Verdict with Ted Cruz - Accountability NOW： Prosecute the Minnesota Fraudsters, their Funders & Organizers, and the Politicians Who were Complicit

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.720 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.460 Welcome.

00:00:06.100 It is Vertica Center Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:09.340 And for many of you listening on the radio right now,

00:00:11.120 it is so nice to have you with us as well.

00:00:13.100 I hope you had a great Christmas.

00:00:15.400 And depending on when you hear this,

00:00:17.040 either getting ready for New Year's or a Happy New Year.

00:00:20.180 Center, we have a brand new listener to the show.

00:00:23.920 And since we are on video,

00:00:25.740 I just thought I'd let everybody know

00:00:27.760 that we have a brand new listener.

00:00:30.020 Welcome to the family, the Verdick family.

00:00:32.240 That is my friend's Birdie, the new puppy.

00:00:35.800 She has been sitting up here quiet for an hour

00:00:38.560 as we've been getting ready.

00:00:39.680 But I wanted everybody, can you say hi?

00:00:41.040 There we go.

00:00:41.760 Say hi to everybody.

00:00:42.840 That's Birdie for you. 1.00

00:00:44.520 Okay, so Birdie, who named Birdie?

00:00:47.460 What's Birdie short for? 1.00

00:00:49.580 So Birdie, you know, my family,

00:00:51.120 the boys are a bunch of golfers.

00:00:52.740 And so Birdie was the chosen Georgie.

00:00:58.020 Georgie was like, can we name her Birdie?

00:00:59.600 And it just stuck, and that's the end of it.

00:01:01.120 So there you go.

00:01:01.740 We got a new listener, Birdie.

00:01:03.000 And you should watch the video of this

00:01:04.540 because Birdie's a lot cuter than I am. 1.00

00:01:06.320 That's for sure.

00:01:06.940 All right.

00:01:07.400 How surprised were the boys?

00:01:09.400 They freaked out, Senator.

00:01:10.940 They were so excited.

00:01:12.520 So he woke up.

00:01:13.660 The boys had been asking, asked Santa.

00:01:15.400 And so George woke up, and we're doing presents,

00:01:19.140 and Anna to throw them off put a stuffy of a dog in their stockings 1.00

00:01:24.320 so that they thought, like, you got a dog.

00:01:26.500 Like, you asked for a dog, you got a dog.

00:01:28.080 And George just started walking around the house,

00:01:30.540 looking under things, trying to find a dog.

00:01:32.920 And then my mother-in-law ended up bringing the dog over in a box, 1.00

00:01:35.860 and we delivered it, and they freaked out.

00:01:37.780 It was pretty awesome.

00:01:38.280 So was the box wrapped?

00:01:39.740 Like, how was the reveal?

00:01:41.380 So it had a big red bow, and they went on a scavenger hunt

00:01:45.600 that we had done and put different envelopes,

00:01:48.000 and the last envelope brought them back to where the tree was.

00:01:50.680 So we snuck her in the back door, had her in a box with a big bow on top,

00:01:54.700 and then they all came running in the room,

00:01:56.100 and then they got the box and opened it, and the dog was there.

00:01:58.320 So we did it right.

00:01:59.180 It was all caught on video.

00:02:00.400 It was really, really fun.

00:02:01.520 Well, Merry Christmas, and that is awesome.

00:02:04.880 There's nothing better than a new puppy at Christmas,

00:02:07.580 and I hope everyone at home had a fantastic Christmas.

00:02:11.620 And your New Year's, I hope that everyone is ready

00:02:16.520 for an incredible, blessed 2026,

00:02:20.180 looking forward into what I hope will be a fantastic new year, 2025.

00:02:25.760 A lot of good has been accomplished in 2025.

00:02:28.840 We've seen the Trump administration moving at laser speed

00:02:33.080 on a thousand different fronts all at once.

00:02:36.880 In Congress, the legislation, we've had conservative victories.

00:02:40.780 In fact, if you listened to an earlier podcast,

00:02:42.720 we went through the major conservative victories this year.

00:02:45.780 It's breathtaking, everything that's been accomplished.

00:02:48.160 And so as we're wrapping up the year and starting a new one,

00:02:51.080 it's a good time to reflect on all that.

00:02:52.920 And Senator, I guess we should really start with the shocking news

00:02:56.240 coming out of Minnesota.

00:02:57.500 Everyone's talking about it.

00:02:58.660 We've talked about it on the podcast this week.

00:03:00.620 And if you're listening on radio, go back,

00:03:02.080 and you can listen to those shows wherever you get your podcasts.

00:03:05.660 But what was shocking was how fast the numbers grew

00:03:09.560 in the size of this fraud.

00:03:11.480 Early on, people were saying it's a billion-dollar fraud.

00:03:13.920 That has now exploded at nine-plus billion.

00:03:16.500 They expect to find even more.

00:03:18.100 The FBI director, Cash Patel, has said

00:03:20.200 they believe this is the tip of a very large iceberg.

00:03:22.840 And we're seeing other fraud schemes are being exposed

00:03:26.140 in other states as well as we speak.

00:03:28.500 Yeah, look, I got to say, as scandals go,

00:03:30.780 this is one that should really piss you off. 0.55

00:03:34.040 It is outrageous on so many different levels.

00:03:38.240 If you look at what's been uncovered in Minnesota

00:03:40.680 in the last several years,

00:03:42.000 Minnesota's total Medicaid budget was about $18 billion.

00:03:45.980 The Department of Justice is reporting that more than half of that,

00:03:49.280 more than $9 billion, may well be fraudulent.

00:03:52.280 People are being prosecuted.

00:03:54.160 And then we covered in the most recent podcast,

00:03:57.060 an independent YouTuber, a 23-year-old guy named Nick Shirley,

00:04:01.520 went and started going down the list of daycare centers

00:04:04.880 that were receiving millions and millions of dollars

00:04:07.500 from the Minnesota taxpayers.

00:04:09.080 And he started showing up to the daycare centers.

