Tag: taxes

NY Times Editorial Board Member Has Possibly the Dumbest Take of All on Somali Fraud in Minnesota

Mara Gay of the New York Times is a special kind of stupid. Whenever she is brought on to cable news to comment on an issue, you know you’re in for a hot take.

In this case, she was on Morning Joe, offering her opinion on the Somali fraud scandal that is still unfolding in Minnesota.

She suggested that this was the result of the ‘weaponization’ of government, which doesn’t even make any sense.

Transcript via Real Clear Politics:

JONATHAN LEMIRE: And, Mara, this is a story that’s really gained a lot of traction among conservative media members, among MAGA folks online, including members of the Trump administration. Vice President JD Vance was posting about it the other day. There’s a lot we don’t know here just yet, but it does give off at least a sense—and we’ll see where the facts take us—but at least we can safely say this: it seems like Republicans are eager to be talking about something else amid a lot of the bad news surrounding the president right now.

MARA GAY, NEW YORK TIMES COLUMNIST: Right. Well, sure. These were funds that were meant to help feed hungry people during the COVID pandemic, to help keep people in their homes who were at risk of homelessness. So, first of all, if there is fraud there, that should be fully investigated—no matter where it is, whether it’s in a Democratic-led state or a Republican-led state. Absolutely, it should be investigated.

The question is, why is this a priority in a different kind of way? The politicization of the DOJ and the FBI is undeniable. So whether they are reliable narrators is the big question. This is what happens when you weaponize and politicize federal agencies that are not meant to be politicized.

I think the American people are right to ask the question: can we trust you? And that’s a sad thing to say as an American.

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New Report Appears to Confirm Covenant School Shooter Audrey Hale Bought Guns With Student Loan Money

If you needed another reason to dislike student loan programs, you’re in luck.

The FBI has just released more pages from the manifesto of Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale, which suggest that she bought the guns used in the 2023 shooting with money she had from a Pell Grant.

Hale’s parents suggested this two years ago and this report appears to confirm that.

The Tennessee Star reports:

Latest FBI Release of Covenant School Manifesto Files Appears to Confirm Trans-Identified Killer Bought Guns with Pell Grant Money

The FBI on Monday released another 230 manifesto pages written by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological female who identified as a transgender man on March 27, 2023, when the 28-year-old killed six at the Covenant School in Nashville, the Christian elementary school she once attended.

This latest journal appears to have been written sometime in late 2021, and includes lengthy sections about the weapons the killer planned to use to commit a mass shooting at a school sometime that year.

Following multiple pages full of weapons to purchase, the journal includes a page labeled “Account Savings Record,” which appears to reference the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). It also records multiple payments received from Nossi during the period when Hale attended the Nossi College of Art and Design in Nashville.

“FASFA [sic] grant checks started at $2,050.86,” wrote Hale at the top of the entry.

The page then lists a series of apparent ledger entries, starting with, “$2,656.87 (x3 checks from Nossi).” The next ledger entry states, “+$530.00 (x1 check Nossi) ($3,186.87).”

This reference to Hale’s federal student aid, located in the writings next to her entries about guns she considered buying, appears to corroborate the claims made by her parents to Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) detectives in 2023, when they told law enforcement their child purchased the firearms using federal Pell Grant money.

She apparently hated religion too, but that seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?

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Bombshell Resurfaced Video Shows Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Admitting He Knew About Somali Fraud Scandal But Failed to Keep Taxpayers Informed

Earlier this month, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz openly confessed that his administration should have been more transparent with taxpayers about the massive Somali-linked fraud schemes that have plagued state programs, potentially costing billions in federal funds.

The video, which has gone viral on social media in the wake of Nick Shirley’s bombshell reporting on Somali daycare centers, shows Walz admitting to knowing about the ongoing fraud during a press conference on December 12.

Standing before the American and Minnesota flags in the Capitol rotunda, Walz addressed the media about ongoing investigations into fraud in multiple state-run programs, including child nutrition initiatives like Feeding Our Future, autism services, and other social welfare programs.

In the clip, Walz states:

“I think what the president did was elevate it. Uh, I do believe and I will fully own this we should have been keeping Minnesotans more up to speed on what was happening.”

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Tim Walz Lashes Out Blaming “White Supremacy” After Massive Minnesota Somali Fraud Exposed

A viral investigation into alleged misuse of Minnesota state funds has ignited a fierce public feud between Governor Tim Walz and independent journalist Nick Shirley, culminating in a heated exchange of accusations over the weekend.

