Tag: welfare

Massachusetts auditor heads to court after finding $12M in fraud

he Massachusetts state auditor is headed to court as part of her effort to audit the state legislature.

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, earlier this year, notified the state legislature that she would begin the audit, after 72% of state voters approved a law permitting her to do so.

However, state lawmakers declined to produce documents necessary for the audit, Fox News reported. She is now challenging the state at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

In 2025, her office identified roughly $12 million in public fraud related to state programs. The court battle comes in the wake of national fraud revelations in Minnesota linked to the state’s Somali expat community.

That development has turned the public’s attention to state government’s and their attitudes toward enforcing restrictions on eligible recipients of public aid.

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Ted Cruz Just Introduced a Bill That Would Make Life Hard for Welfare Fraudsters

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has introduced a measure aimed at preventing widespread government welfare fraud like what is happening in Minnesota, California, and other states.

Cruz’s “Payment Integrity Act” would reimagine how federal childcare funds are paid out after it was revealed that fraudsters in Minnesota raked in up to $9 billion in taxpayer funds by running scams designed to defraud government welfare programs.

The legislation, cosponsored by Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rick Scott (R-FL) would require states to base payments on verified attendance rather than just enrollment. This would prevent situations where childcare providers falsely claim to have a certain number of kids enrolled when they really don’t. This is one of several scams that occurred in Minnesota.

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HHS Releases Medicaid Dataset to Crowdsource Fraud Detection

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released a massive data set related to health care spending. 

The release follows rampant fraud exposed in multiple government programs, including programs meant to feed hungry kids, help autistic kids, get kids into daycare, and help people find housing. One prosecutor alleged that criminals stole up to $9 billion across 14 social programs in Minnesota. 

If you have a computer with enough memory to download the data set and find fraud, then you could even get paid to expose fraud, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 

The Treasury Department will set up a website to report fraud where whistleblowers can receive part of the fine, Secretary Scott Bessent said.

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RFK JR: $100 Billion a Year in Medicare and Medicaid Fraud, Mainly in Blue States

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said an estimated $100 billion is stolen each year from Medicare and Medicaid and outlined new efforts to detect and prevent fraud during a discussion with Theo Von.

Von asked Kennedy about what he discovered after reviewing operations within federal agencies.

“What were some of the biggest cases of fraud, like, when you got in there and got behind the curtain, see, like, you know, like the NIH, the EPA, like, just see what’s going on back there. What were some of the biggest cases of fraud that you kind of found?” Von asked.

Kennedy pointed to Medicare and Medicaid as the largest sources of fraud.

“I mean, the biggest cases are, what were we got between Medicaid and Medicare? There’s about 100 billion stolen every year, and a lot of it is like what’s happening in Minnesota with the Somali community and what’s happening now, even worse in California,” Kennedy said.

He described what he called systemic issues within the programs.

“But you know, one of the problems is that that’s a systemic problem, is that Medicaid, Medicare now no longer. It used to be that they that they paid for your medical treatment, your doctor’s visit, but now they pay for the person who takes you to the doctor, and they pay for home care, and they pay for a person to come in and pay your bills, right? So there, there’s, there’s all kinds of opportunities for fraud,” Kennedy said.

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The Arrogance of Migrants Is Something to Behold

There are few things more natural than people from different places and cultures being suspicious of one another. Human beings are tribal by nature, and tribes have always been exclusive. 

As human societies grew larger, the “tribe” to which we are loyal has expanded, and the characteristics we use to identify who belongs to it can shift beyond mere proximity and familiarity. We can even have allegiances to different tribes at the same time. Texans tend to see themselves as members of their local community, Texas, the “tribe” of their favorite sports teams, and as Americans. Sometimes the tribal allegiances overlap, and sometimes not. 

I guarantee you that Floridians and Texans worry about the influx of people from Blue states changing their politics, so imagine what happens when a person from a different country, culture, religion, and who behaves very differently from you, horns in and demands that you change for their benefit. 

And, by the way, demands that you pick up the tab for their new lives. 