00:04:11.240 And he videoed the whole thing.

00:04:12.780 And in our last pod, we went through that video in detail.

00:04:15.440 If you haven't watched that video,

00:04:17.340 it's had now over 100 million views.

00:04:19.780 It has gone viral.

00:04:21.800 And he simply would knock on the doors.

00:04:23.800 In many of the instances, the doors were locked.

00:04:25.820 There was no one there.

00:04:27.080 Virtually everyone he attended, the doors were blacked out.

00:04:29.540 The windows were blacked out.

00:04:30.580 You couldn't see.

00:04:31.640 And the consistent pattern at daycare,

00:04:34.520 after daycare, after daycare was no kids.

00:04:36.800 There were no kids.

00:04:37.820 He kept trying to enroll a child.

00:04:40.460 They're like, no, no, no, no.

00:04:41.100 We can't do that.

00:04:41.800 We don't do that.

00:04:42.400 And the pattern we've seen, this is overwhelmingly Somalis, 0.98

00:04:48.820 immigrants from Somalia, who are engaged in this massive fraud. 1.00

00:04:54.480 And you see this group of Somalis surrounding Nick Shorter 0.90

00:05:00.720 and yelling at him and chasing him through the neighborhood

00:05:04.400 because they're very upset that their fraud has been uncovered.

00:05:07.760 We covered on Verdict early on that this fraud resulted in

00:05:14.360 the single largest funder of al-Shabaab,

00:05:18.660 which is a radical Islamic terror group in Somalia,

00:05:21.560 is the Minnesota taxpayers.

00:05:23.620 That's how big this fraud is.

00:05:25.860 And so we want to break down on today's podcast multiple pieces of it.

00:05:30.020 Number one, what went on.

00:05:31.600 Number two, what are the consequences?

00:05:33.340 Who is going to be fired?

00:05:34.580 And even more importantly, who is going to be put in jail

00:05:38.800 because there needs to be real accountability?

00:05:41.380 And number three, who benefited?

00:05:43.380 Why was this allowed to happen?

00:05:45.640 All of those are questions.

00:05:47.220 And number four, why did the corporate media cover it up, ignore it?

00:05:52.920 They have no interest whatsoever in it.

00:05:56.760 They will track down everything they can about Donald Trump.

00:06:00.320 But actually, Democrats and Somali immigrants stealing billions of dollars 1.00

00:06:07.040 from the taxpayers, zero interest in the corporate media

00:06:10.200 and covering that at all.

00:06:11.300 You know the Democrats, by the way, are in their Hill Center

00:06:13.580 because they've gone back to their playbook,

00:06:15.280 which they always go back to when they're challenged with facts.

00:06:18.320 And that is the name call.

00:06:19.740 And we saw this happen on mainstream media.

00:06:22.380 We saw this happen on MS Now,

00:06:25.100 where they're now saying, and on CNN,

00:06:26.760 how dare you demonize a Somali community?

00:06:30.500 That is racist.

00:06:31.820 You cannot ask these questions of a community like this

00:06:34.820 because it's clearly racist in its tone.

00:06:37.180 Here is how MS Now described it on TV, 0.96

00:06:39.780 saying it's just unfair and the Republicans are just evil and mean-spirited.

00:06:44.280 Take a listen to this.

00:06:45.760 The question is, you know,

00:06:47.700 why is this a priority in a different kind of way?

00:06:50.340 The politicization of the DOJ and the FBI is undeniable.

00:06:56.260 So whether they are reliable narrators is the big question.

00:07:00.760 And this is what happens when you weaponize and politicize federal agencies

00:07:04.780 that are not meant to be, you know, politicized.

00:07:08.680 And I think the American people are right to ask the question,

00:07:11.840 well, can we trust you?

00:07:13.240 And that's a sad thing to say as an American.

00:07:15.600 Let's recall, too, that there's also other scandals in other states.

00:07:20.680 For example, the Mississippi welfare scandal.

00:07:22.840 And this is not unique to politics.

00:07:25.940 Americans know that.

00:07:27.280 But, of course, the other factor here is that

00:07:29.880 because it looks like the Somali population in Minnesota,

00:07:34.460 the Somali immigrant population may have been involved in some way,

00:07:39.780 those people are being scapegoated.

00:07:41.920 And that community is being scapegoated in a way that certainly serves the far right.

00:07:47.080 And so that's also something to keep an eye on.

00:07:49.420 And that's inappropriate.

00:07:50.880 Absolutely.

00:07:52.200 I love that she says it's inappropriate,

00:07:54.600 that the Somali community, as she describes it,

00:07:56.660 might be involved in some way.

00:07:58.840 Like, are you kidding me?

00:07:59.140 May have been involved.

00:08:00.060 Maybe just kind of, like,

00:08:01.720 you go down the list of one after the other after the other

00:08:04.420 of these fake daycare centers,

00:08:06.400 of these fake autism centers,

00:08:08.140 one after the other after the other.

00:08:09.500 By the way, that was Mara Gay. 0.57

00:08:11.280 Mara Gay is on the editorial board of the New York Times.

00:08:14.380 I think it is laughable listening to her talking about

00:08:17.680 people have lost faith in the Department of Justice,

00:08:20.100 and that's just sad because they're politicized and biased.

00:08:24.300 Number one, her employer, the New York Times,

00:08:26.680 and her employer, MSNBC, or whatever the hell it's called now,

00:08:29.800 are so wildly biased that everyone knows it.

00:08:33.320 But understand, this is an individual who, a few years ago,

00:08:35.780 she said publicly that she was deeply disturbed

00:08:39.480 to see American flags on trucks in Long Island,

00:08:43.100 that the American flag disturbed her.

00:08:44.840 That's how biased she is. 0.99

00:08:46.240 And look at the media desperately trying to cover up 0.86

00:08:49.380 the thieves, the fraudsters, and the Democrats. 0.76

00:08:52.880 That is who they're fighting for. 0.74

00:08:54.700 Senator, I want to get back to this argument

00:08:56.760 the left has now gone all in on with,

00:08:58.880 you cannot criticize the Somali community

00:09:01.800 because if you do, it's racist.