Shirley’s 42-minute video report, which garnered over 100 million views on X, purportedly showed multiple state-funded daycare centers — receiving millions in taxpayer dollars — appearing closed or inactive during business hours.

In the wake of the report’s release, Governor Walz faced intense backlash after appearing to dismiss the findings on X, writing, “This is what happens when they scapegoat and this is what happens when they no longer hide the idea of white supremacy.”

Critics immediately seized on the Governor’s comment, accusing him of using racially charged language to deflect from legitimate questions regarding the stewardship of public funds.

On Sunday, Shirley appeared on Fox News to directly address the Governor’s characterization, rejecting the “white supremacist” label as a political tactic used to silence dissent.

“If you have 100,000 people that will vote for you because you’re going to enable this stuff… and you’re going to call a white person racist for calling out facts, this is what’s going to happen,” Shirley told the host.

He further ridiculed the state’s oversight during the segment, remarking that the alleged fraud was “so obvious a kindergartner could figure it out.”

Meanwhile, Governor Walz’s office issued a formal statement responding to the allegations, asserting that his administration has “worked for years to crack down on fraud” and has already launched investigations into the specific facilities highlighted in the video.

The spokesperson emphasized that the administration has strengthened oversight mechanisms and previously closed one of the centers featured in Shirley’s report.

Despite the administration’s defense, the controversy continues to escalate, with federal authorities now signaling they are deploying additional resources to investigate the scope of the alleged fraud.

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Surveillance Footage Reveals Somali Daycare Fraud Playbook — Scheme Dates Back to 2013!

Newly resurfaced surveillance footage and investigative reporting confirm that the now-exploding Somali daycare fraud scandal in Minnesota follows a well-documented playbook that state officials were warned about as early as 2013, and repeatedly thereafter.

Yet year after year, the fraud was allowed to metastasize, draining hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars from programs meant to help poor children, while far-left Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and radical Rep. Ilhan Omar looked the other way.

The scandal exploded into the national spotlight this week after a viral video by YouTuber Nick Shirley went mega-viral, accusing Somali-owned daycare centers of blatant fraud.

Shirley knocked on doors, demanding answers, and what he uncovered has prompted the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to “surge” into Minnesota for a massive investigation.

Let’s rewind to 2013, when a team of Ramsey County forensic auditors uncovered the scam’s early roots. A KSTP 5 Eyewitness News report from October 2025 reveals a whistleblower from Ramsey County who, in 2013, uncovered four daycare centers exploiting CCAP, with dozens more suspicious cases totaling over $100 million in fraud.

The whistleblower alerted the Department of Human Services (DHS) and lawmakers, but nothing happened for years.

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Waste Of The Day: Austin Funds Allegedly Sent To Fake Companies

Topline: A then-employee at the City of Austin’s energy utility allegedly paid $980,000 in taxpayer funds to fictional companies with bank accounts belonging to his family members, according to a new report from the city auditor.

Key facts: Mark Ybarra was given a city credit card from 2018 to 2023 to hire repair companies for city buildings. He used it to pay 30 different vendors, but the city auditor could only verify that eight of them were real companies, according to the report. 

Ten of the companies reportedly had the same address, which the city auditor said is the home of one of Ybarra’s relatives. The businesses received $400,000 from the city. One of them had Ybarra’s email address listed as its contact information, according to the report.

The remaining $580,000 went to businesses that “appeared to be fake,” many of which were missing basic information like an address and phone number, according to the report. 

Ybarra resigned in October 2023 after Austin Energy officials asked questions about the invoices, according to the report. He was indicted for felony theft this September. 

Records obtained by Open the Books show Ybarra earned $534,797 in taxpayer-funded salary during the six years he was allegedly defrauding the city.

The city auditor claimed the alleged fraud went undetected because of Austin Energy’s “inefficient purchasing controls.” Most of his purchases were approved by former Facility Service Supervisor Sammy Ramirez, who never raised questions about the missing addresses and phone numbers on Ybarra’s invoices, according to the report.

Mark Ybarra’s wife, Ambrosia Ybarra, worked at the city’s Watershed Protection Department. She was questioned by the city auditor about her husband’s invoices but allegedly left the interview before it was over, according to the report. She resigned this November.

Ambrosia Ybarra made $70,174 in 2024. Ramirez made $87,262 in 2022, his last year of employment, but made as much as $104,698 in 2021.

