy, to exclude child sexual abuse imagery, or to safeguard truly classified national security information. Even then, the attorney general must declassify as much as possible and justify each redaction to Congress. These provisions make the statute stricter than a typical subpoena and leave little room for discretion.

Keep reading

False refugee study used by Dems to justify open borders — and massive spending

Even as massive fraud schemes are uncovered in Minnesota, orchestrated primarily by Somali refugees, Democrats are circling the wagons.

Refugees and asylum seekers provide a substantial net benefit to the United States, they claim, generating more wealth than they take from the government.

But that talking point is based on a federal study that was rejected in 2017 by the first Trump administration as methodologically unsound and preposterous in its conclusions. The study was resurrected and expanded by the Biden administration in 2024.

Today, 73% of Somali households have at least one member enrolled in Medicaid, and 89% of Somali families with children participate in at least one welfare program.

These realities stand in stark contrast to the glowing conclusions of the Biden report, which claims refugees and asylees add a net $8.25 billion annually to federal coffers.

Keep reading

Trump Administration SUES Virginia for Giving Illegal Aliens In-State Tuition While American Taxpayers Foot the Bill

The Trump administration has launched a sweeping federal lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia, accusing state leaders of openly defying federal immigration law by granting illegal aliens discounted in-state college tuition while forcing American citizens from other states to pay dramatically higher rates.

In a civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Department of Justice argues that Virginia’s tuition scheme blatantly violates federal law and must be permanently shut down.

The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to block the enforcement of Virginia statutes that classify illegal aliens as state “residents” for tuition and financial aid purposes.

At the center of the case is a law passed in 2021 and effective since 2022, which allows illegal alien students who meet specific residency and high school graduation criteria in Virginia to pay in-state tuition regardless of their immigration status. They can also qualify for state financial aid.

Meanwhile, American citizens from neighboring states—or even military families temporarily stationed elsewhere—are forced to pay out-of-state tuition rates that can be tens of thousands of dollars higher.

The DOJ complaint states plainly that Virginia’s policy gives preferential treatment to illegal aliens over U.S. citizens, calling the practice “squarely prohibited and preempted by federal law.”

“In direct conflict with federal law, Virginia law permits an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States to qualify for reduced in-state rates and state-administered financial assistance based on residence within the state but does not make United States citizens eligible for such benefits without regard to whether the United States citizens are Virginia residents,” the lawsuit reads.

Keep reading

Trump Claims Israel Is Complying With Gaza Deal ‘100%’ Despite Constant IDF Ceasefire Violations

During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Monday, President Trump claimed Israel was holding up its end of the Gaza ceasefire deal “100%” despite constant IDF attacks on Palestinians in the Strip and other Israeli violations.

Since the deal went into effect on October 10, the Israeli military has killed at least 414 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The IDF has continued demolitions and has expanded the so-called “yellow line,” the vague boundary that separates the IDF-occupied side of Gaza and the Hamas-controlled side. Israel has also maintained restrictions on aid and shelter materials entering Gaza.

When asked by a reporter at Mar-a-Lago if he was concerned that Israel wasn’t moving quickly enough into “phase two” of the plan, Trump said he was “not concerned about anything Israel is doing” and that Israel has “lived up to the plan 100%.”

Trump also appeared to issue an ultimatum to Hamas during the press conference, saying that if the group doesn’t disarm within a certain amount of time, there will be “hell to pay” and that it will be “horrible for them.”

The president said that Hamas has already agreed to disarm, but the group has been consistent in its position that it won’t give up its weapons unless a Palestinian state is established, or if progress is made in that direction. Trump’s 20-point peace plan said that Gaza would be “demilitarized,” but Hamas only agreed to use the plan as a basis for negotiations.

So far, the only deal Israel and Hamas have signed outlined a ceasefire and the exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinians held in Israeli jails. “Our people are defending themselves and will not give up their weapons as long as the occupation remains,” the new spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said on Monday.

Trump also claimed during the press conference that the US and Israel are helping the “people of Gaza” even though both countries are not allowing reconstruction to take place, as civilians are living in flimsy tents and the rubble of bombed-out buildings amid harsh winter storms. In recent weeks, at least 20 people in Gaza have died due to the weather.