00:09:03.840 I want people to really understand

00:09:05.900 this daycare fraud is not like a few people involved.

00:09:11.180 And there's been some that I think have mischaracterized as well.

00:09:13.660 It's just maybe one or two bad actors.

00:09:15.520 They open up a daycare, they commit fraud.

00:09:17.360 No, they have others in the Somali community

00:09:20.420 that are allowing their children's names to be used

00:09:23.660 as a participant in the fraud

00:09:25.800 and apparently getting kickbacks.

00:09:27.380 In fact, there are videos they're servicing

00:09:29.540 of people that were bringing their kids

00:09:31.200 and checking them in and them leaving

00:09:32.480 so the state would write checks to daycare centers. 0.57

00:09:36.000 This has been going on for years.

00:09:38.620 There have been multiple warnings about this.

00:09:41.540 And when there was no accountability,

00:09:43.440 no one was going to jail.

00:09:45.020 It started growing bigger and bigger

00:09:46.580 because basically everybody thought,

00:09:48.180 I think, hey, we can do it.

00:09:49.920 Bring everybody in.

00:09:51.200 We'll all get rich off of it.

00:09:52.620 And literally to the tune of billions of dollars, they did it.

00:09:55.200 North of $9 billion.

00:09:56.420 And this is money that was scammed primarily by Somali fraudsters. 0.99

00:10:01.380 They were taking the money, billions of dollars.

00:10:03.600 They were sending much of it back to Somali.

00:10:05.500 As I said, millions, if not hundreds of millions of it

00:10:08.840 ended up in the coffers of al-Shabaab

00:10:11.160 where they used it for radical Islamic terrorism.

00:10:14.100 You see in Nick Shirley's video,

00:10:15.960 you see the Somali community,

00:10:17.520 all members of them coming up

00:10:19.580 and trying to do whatever they can to cover up the fraud.

00:10:22.440 And, you know, we just played a few minutes ago,

00:10:25.540 Mara Gay on MSNBC and from the New York Times saying,

00:10:29.980 well, some Somalis may have been involved.

00:10:33.100 Let's talk about accountability.

00:10:34.400 Here's what Pam Bondi put out. 0.98

00:10:36.280 The Justice Department has been investigating this for months.

00:10:39.220 So far, we have charged 98 individuals,

00:10:43.560 85 of Somali descent,

00:10:46.400 and more than 60 have been found guilty in court.

00:10:50.720 We have more prosecutions coming.

00:10:53.180 Buckle up, lawmakers.

00:10:54.920 Now, let me say,

00:10:56.080 when you have 98 people charged by the Department of Justice,

00:10:59.660 85 of them of Somali descent,

00:11:01.320 and 60 already found guilty,

00:11:03.120 how the hell can she say

00:11:04.880 some Somalis may have been involved?

00:11:07.180 No, they've been criminally prosecuted.

00:11:09.040 They've been caught.

00:11:10.260 There's no dispute. 0.94

00:11:11.360 But when you're a professional liar, 0.97

00:11:13.220 which is what the fake news does, 0.82

00:11:16.160 they don't deal in the world of facts.

00:11:18.240 And you talk about accountability.

00:11:20.260 Look, DOJ is coming after them,

00:11:23.860 but I also want to talk about

00:11:24.940 what Kash Patel put out from the FBI.

00:11:27.820 Kash Patel went to Minnesota in July.

00:11:31.320 To oversee the investigations

00:11:33.940 to confirm that progress was being made.

00:11:36.120 And he said the investigations,

00:11:37.840 some of the investigations were opened

00:11:39.440 under the Biden administration.

00:11:41.820 But he also said they were buried

00:11:45.060 because they implicate Biden political allies.

00:11:52.100 Between late May 2025 and December 2025,

00:11:57.220 the FBI had 16 open investigations

00:11:59.720 into approximately 32 health care

00:12:02.140 and home care providers accused of fraud.

00:12:05.340 And he described a massive joint investigation,

00:12:09.120 including HHS Inspector General,

00:12:11.800 Medicaid Fraud Unit, IRS, Postal Inspectors,

00:12:14.820 Minnesota Attorney General,

00:12:15.880 Minnesota Department of Education.

00:12:18.660 And by the way,

00:12:19.780 it's not just limited to Minnesota.

00:12:22.100 They're expanding nationwide.

00:12:23.820 And we're getting reports online

00:12:25.240 of other states like Washington states,

00:12:27.560 like New York, like California,

00:12:29.700 where these same problems have been happening.

00:12:32.920 And what is critical

00:12:34.340 is to follow the money

00:12:36.440 and to go after that,

00:12:40.140 to go after them.

00:12:41.760 And I'm very glad

00:12:42.940 we're beginning to see accountability.

00:12:44.580 But let me tell you,

00:12:45.540 the accountability better not stop

00:12:47.840 with just the thieves.

00:12:50.460 Yeah, with a low level.

00:12:51.540 The accountability,

00:12:53.200 and it certainly needs to include

00:12:54.500 the masterminders and the funders,

00:12:56.160 but it also needs to include

00:12:57.940 the government officials

00:12:59.020 in the Minnesota state government

00:13:00.760 or the federal government

00:13:01.820 that acquiesced to this,

00:13:03.640 that looked the other way,

00:13:04.700 that covered it up.

00:13:05.520 It is so blazingly obvious

00:13:08.080 that there is a reason

00:13:10.940 that this has happened.

00:13:12.240 And look,

00:13:12.560 there is obviously fraud

00:13:13.840 in red states and blue states.

00:13:16.860 And we ought to go after it

00:13:17.680 in all those states.

00:13:18.440 But there is a reason

00:13:20.760 Minnesota was ground zero for this

00:13:22.680 because you've got a massive...

00:13:23.780 Well, it had to be because of the AG

00:13:24.820 and because of the governor there.

