Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Trump Freezes $185M in Fraudesota Childcare Funds Amid Expanding, Massive Probe

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Trump Freezes $185M in Fraudesota Childcare Funds Amid Expanding, Massive Probe · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Ma, Minnesota.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Let me translate what he said. The interest of Ilhan
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: are not of the American people. The interest of Ilhan
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: is that of the Somalian people and Somalia.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Good Wednesday morning, So nice to have you with us
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: on the forty seven Morning Updated. We've got one major
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: story for you. It deals with the state of Minnesota
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: and the massive Somali fraud that is unfolding there now
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: toppling nine billion in the latest fraud that's been found.
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  Speaker 3: So what is the federal government's response. Well, the Trump
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: administration is coming down heavy handed, and I have all
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: the details of what aspects of the government are being
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: used to hold those accountable for stealing taxpayers dollars in Minnesota. Up,
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: it's the forty seven Morning Update and it starts right now.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: Story number one, Donald Trump is unleashing the federal government
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: and its resources to hold those accountable for the fraud
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: in Minnesota at a staggering pace. We now know that
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: federal funding has been frozen and systems safeguards are being
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: put into place the Trump administration, starting with the Department
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: of Health and Human Services has frozen about one hundred
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: and eighty five million and federal childcare funds to Minnesota
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: as part of accountability measures over suspected fraud in the
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: state programs. It was announced by the Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: This is what he had to say about how much
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: money is going to stop flowing to the fraudsters in Minnesota.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: Hello, I may trust Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill. I'm here
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: with Assistant Secretary Alex Adams silver Seas, the Administration for
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: Children and Families and trepid journalists have made shocky, incredible
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: allegations of extensive fraud in Minnesota's childcare programs. We believe
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake daycares
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  Speaker 4: to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade.
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  Speaker 5: My office ACF provides Minnesota one hundred and eighty five
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: million dollars in childcare funds each year. That money should
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: be helping nineteen thousand American children, including toddlers and infants.
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children. Yesterday,
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: I spoke directly with the director of the Minnesota Childcare
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: Services Office. She could not tell me with confidence whether
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: those allegations of fraud are isolated or whether there's fraud
• 2:38
  Speaker 5: stretching statewide.
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: Today, we've taken three direct actions against the blatant fraud
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  Speaker 4: that seems to be rampant in Minnesota. First, I have
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: activated our defend the Spend system for all ACF childcare
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  Speaker 4: payments across America. Starting today, we require a justification, receipt
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: or photo evidence before we make a payment. Second, I've
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: just signed and said vent a demand letter to Governor Walls.
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: I required a full three hundred and sixty review of
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: these centers. This includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations, and inspections.
• 3:10
  Speaker 5: And Third, we've launched a dedicated fraud reporting hotline and
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: email address at childcare dot gov. Whether you're a parent,
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: a provider, a member of the public, we want to
• 3:20
  Speaker 5: hear from you. Let me be crystal clear. ACF expects
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: every state to uphold the highest standards of oversight, monitoring,
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: and accountability for federal dollars. Minnesota is no exception.
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: We're committed to holding bad actors accountable, regardless the rank
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: of office anyone is involved in perpetrating this fraud against
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  Speaker 4: the American people should expect to be prosecuted to the
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: fullest extent of the law.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Not only are is HESS officials saying they're activating to
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: defend the spend system, requiring evidence and justification before further
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: federal payments are made, but they also said that if
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: you are involved in the fraud, they are coming after
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  Speaker 3: you and you will be prosecuted, which brings me to
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: Part two of the Trump administration's response. They have now
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: expanded the federal investigation. The FBI and the Department of
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: Homeland Security have significantly increased their investigative efforts in Minnesota,
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: including now deploying additional federal agents. They're on the ground
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: investigating all that has been uncovered. The actions are described
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: by federal law enforcement leadership as part of a quote
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: broad effort to uncover and dismantle large scale fraud operations
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: within the state. Now, this is on top of the
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: intensified federal actions built on the existing work where dozens
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: of convictions have already been secured in major fraud schemes,
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: including the large pandemic air feed are future case. Federal
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: prosecutors and investigators say they are continuing to pursue accountability,
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: including additional charges and oversight, demonstrating the going commitment to
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: enforcement of the law in the state. Now this isn't
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: just going to be in Minnesota, We're being told as well.