Keep reading

Biden Housing Scandal EXPLODES: HUD Report Reveals Over $5 Billion in Questionable Rental Aid, Including Payments to Dead People and Non-Citizens

A bombshell federal report has blown the lid off yet another massive Biden-era taxpayer scandal — this time inside the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

According to HUD’s own Fiscal Year 2025 Agency Financial Report, more than $5 billion in rental assistance payments during the final year of the Biden regime were flagged as “questionable” or improper, exposing systemic failures, nonexistent oversight, and breathtaking incompetence at the federal level.

Among the most jaw-dropping revelations: tens of thousands of payments were made to people who were already DEAD, and thousands more went to recipients who may not have even been eligible to receive taxpayer-funded housing assistance at all, the New York Post first reported.

Buried in the HUD report is a stunning admission that federal systems failed to stop payments to 30,054 deceased individuals who were either still listed as active tenants or continued receiving rental assistance after their deaths.

HUD officials acknowledged that only after cross-checking Treasury databases did they finally identify the scope of the problem — meaning for years, taxpayers were unknowingly footing the bill for people who no longer exist.

“[Over] 30,000 dead people receiving housing isn’t an accident — it was systematic fraud by Biden and the left. HUD will hold those who defrauded the American taxpayers accountable,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner wrote on X.

Keep reading

Jennings: “Until Somebody In POWER Goes To JAIL,” Blue State Fraud Won’t Stop

In a heated CNN clash, conservative commentator Scott Jennings called out the lack of real accountability in Democrat-run states, demanding elected officials face consequences for enabling billion-dollar scams.

Jennings addressed the rot in blue states where massive fraud schemes have flourished under lax oversight. Facing pushback from host Abby Phillip, Jennings insisted that prosecuting small-time operators isn’t enough—real change demands jailing those at the top who allowed it all to happen.

The discussion centred on the sprawling welfare fraud in Minnesota, but Jennings expanded it to a nationwide indictment of blue state governance. When Phillip defended ongoing probes, saying, “This idea that nothing is being done, that no one is being held accountable, that this was just left to run rampant, is completely false,” Jennings countered sharply.

Keep reading

Luxury cars and private villas: See how Minnesota fraudsters spent millions intended for hungry kids

Luxury cars, private villas and overseas wire transfers: CBS News obtained dozens of files and photos that reveal how Minnesota fraudsters blew through hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars as part of one of the biggest COVID-era fraud schemes.

The files document a spending spree in which defendants, many of Somali descent, took taxpayer money meant to feed hungry children and used it to buy cars, property and jewelry. Videos show them popping champagne at an opulent Maldives resort. In a text message, one defendant boasts: “You are gonna be the richest 25 year old InshaAllah [God willing].”

The documents feature exhibits from a recent federal trial, many of which are being made public by CBS News for the first time. The exhibits include:

  • A confirmation email for a stay in an overwater villa with a private pool at Radisson Blu Resort Maldives
  • Lakefront property in Minnesota
  • Receipts showing wire transfers to China and East Africa
  • First class tickets to Istanbul and Amsterdam
  • A 2021 Porsche Macan
  • Stacks of cash, texted between defendants

At the sentencing of a defendant who used taxpayer funds for cars and the Maldives vacation, 24-year-old Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel admonished him, saying: “Where others saw a crisis and rushed to help, you saw money and rushed to steal.” He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $48 million in restitution for his role in the fraud scheme.

Nur is one of dozens who siphoned hundreds of millions in stolen taxpayer funds — with questions still swirling about where all the money went. The crime has drawn renewed attention in recent weeks: House Republicans last week launched a probe into Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the cases, and the Treasury Department said it will investigate whether money made its way to al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab, which is based in Somalia. 

Keep reading

They Always Threaten Violence

I assume that liberals hear these statements differently than I do, but I also assume that it is because they are conditioned to believe that anybody they don’t like is a violent white supremacist bent on colonialist genocide. 

After all, in the moments after Charlie Kirk was shot, vast numbers of people blamed Kirk for being a divisive figure, and many were glad he died. 

But when I see politicians and commentators, or even reporters, speculating about escalating violence and defending rioting as peaceful First Amendment activity, I hear what I believe they are really saying: stop opposing us, or we will get you. 

What do “Stand Your Ground” laws have to do with YouTubers showing up at daycare centers? Stand your ground laws merely say you don’t have a duty to retreat when you are attacked, and no YouTuber or reporter is threatening anybody with anything except exposure. 

Keep reading