00:13:26.740 I mean, they're the CEOs,

00:13:28.240 the company,

00:13:28.900 and that's the question

00:13:29.680 I want to ask you.

00:13:30.440 If this was a private sector fraud,

00:13:33.620 there would already be people

00:13:34.540 in handcuffs.

00:13:35.500 Yep.

00:13:35.800 There would be people

00:13:36.600 that would be doing perp walks.

00:13:38.480 It would be wall-to-wall coverage.

00:13:40.900 But somehow,

00:13:42.440 because it's the government,

00:13:44.160 it's like the governor's

00:13:45.460 not even a suspect.

00:13:47.100 The AG's not even a suspect.

00:13:48.720 It's like,

00:13:49.080 oh, well, you know,

00:13:49.840 we want to bring in more Somalis.

00:13:51.180 That's what the governor said

00:13:52.260 a couple days ago.

00:13:53.260 We should bring more of them in.

00:13:54.780 How dare you demonize them?

00:13:56.400 And if there is no accountability,

00:13:58.480 then did they, in fact,

00:13:59.600 get away with it?

00:14:00.360 I would argue the answer is yes

00:14:01.720 because ultimately,

00:14:02.560 their goal was to get Somalis 1.00

00:14:04.240 to vote for them.

00:14:05.760 This was the payoff.

00:14:07.140 It's pay-to-play politics

00:14:08.600 in Minnesota.

00:14:09.080 Am I wrong?

00:14:11.160 You're not wrong,

00:14:12.200 and that needs to be

00:14:12.960 one significant part

00:14:14.380 of the investigation,

00:14:15.500 both from journalists

00:14:16.640 and from prosecutors.

00:14:18.520 There needs to be

00:14:19.480 significant investigation

00:14:20.620 into how much of that money

00:14:22.760 ended up in political coffers

00:14:24.440 of politicians,

00:14:25.420 how much,

00:14:26.280 the reason that the Democrats

00:14:28.020 in Minnesota

00:14:28.640 all look the other way

00:14:30.100 is they're all getting paid.

00:14:31.840 A, it's a huge voting block.

00:14:33.920 And I want you to watch this.

00:14:36.540 For those of you

00:14:37.020 who are watching this online,

00:14:38.240 I want you to see this video

00:14:40.740 of the mayor of Minneapolis

00:14:42.680 dancing,

00:14:43.800 waving a Somali flag.

00:14:45.160 If you haven't,

00:14:46.460 if you're not watching it online,

00:14:48.120 if you're listening on radio,

00:14:48.900 we're going to narrate it.

00:14:49.680 But here,

00:14:50.560 give a look if you can,

00:14:51.680 and Ben and I will tell you

00:14:52.420 what you're looking at.

00:14:52.980 It goes back,

00:14:54.340 and then it goes back.

00:14:56.000 Oh, oh, oh.

00:14:56.800 Born to a throne,

00:14:58.320 swung it in.

00:14:59.200 I mean,

00:14:59.840 this video is amazing.

00:15:01.340 You got the mayor of Minneapolis

00:15:02.780 up there on stage,

00:15:04.520 Senator,

00:15:05.540 waving a Somali flag

00:15:07.900 and dancing

00:15:09.140 with a shirt

00:15:10.400 of the Somali flag

00:15:11.400 on his shirt as well.

00:15:13.020 If you want to know

00:15:14.080 how we got to where we are now,

00:15:16.140 this is just proof of it.

00:15:18.080 Am I wrong?

00:15:19.240 Okay,

00:15:19.620 and I got to say,

00:15:20.620 this mayor manages to dance

00:15:23.020 in a way that makes

00:15:24.420 Tim Waltz look manly.

00:15:26.560 That is true.

00:15:27.300 That is the most effeminate, 0.76

00:15:30.280 prancing, 1.00

00:15:32.600 ass-kissing, 0.99

00:15:34.560 like, 0.99

00:15:34.800 like,

00:15:35.060 like,

00:15:35.500 unbelievably,

00:15:36.120 he's just dancing

00:15:37.360 and waving a Somali flag.

00:15:39.300 Now,

00:15:39.440 let me ask you,

00:15:40.920 do you think

00:15:41.740 someone who is

00:15:43.340 desperately trying

00:15:44.620 to get the votes

00:15:45.300 of the 100,000 Somalis

00:15:46.780 that Democrats

00:15:47.480 have imported into Minnesota

00:15:48.680 and desperately trying

00:15:50.160 to get their cash,

00:15:50.940 do you think he has

00:15:51.500 any interest

00:15:52.100 in investigating

00:15:53.120 and finding out

00:15:53.860 the billions of dollars

00:15:54.700 they're stealing

00:15:55.160 from the taxpayers?

00:15:56.460 hell no.

00:15:56.920 Well,

00:15:57.340 and that's how we got here.

00:15:59.200 Canadian women

00:15:59.940 are looking for more,

00:16:01.260 more out of themselves,

00:16:02.340 their businesses,

00:16:03.280 their elected leaders,

00:16:04.240 and the world around them.

00:16:05.260 And that's why

00:16:05.920 we're thrilled

00:16:06.420 to introduce

00:16:07.080 the Honest Talk podcast.

00:16:09.220 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:16:10.380 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:16:11.600 And in this podcast,

00:16:12.680 we interview Canada's

00:16:13.720 most inspiring women,

00:16:15.220 entrepreneurs,

00:16:16.060 artists,

00:16:16.720 athletes,

00:16:17.320 politicians,

00:16:17.980 and newsmakers,

00:16:18.900 all at different stages

00:16:19.960 of their journey.

00:16:21.120 So,

00:16:21.440 if you're looking to connect,

00:16:22.920 then we hope you'll join us.

00:16:24.340 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast

00:16:25.720 on iHeartRadio

00:16:26.720 or wherever you listen

00:16:27.680 to your podcasts.

00:16:28.380 Let's go back

00:16:31.420 to the dancing mayor

00:16:32.480 and talk a little bit more

00:16:33.960 about the propaganda

00:16:34.920 he puts out on social media,

00:16:37.120 clearly making it well known

00:16:38.680 where his allegiance is

00:16:39.860 and is not

00:16:40.580 to the American taxpayer.