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The Bigger Problem that the Tim Walz NGO Scandal Has Exposed 

The Minnesota nonprofit fraud scandal, now expected to cost taxpayers more than $9 billion, is being dismissed by many as an isolated failure. However, this is far from the case, and writing it off as such would be a colossal mistake.

What it actually revealed is a broader problem in the Swamp—that institutions claiming to represent others often operate with little accountability and then quietly drift away from the very people who are footing the bill.

In Minnesota, nonprofit organizations became the perfect vehicle for abuse—shielded from scrutiny, politically protected, and flush with public money. However, in Washington, trade associations operate in largely the same way. They collect millions in dues from American businesses while increasingly choosing to serve their own leadership’s personal and political interests instead of those of their dues-paying members.

Their members only care about being able to deliver good-paying jobs to their employees and securing a more favorable regulatory climate so they can deliver lower-priced goods for the American people; however, you’d never know that if you looked at the public policy priorities of their association leadership officials, who seem more interested in fitting in at woke radical leftist cocktail parties.

Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, has repeatedly broken with Republicans by sharply criticizing Donald Trump, including after January 6, when he called Trump’s actions “mob rule,” urged Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, and faulted the administration’s handling of COVID-19. Despite that record, Timmons later congratulated Trump on his November 2024 victory and suggested they should “work together like we did before.” At the same time, Timmons praised and partnered with Joe Biden, backing the administration’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign and publicly supporting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act. In 2022, he also donated to Adam Kinzinger’s leadership PAC just days after Kinzinger was censured by the Republican Party.

If a presidency was truly so dangerous five years ago that it was deemed incompatible with democracy itself, it is fair to ask how the same association leadership can now claim alignment and cooperation without any explanation, accountability, or evident change in approach. That kind of abrupt pivot invites skepticism from dues-paying manufacturers who expect their trade groups to be guided by member interests, not political positioning or reputational hedging.

The problem is compounded by a reliance on press releases in place of real relationships. Press releases don’t move policy—relationships do. Manufacturers don’t pay dues for moral posturing, elite signaling, or ceremonial access; they pay for results. When leadership spends years attacking an administration only to reverse course once the election is settled—substituting optics for engagement—it raises a fundamental question about who the organization is really serving.

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Josh Hawley Calls For Indictment of Minnesota AG Keith Ellison over Alleged Ties to Somali Fraudsters

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is calling for the indictment of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) over accusations that he accepted campaign contributions from Somali fraudsters for helping them evade investigation by state and federal officials.

During a Senate Homeland Security hearing on Thursday, Hawley grilled Ellison about a report from the New York Post published last year that accuses the top Minnesota official of taking campaign contributions from Somalis involved in the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal, where some $9 billion in taxpayer money was stolen under the guise of feeding needy children.

According to the report, Ellison accepted several $2,500 campaign donations from Somali fraudsters after they raised concerns that federal investigators were unjustly looking at their financials.

“You are familiar with the $9 billion in historic fraud out of your state, including the $250 million in the Feeding Our Future program alone?” Hawley asked Ellison, to which he responded, “I am familiar with it.”

“Because the people who ran the Feeding Our Future program came to you in your official office in the state capitol, December 11, 2021, and asked for your help in getting investigators off their backs,” Hawley said.

He continued:

They complained to you for upwards of an hour about state investigators going after them, and they begged you to help them, and you agreed to it amazingly, and we know you did. That’s because it’s all caught on tape …why’d you help them? [Emphasis added]

Ellison denied helping the fraudsters, to which Hawley said Ellison had accepted “$10,000 from them nine days after the meeting.”

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Walz administration claims fraud in Minnesota is not ‘uniquely bad’

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) published a so-called “fact check” this week which attempted to “correct misleading information and outright false claims about Medicaid fraud in Minnesota.”

In its fact check, DHS pushed back against claims surrounding Minnesota’s ongoing fraud problems. One of the claims the agency “fact checked” was an unattributed statement which said: “Minnesota’s fraud problem is uniquely bad.”

Shockingly, DHS rejected that claim.