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Finally! Department of Ed. Ends One Billion in Student Aid Fraud, Promises More Action

The U.S. Department of Education has reported an end to more than $1 billion in attempted student aid fraud in 2025.

These reforms were needed after the massive waste and fraud resulting from loosened rules during the Biden regime.

“Federal investigators found nearly $90 million in aid had already been fraudulently disbursed, including over $30 million to deceased individuals and more than $40 million to bots posing as students,” according to a report from Campus Reform.

That’s a lot of fraud, but it’s hardly surprising. Under Democrats, fraud and waste are rampant, as we learned in the era of DOGE.

Common sense has returned with the Trump administration.

As Education Secretary Linda McMahon put it, needing ID “to access taxpayer-funded aid is common sense.”

“From day one, the Trump administration has been committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government,” she said. “Merry Christmas, taxpayers!”

As President Trump has emphasized many times, his policies are common sense, and we are the party of common sense.

The Department of Education has also launched a website warning about AI scams posing as legitimate colleges that fool prospective students.

These AI fake sites use fake degrees and deepfake content to mislead students.

Now that we have a real president in the White House, “the Department is building a dedicated fraud detection team within Federal Student Aid to expand enforcement.”

This new unit will help protect students from these fake college scams.

While more work is needed, it’s refreshing that common sense is back, and this administration is doing a lot of work to protect students from these scams.

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“Fraud tourists” traveled to Minnesota after a friend told them state programs were “a good opportunity to make money,” prosecutors say

Federal prosecutors announced new indictments Thursday in the widening Minnesota fraud scandal, this time involving two Philadelphia-based men accused of traveling to Minneapolis after a friend told them the taxpayer-funded programs there presented “a good opportunity to make money.”

Anthony Waddell Jefferson and Lester Brown are accused of siphoning millions from federally funded programs administered by Minnesota officials that were meant to help people with disabilities and those suffering from addiction.

Unlike many of the individuals previously caught up in the state’s sprawling fraud scandal, they don’t appear to have ties to Minnesota’s large Somali-American community. Prosecutors say they don’t appear to have ties to Minnesota at all.

“Minnesota has become a magnet for fraud, so much so that we have developed a fraud tourism industry — people coming to our state purely to exploit and defraud its programs,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson, who brought the new charges. “This is a deeply unsettling reality that all Minnesotans should understand.”

Court filings allege the men submitted up to $3.5 million in “fake and inflated bills” for Medicaid reimbursements after they set up a company intended to provide housing and other services to individuals who qualified for the program. They allegedly fleeced the housing program in Minnesota despite “living on the other side of the country and having no network in or connections to Minnesota or its communities.” 

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FBI Director Kash Patel Confirms Somali Fraudsters are Being Referred for Denaturalization and Deportation

FBI Director Kash Patel dropped a major bombshell on the massive Minnesota fraud scandal on Sunday, revealing that the FBI is pushing for denaturalization and deportation of many involved in the $250 million scheme that ripped off taxpayer dollars meant for hungry kids during COVID.

Patel made it clear this is “just the tip of a very large iceberg,” with investigations ramping up to expose even more corruption in federal programs.

In a lengthy statement posted to X in response to the massively viral video uncovering Somali scams by independent journalist Nick Shirley, Patel detailed the takedown of a $250 million scheme centered around the Feeding Our Future network.

This organization, which was supposed to distribute federal food aid to children in need, instead became a hub for sham vendors, shell companies, and large-scale money laundering.

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Minneapolis Daycare Scandal Reveals The Trajectory Of Blue Zone Fraud Culture

Let’s bracket a great piece of journalism with more details and some context.

By now, I assume most readers here have seen the magnificent work of the independent journalist Nick Shirley in Minnesota, showing widespread Somali fraud in government-funded programs by simply walking up to the front doors of daycare centers and healthcare organizations and inquiring about their services.

Daycare centers with millions of dollars in government funding and no children inside, and neighbors who say they’ve never seen children going in or coming out. This is a slam dunk, and I couldn’t possibly love it any more.

He names the daycare centers he visits, so you can start to find out how much the state of Minnesota knows about the scam without getting off the couch. Daycare centers are licensed and inspected: government inspectors regularly show up with a clipboard and look around. So go look at the record of inspections for Quality Learning Center of Minneapolis, the one in the video with the misspelled sign over the door. The whole thing instantly becomes darkly funny, because there’s no way anyone has ever believed that this is a functioning daycare center running at anything near its declared and funded capacity of 99 children.

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