00:16:42.420 Well,

00:16:42.960 look,

00:16:43.280 if you're asking

00:16:44.600 how could this happen,

00:16:45.820 how could it be so brazen?

00:16:47.320 How could you have

00:16:47.860 daycare centers

00:16:48.620 with no kids?

00:16:49.920 How could you have

00:16:50.420 daycare centers

00:16:51.240 with no playground equipment?

00:16:52.920 How could you have

00:16:53.620 centers for kids

00:16:54.500 with autism

00:16:55.200 with no kids in them?

00:16:56.580 How could you have

00:16:57.520 home health care providers

00:16:58.860 that are not actually

00:16:59.820 providing health care?

00:17:00.820 Like the raw brazenness of it

00:17:03.160 and the answer is

00:17:04.420 the politicians were complicit.

00:17:06.500 And to understand

00:17:08.200 just how craven 0.99

00:17:09.140 and corrupt they are, 1.00

00:17:10.260 I want to go back 0.95

00:17:11.200 to the Minneapolis mayor,

00:17:12.640 Jacob Frey,

00:17:13.580 or Frey or Fry

00:17:14.920 or however you say his name.

00:17:17.920 It depends if you're talking

00:17:18.920 in Somali,

00:17:19.760 you know,

00:17:19.940 I don't know.

00:17:20.480 It depends on what you're doing.

00:17:22.220 Well,

00:17:22.520 I want to play a video

00:17:23.580 that he put out

00:17:24.460 and this is him

00:17:25.220 really speaking

00:17:26.180 to America's heartland,

00:17:27.760 speaking to you,

00:17:28.840 to me,

00:17:29.440 to all of us

00:17:30.580 because he's a mayor

00:17:31.340 of a major American city.

00:17:32.980 So give a listen

00:17:33.840 to Mayor Frey.

00:17:34.440 Okay, that's enough.

00:17:56.500 I did hear him say...

00:17:57.780 By the way,

00:17:58.440 you and I are officially

00:17:59.340 unelectable in Minnesota.

00:18:00.820 I just want to be very clear

00:18:02.160 about that.

00:18:02.360 I did hear him say

00:18:03.120 kiss Mayo 0.99

00:18:03.740 and he is saying

00:18:05.140 to his voters,

00:18:05.920 kiss Mayo. 0.98

00:18:06.620 He's telling them

00:18:07.260 to kiss Mayo.

00:18:08.360 He said Mogadishu

00:18:09.380 and apparently

00:18:10.200 he's running

00:18:11.140 for mayor of Mogadishu

00:18:12.280 and maybe he is

00:18:12.980 mayor of Mogadishu.

00:18:13.820 Look,

00:18:14.260 if you're the biggest

00:18:15.780 funder of Al-Shabaab,

00:18:18.380 you're actually

00:18:19.580 quite a star

00:18:20.420 in Mogadishu.

00:18:21.620 Do you think...

00:18:22.480 Look,

00:18:22.640 I don't know

00:18:23.020 what that guy's saying.

00:18:24.440 And that is by design.

00:18:27.020 And by the way,

00:18:28.440 you might think,

00:18:29.260 well,

00:18:29.580 okay,

00:18:30.160 he's just,

00:18:30.920 you know,

00:18:31.300 he's just trying

00:18:32.020 to appeal

00:18:32.600 to a constituency.

00:18:34.080 I want you to listen

00:18:35.380 to the prime minister

00:18:37.120 of Somalia

00:18:37.820 standing next

00:18:39.680 to Ilhan Omar.

00:18:40.760 Ilhan Omar

00:18:41.320 is the congresswoman

00:18:42.280 who represents

00:18:43.320 this Somali community.

00:18:44.260 And I want you to listen

00:18:45.540 to what the prime minister

00:18:46.700 of Somalia

00:18:47.860 says about Ilhan Omar.

00:18:49.060 I mean,

00:19:05.500 this is honestly shocking

00:19:07.880 when he's talking about

00:19:09.360 it's not in the interest

00:19:10.160 of Minnesota,

00:19:10.540 it's like the interest

00:19:11.700 of somebody else.

00:19:12.920 All right.

00:19:13.260 And let me,

00:19:14.520 for our listeners,

00:19:15.320 you'll be forgiven

00:19:16.060 if you thought

00:19:17.800 that might have been

00:19:18.520 the mayor of Minneapolis,

00:19:19.600 Jacob Fry,

00:19:20.220 because they both

00:19:21.240 speak Somalian.

00:19:22.780 And so,

00:19:23.240 you know,

00:19:23.500 it is understandable

00:19:24.560 that the prime minister

00:19:25.280 of Somalia

00:19:25.820 sounds just like

00:19:26.660 the Minneapolis mayor.

00:19:28.360 But here actually

00:19:29.920 is what the Somalian

00:19:32.420 prime minister's name,

00:19:33.500 and it's Hassan Ali Khairi,

00:19:36.520 and he says the following.

00:19:38.300 For those listening on radio,

00:19:39.760 you don't have

00:19:40.080 the English translation.

00:19:40.960 So let me translate

00:19:41.660 what he said.

00:19:43.320 Quote,

00:19:43.680 the interests of Ilhan

00:19:46.180 are not

00:19:47.160 of the American people.

00:19:50.000 The interest of Ilhan

00:19:52.240 is that

00:19:53.480 of the Somalian people

00:19:55.300 and Somalia.

00:19:57.300 That's not me saying that

00:19:58.920 or you saying that.

00:20:00.040 That's the prime minister

00:20:01.360 of Somalia

00:20:02.700 in Minneapolis,

00:20:04.380 in America,

00:20:05.260 telling,

00:20:06.240 presumably Americans,

00:20:07.460 your member of Congress,

00:20:09.060 her interests

00:20:09.700 are not America.