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  Speaker 3: They expect us to expand to other states where fraud
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: is unfolding. Now, the reason why these actions matter is
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: because they're freezing the funds when misuse is even suspected
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: instead of when it's just proven. It helps protect federal
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: dollars for their intended purpose. A great example of that
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: is actual childcare and childcare support for families of American citizens.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: They also say requiring evidence before disbursement adds safeguards that
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: were previously weaker because they were trusting, and now they're
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: going to reduce the risk of large scale fraud in
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: the future. And expanding the investigative resources signals the federal
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: resolve from the Trump administration thoroughly examining and prosecuting fraud
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: beyond just local or state efforts. Now, while all this
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: is happening, there's also a disaster for Governor Tim Walls.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: In fact, there's a new ad out right now and
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  Speaker 3: this is what it sounds like.
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  Speaker 6: Tim Walls doesn't seek out fraud. Fraud seeks out Tim Walls.
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  Speaker 6: When scammers apply for jobs, they list him as a reference.
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  Speaker 6: Under his watch, Fraud is Minnesota's fastest growing small business,
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  Speaker 6: His biggest export taxpayer money delivered to foreign terrorists. If
• 6:27
  Speaker 6: Fraud had a frequent flyer program, he would always fly
• 6:30
  Speaker 6: first class. He is Tim Walls, the most fraudulent man
• 6:36
  Speaker 6: in America.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: The scary part is there's a lot of truth to
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: that parody ad which brings us back to even the
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: bigger issue now, and that is the Democrats response. They're
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: not seeing fraud at all. In fact, they're looking at
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: the opposite of that, making it clear they don't believe
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: that anything really bad is happening. A great example is
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: MSNBC or ms NOW, whatever the hell they call themselves
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: with the New York Times, one of those in charge
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  Speaker 3: the editorial board had this to say on Morning Joe,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: saying that if you are criticizing the fraud in Minnesota,
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: you are a racist towards Somali's take a listen.
• 7:17
  Speaker 7: The question is, you know, why is this a priority?
• 7:20
  Speaker 7: In a different kind of way, the politicization of the
• 7:23
  Speaker 7: DOJ and the FBI is undeniable. So whether they are
• 7:28
  Speaker 7: reliable narrators is the big question. And this is what
• 7:32
  Speaker 7: happens when you weaponize and politicize federal agencies that are
• 7:36
  Speaker 7: not meant to be, you know, politicized. And I think
• 7:40
  Speaker 7: the American people are right to ask the question, well,
• 7:43
  Speaker 7: can we trust you? And that's a sad thing to
• 7:45
  Speaker 7: say as an American. Let's recall too, that there's also
• 7:50
  Speaker 7: other scandals in other states, for example, the Mississippi welfare scandal.
• 7:53
  Speaker 7: And this is this is not unique to politics. Americans
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  Speaker 7: know that. But of course the other factor here is
• 8:00
  Speaker 7: that because it looks like the Somali population in Minnesota,
• 8:05
  Speaker 7: the Smali immigrant population may have been some involved in
• 8:09
  Speaker 7: some way, those people are being scapegoaded and that community
• 8:14
  Speaker 7: is being scapegoaded in a way that certainly serves the
• 8:17
  Speaker 7: far right. And so that's also something to keep an
• 8:20
  Speaker 7: eye on, and that's inappropriate. Absolutely.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: So there you have it, Democrats going back to their playbook.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: Anytime they can't defend their actions or their fraud, they
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: scream racism and say, how dare you criticize the Somali community. Now,
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: let's be clear about just how massive this fraud is
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: within the Somali community. It isn't just a few bad
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: actors that set up a few daycare centers. This is
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: a wide spread fraud with the community owning these centers
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: as well as the children they claim are going to
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: the centers, and the kickbacks that are going to the
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: parents for signing their kids up that never actually at end.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: This is not a little fraud. It is a massive fraud.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: And the massive fraud is all Somali run and organized.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: It's no different than organized crime. It's no different than
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: what we see with the cartels. And that's exactly why
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: the president has no other choice but to do exactly
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: what he's doing right now, unleash the entire federal government
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: to go after those that have stolen billions of dollars
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: from the taxpayers. Now, this is another example of just
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: how absurd the left has really become. They say, do
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: not punish anyone because they are Somali, And the real
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: reason why is they want to buy votes. Why else
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: would you bring in so many Somali voters. You brought
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: them in so they'd support you. You got them addicted
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: to government aid, and you know they're going to vote
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  Speaker 3: for you as long as you pay them through the
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: government aid and the waste and the fraud and the abuse,
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: and the scary part of all is Democrats aren't even
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: outraged over this, and they're not outraged that the money
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: was actually going to a terrorist organization, al Shabab. So
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: here we are. It is a divide. You're either standing
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: with the terrorists al Shabab, or you're standing with the
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: American taxpayer, the hard working Americans that pay their taxes
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: that have been ripped off. And now we know exactly
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: where the Democrats stand on the issue. It's not with you,
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: it's with the terrorists.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: and we will see you back here tomorrow