“Fraud is a nationwide challenge and is not unique to Minnesota,” it said. “Higher visibility does not equal higher fraud. Targeted misinformation thrust Minnesota in the spotlight, but we are committed to leading the nation in Medicaid program integrity and fighting fraud.”

Attempting to support its argument, DHS referenced fraud scandals that have occurred in other states. Among them was a $490 million healthcare fraud scheme in California, a $2.5 billion Medicaid scheme in Arizona, and an alleged $14.6 billion Medicaid and Medicare fraud scheme that occurred in New York, Illinois, California, and North Carolina.

While those schemes are substantial, all of those states are larger than Minnesota, and some of those states are significantly larger than Minnesota. Yet, Minnesota still rivals, or outpaces, the fraud schemes being perpetrated in those states.

Since 2022, federal authorities in Minnesota have prosecuted fraud in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme. Additionally, the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office estimated that fraud in 14 state-run, Medicaid-funded programs could exceed $9 billion since 2018.

Dozens of people, the overwhelming majority of whom are from the Somali community, have been charged and convicted in Minnesota’s ongoing fraud saga. Fraud has turned into the top political issue in Minnesota, and Gov. Tim Walz was all but ushered into an early retirement because of it.

On top of this, federal prosecutors in Minnesota have repeatedly highlighted how Minnesota is an outlier when it comes to this fraud.

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State senator tells Congress: ‘Minnesota is ground zero for the fraud epidemic’

A Minnesota state senator took the national stage Tuesday and delivered a blistering assessment of the state’s handling of taxpayer dollars.

Sen. Mark Koran, R–North Branch, testified before a U.S. Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs subcommittee during a hearing titled “Examining Fraud and Foreign Influence in State and Federal Programs.”

The hearing, chaired by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., focused in part on what lawmakers described as widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social welfare programs.

Koran, who has served nine years in the Minnesota Senate and on the Legislative Audit Commission, painted a picture of systemic failure.

“I appreciate the opportunity to share my insight on the fraud as I’ve seen it in my nine years as Minnesota state senator as well as being on the Legislative Audit Commission,” Koran began.

He described the bipartisan commission as responsible for appointing the nonpartisan legislative auditor, whose job is to review programs across state government and flag misuse of taxpayer dollars.

“I can tell you that most of these audits are bad,” Koran said. “One of the most common failures is state agencies not verifying that grant recipients did the work that they were paid to do.”

He cited a January 2026 audit in which, he said, “state employees were backdating and fabricating documents after an audit had started, looking to mislead our auditors.”

“Fraud in Minnesota is pervasive and systemic, from the executive branch through the state agencies,” he said. “Even when the legislature puts safeguards in place, they’re often ignored and there are rarely any real consequences.”

Koran did not mince words when describing the scope of the problem.

“The devastation of this incompetence and complicity totals far more in dollars than the media, Gov. [Tim] Walz, or the Democrats admit in public. It’s not millions, it’s not hundreds of millions, it’s billions of dollars stolen,” he testified.

He placed part of the blame squarely on Gov. Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

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Ilhan Omar Posts Stunning Tweet that Seemingly Calls for President Trump’s EXECUTION After He Comments on Somali Fraud

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) made an extremely disturbing statement on X that many are interpreting as a call for President Trump’s execution.

On Tuesday, Trump sat down for an interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business to discuss his administration’s efforts to crack down on the massive fraud happening across America, espically in Minnesota.

At one point, Trump specifically referenced the Somali community’s role along with Omar’s in the fraud.

“Somalia has come in here. What they’ve done to our country, these people, they’ve come into our country, and what they’ve done with that fake congresswoman. She’s so bad,” Trump to Kudlow.

Omar was furious at what she read. She proceeded to blast Trump as the head of the “Ped*phile Protection Party” before talking baout what Somalia does with p*dophiles.

“The leader of the Ped*phile Protection Party is trying to deflect attention from his name being all over the Epstein files,” Omar wrote.

“At least in Somalia, they execute ped*philes, not elect them, she added.

Did she call for Trump’s execution? You be the judge.

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