00:20:11.520 They are Somalians

00:20:12.520 and Somalia,

00:20:13.480 and you want to know

00:20:14.480 why so many Democrats

00:20:16.240 look the other way 0.96

00:20:17.220 as the Somalian fraudsters 1.00

00:20:18.900 were robbing

00:20:19.580 the taxpayers blind.

00:20:21.720 It is because

00:20:22.960 they were in on it,

00:20:25.380 they were profiting from it,

00:20:26.620 they were benefiting from it,

00:20:28.320 and this embodies

00:20:30.360 level upon level

00:20:32.140 of corruption.

00:20:33.700 You know,

00:20:33.960 this also goes back

00:20:35.000 to something

00:20:35.340 you and I talked about

00:20:36.440 several months ago

00:20:37.760 when we had

00:20:38.560 then the man

00:20:39.660 in charge of Doge.

00:20:40.720 He was warning us

00:20:42.580 about waste,

00:20:43.320 fraud,

00:20:43.540 and abuse.

00:20:44.400 That was Elon Musk.

00:20:45.520 He actually retweeted

00:20:47.100 the last couple days

00:20:48.380 this segment

00:20:49.780 that we had

00:20:50.460 from him

00:20:50.880 in the Doge office

00:20:51.700 in the EOB

00:20:52.260 next to the White House,

00:20:53.580 and I want to play that

00:20:54.680 for people

00:20:55.160 just to remind you

00:20:56.500 of what he was talking about

00:20:57.740 of entitlement payments

00:20:59.460 going to people

00:21:00.740 just like these Somalians 1.00

00:21:02.600 and illegals

00:21:03.380 and how this was

00:21:05.100 one of the biggest frauds

00:21:06.460 as he described it

00:21:07.320 happening in the history

00:21:08.260 of this country.

00:21:08.920 Take a listen to,

00:21:10.940 again,

00:21:11.240 this is Elon Musk

00:21:12.060 on this show

00:21:13.020 months ago

00:21:13.760 warning about 0.81

00:21:14.980 this exact type

00:21:16.160 of behavior.

00:21:17.740 And the single biggest

00:21:19.140 thing that they're

00:21:19.880 worried about

00:21:21.420 is that

00:21:22.860 Doge is going to

00:21:25.300 turn off

00:21:26.020 fraudulent payments

00:21:27.220 of entitlements.

00:21:28.600 I mean,

00:21:28.980 everything from

00:21:29.500 Social Security,

00:21:30.560 Medicare,

00:21:32.060 you know,

00:21:32.340 unemployment,

00:21:33.760 disability,

00:21:35.380 small business,

00:21:36.140 administration loans,

00:21:37.160 turn them off

00:21:38.200 to illegals.

00:21:40.620 This is the

00:21:41.560 crux of the matter.

00:21:42.740 Yep.

00:21:43.020 Okay,

00:21:43.260 this is the

00:21:44.200 thing that

00:21:45.820 why they really

00:21:46.800 hit my guts 0.99

00:21:47.240 and want me to die. 1.00

00:21:48.960 And do you think 0.51

00:21:49.720 that's billions,

00:21:50.700 hundreds of billions?

00:21:51.660 What do you think

00:21:51.980 the scale is of that?

00:21:53.440 I think

00:21:53.820 across the country

00:21:54.740 it's well worth

00:21:56.100 of 100 billion,

00:21:56.920 maybe 200 billion.

00:21:57.820 so

00:21:59.680 by using

00:22:02.860 entitlements

00:22:03.460 fraud,

00:22:04.340 the Democrats

00:22:04.740 have been able

00:22:05.240 to attract

00:22:06.600 and retain

00:22:07.840 vast numbers

00:22:09.140 of illegal

00:22:10.320 immigrants.

00:22:11.560 And by voters.

00:22:12.860 And by voters,

00:22:14.600 exactly.

00:22:15.940 Basically,

00:22:16.920 bring in

00:22:17.580 10,

00:22:18.840 20 million

00:22:19.440 people

00:22:20.540 who are beholden

00:22:21.840 to the Democrats

00:22:22.700 for government

00:22:23.720 handouts.

00:22:24.200 and will vote

00:22:25.700 overwhelmingly Democrat

00:22:26.800 as has been

00:22:27.780 demonstrated in

00:22:28.320 California.

00:22:29.280 This is

00:22:29.640 It's an election

00:22:31.240 strategy.

00:22:32.100 Yes.

00:22:32.540 It's power.

00:22:33.300 Yes.

00:22:33.700 And it doesn't

00:22:34.580 take much to turn

00:22:35.420 the swing states

00:22:35.980 blue.

00:22:36.880 I mean,

00:22:36.980 often a swing state

00:22:37.760 might be won

00:22:38.400 by 10,

00:22:39.060 20,000 votes.

00:22:40.040 Sure.

00:22:40.480 So the Dems

00:22:41.340 can bring in

00:22:41.860 200,000

00:22:42.860 illegals 0.93

00:22:43.500 and over time

00:22:44.280 get them

00:22:44.980 legalized,

00:22:46.260 not counting

00:22:47.040 any cheating

00:22:47.500 that takes place

00:22:48.100 because there

00:22:48.420 is some cheating.

00:22:49.600 But even

00:22:49.980 without cheating,

00:22:51.320 if you bring

00:22:53.620 in illegals

00:22:54.080 that are 10x

00:22:54.720 the voter

00:22:55.480 differential

00:22:55.940 in a swing state,

00:22:57.220 it will no longer

00:22:58.060 be a swing state.

00:22:58.880 Right.

00:22:59.880 And the Dems 0.83

00:23:00.980 will win all

00:23:01.620 the swing states

00:23:02.240 just a matter of time

00:23:03.060 and America

00:23:05.580 will be

00:23:05.980 permanent

00:23:06.720 deep blue

00:23:07.700 socialist state.

00:23:09.460 The House,

00:23:11.020 the Senate,

00:23:11.660 the presidency

00:23:13.100 and the Supreme

00:23:13.820 Court will all

00:23:14.540 go hardcore Dem.

00:23:16.100 They will then

00:23:16.760 further cement

00:23:17.300 that by

00:23:18.000 bringing in

00:23:19.300 even more aliens

00:23:20.220 so you can't

00:23:21.420 vote your way

00:23:21.840 out of it.

00:23:23.440 Their objective

00:23:24.440 is to make it

00:23:25.020 one-party

00:23:25.560 socialist state

00:23:26.300 and it will be

00:23:27.080 much worse

00:23:27.460 than California

00:23:27.960 because at least

00:23:28.420 California is

00:23:28.960 mitigated by

00:23:29.620 the fact that

00:23:30.280 someone can

00:23:30.640 leave California

00:23:31.120 and go to Texas.

00:23:32.240 Yeah,

00:23:32.560 exactly.

00:23:33.880 But they're going

00:23:34.400 to make

00:23:34.600 everywhere

00:23:35.200 California

00:23:35.840 a bit worse.

00:23:36.720 You know,

00:23:37.140 what's interesting

00:23:37.520 is the way

00:23:37.940 that he described

00:23:38.580 it there,

00:23:38.980 Senator,

00:23:39.300 saying you can't,

00:23:40.200 they'll get to a point

00:23:40.980 where you can't

00:23:41.600 vote your way

00:23:42.160 out of it.

00:23:42.960 It's almost like

00:23:44.100 Elon was describing

00:23:45.240 Minneapolis,

00:23:46.940 Minneapolis,

00:23:47.820 Kepa St. Paul

00:23:48.640 and now,

00:23:50.300 in essence,

00:23:50.920 the entire state

00:23:51.840 is going that way

00:23:52.720 after its total

00:23:53.640 Somali control 1.00

00:23:54.560 locally.

00:23:56.260 Now,

00:23:56.440 look,

00:23:56.740 that is exactly

00:23:57.840 right.

00:23:58.440 I will say,

00:23:59.120 by the way,

00:23:59.640 that the interview

00:24:00.160 we did with Elon Musk,

00:24:01.240 it was an hour-long

00:24:01.960 interview.

00:24:02.440 We did it in the

00:24:03.060 course of two podcasts.

00:24:04.820 It remains one of my

00:24:06.080 favorite pods

00:24:06.660 we've ever done.

00:24:08.080 If you didn't listen

00:24:08.980 to it when it came out,

00:24:10.120 I would encourage you.

00:24:11.040 It was fascinating.

00:24:11.980 We got to ask Elon

00:24:12.880 all sorts of questions

00:24:13.960 about how he built

00:24:15.080 Tesla how he built

00:24:16.460 SpaceX.

00:24:18.260 What are the odds

00:24:19.320 of killer robots

00:24:20.200 killing us all?

00:24:21.120 What's going to

00:24:21.520 happen with AI?

00:24:22.980 I mean,

00:24:23.480 it was fun.

00:24:24.840 It was interesting.

00:24:26.020 Elon is a good friend

00:24:27.180 in that exchange.

00:24:29.180 It was prescient 0.80

00:24:30.300 that he predicted,

00:24:31.600 and it's interesting.

00:24:32.300 He said,

00:24:32.620 north of $100 billion

00:24:33.460 nationwide.

00:24:34.520 We look at

00:24:35.300 Minneapolis

00:24:35.820 and Minnesota,

00:24:37.320 where it's already

00:24:38.320 north of $9 billion

00:24:39.260 in just one state,

00:24:40.560 and I think

00:24:41.220 that prediction

00:24:41.720 of $100 billion

00:24:42.360 or more

00:24:42.920 is very accurate.

00:24:45.280 I'll also say

00:24:46.320 on the point

00:24:47.000 about getting,

00:24:48.660 Elon talked right there

00:24:49.940 about getting people

00:24:51.080 locked into welfare

00:24:52.400 and dependency

00:24:53.140 and making them

00:24:53.740 dependent on the Democrats.

00:24:55.340 There was a tweet

00:24:56.280 that Bill Ackman,

00:24:57.380 the New York investor,

00:24:58.700 put out today

00:24:59.940 that I thought

00:25:00.400 was quite insightful.

00:25:01.920 He said,

00:25:02.580 quote,

00:25:02.980 even assuming

00:25:03.580 there was no fraud,

00:25:05.200 none of this

00:25:05.720 makes sense.

00:25:07.200 How is it

00:25:07.740 that we have been

00:25:08.400 funding billions

00:25:09.680 of dollars of daycare

00:25:11.280 for Somali immigrants

00:25:13.280 in Minnesota,

00:25:15.480 81% of which,

00:25:17.520 according to Gemini,

00:25:19.100 are on welfare?

00:25:20.060 Now get this.

00:25:20.900 Listen to that fact again.

00:25:22.240 81% of Somali immigrants

00:25:24.420 are on welfare.

00:25:26.480 Ackman continues,

00:25:27.700 in other words,

00:25:29.200 if mom and dad

00:25:30.360 don't work,

00:25:32.440 why the need

00:25:33.100 for childcare?

00:25:34.660 Perhaps you could say

00:25:35.640 the welfare statistics

00:25:36.640 include some subsidies

00:25:37.820 for working parents,

00:25:38.940 but still,

00:25:39.740 in this case,

00:25:40.260 the childcare does not

00:25:41.180 appear to be needed

00:25:41.960 as the daycare centers

00:25:43.480 are empty.

00:25:45.040 Furthermore,

00:25:45.700 why is federal-funded

00:25:46.940 childcare provided

00:25:48.140 to recent immigrants

00:25:49.280 on welfare

00:25:50.220 versus long-standing

00:25:51.980 American working families

00:25:53.460 who are not on welfare?

00:25:54.980 How does this make sense?

00:25:56.280 And the answer is,

00:25:56.980 it doesn't.

00:25:57.900 It doesn't unless

00:25:59.260 the goal is to buy votes.

00:26:01.240 And if the goal

00:26:01.880 is to buy votes,

00:26:03.000 it makes perfect sense,

00:26:04.740 and everyone responsible

00:26:06.340 needs to go to jail.

00:26:07.540 Senator,

00:26:07.880 we're talking about

00:26:08.340 accountability

00:26:08.960 and CEOs,

00:26:11.500 they're held accountable

00:26:12.520 when they commit

00:26:13.320 major frauds.

00:26:14.440 Bernie Madoff

00:26:15.000 is one I mentioned

00:26:15.680 a moment ago as well.

00:26:17.660 Is there a real chance

00:26:19.340 that we will see

00:26:20.500 government-elected officials

00:26:22.500 because of this fraud

00:26:24.220 actually be arrested

00:26:25.620 and held accountable

00:26:26.340 for the fact

00:26:27.280 that they're the CEO

00:26:28.060 of the state

00:26:28.620 and they are the ones

00:26:30.260 that allowed this to happen?

00:26:31.480 There were a lot

00:26:32.000 of warning signs.

00:26:33.260 There were whistleblowers

00:26:34.220 that have come forward

00:26:34.980 saying that they had

00:26:35.760 taken to the governor

00:26:36.600 and they were actually

00:26:37.340 punished for being

00:26:38.360 a whistleblower

00:26:39.160 in Minnesota.

00:26:40.480 That's part of this story

00:26:41.620 that can't be overlooked.

00:26:43.240 Look, I hope so,

00:26:44.700 and I believe

00:26:45.360 there will be accountability.

00:26:46.880 We've already seen

00:26:47.840 people being prosecuted,

00:26:49.500 the fraudsters themselves.

00:26:51.000 We've seen DOJ

00:26:52.260 and the FBI

00:26:52.980 promising to go

00:26:53.920 higher up the chain.

00:26:55.480 And I hope

00:26:56.900 and expect that to happen.

00:26:58.180 Now, you know,

00:26:58.840 I will say on Twitter,

00:27:00.600 lots of folks

00:27:01.140 are commenting

00:27:01.660 with our last couple

00:27:02.800 of pods

00:27:03.240 and they're yelling

00:27:03.820 at me going,

00:27:04.460 well, Ted,

00:27:06.060 do something about it

00:27:07.180 and let's get back

00:27:08.220 to the basic constitution

00:27:09.500 and the separation of powers.

00:27:11.580 The only federal entity

00:27:13.440 that can prosecute

00:27:14.560 is the executive branch.

00:27:15.840 That is,

00:27:16.680 the Department of Justice,

00:27:17.800 that is, the FBI.

00:27:18.920 They can bring criminal charges.

00:27:20.480 I serve in the legislature.

00:27:21.940 The legislature

00:27:22.500 cannot prosecute anyone.

00:27:24.300 What we can do

00:27:25.160 is shine a light.

00:27:26.380 What we can do,

00:27:27.100 this podcast

00:27:27.640 reaches millions of people

00:27:29.220 by shining a light

00:27:30.640 and calling for accountability

00:27:31.860 that builds the momentum

00:27:33.560 for then,

00:27:34.200 the executive

00:27:34.780 has to bring the indictments

00:27:36.120 and has to prosecute.

00:27:37.780 And that we're going to do

00:27:38.880 and I fully expect

00:27:39.700 we will also have

00:27:40.680 congressional hearings

00:27:42.220 again to shine a light.

00:27:44.000 Now, a congressional hearing

00:27:45.140 cannot actually indict anyone

00:27:47.500 and put one in jail,

00:27:48.980 but it can draw real attention

00:27:50.540 and it can uncover evidence

00:27:52.340 that helps the executive

00:27:54.600 then prosecute.

00:27:56.480 There are also

00:27:57.080 political consequences

00:27:58.260 and I want to play

00:27:59.380 actually an ad

00:28:00.540 that I saw online.

00:28:01.760 I don't know

00:28:02.060 who put this together,

00:28:03.320 but it's a satirical ad

00:28:04.900 about Tim Walz

00:28:05.780 that gives some of the sense

00:28:07.000 of political consequences

00:28:08.440 that will happen.

00:28:10.560 This just came out today.

00:28:12.360 Give a listen.

00:28:13.400 Tim Walz doesn't seek out fraud.

00:28:15.800 Fraud seeks out Tim Walz.

00:28:18.300 When scammers apply for jobs,

00:28:20.460 they list him as a reference.

00:28:22.920 Under his watch,

00:28:24.060 fraud is Minnesota's

00:28:25.180 fastest growing small business.

00:28:27.820 His biggest export,

00:28:29.400 taxpayer money,

00:28:30.160 delivered to foreign terrorists.

00:28:32.860 If fraud had a frequent flyer program,

00:28:35.320 he would always fly first class.

00:28:38.820 He is Tim Walz, 0.85

00:28:40.440 the most fraudulent man in America. 0.52

00:28:43.720 Tim Walz doesn't seek.

00:28:45.560 I love the,

00:28:46.700 and I remember the most interesting

00:28:47.960 man in the world.

00:28:48.860 That's that theme to that

00:28:49.980 with Dos Equis.

00:28:50.680 Yeah, it's the Dos Equis.

00:28:52.280 Yeah, which is such a great,

00:28:53.820 like great ad series.

00:28:55.240 They did there for years.

00:28:56.100 And by the way, Ben,

00:28:57.600 by the way,

00:28:58.380 by the way,

00:28:59.180 Ben,

00:28:59.540 I have to say,

00:29:00.900 I'm also a fan of bearded Latinos

00:29:03.620 with just, you know,

00:29:05.040 with something to say in the world.

00:29:07.120 There's something.

00:29:07.880 Now I understand your beard

00:29:09.220 like never before.

00:29:10.500 You were trying to be

00:29:11.660 the most interesting man

00:29:12.640 in the world of politics.

00:29:14.000 Okay, now it's full circle.

00:29:15.600 I get it.

00:29:15.920 It's a low bar.

00:29:17.200 It's a low bar.

00:29:18.160 I get it.

00:29:19.140 That's so good.

00:29:20.180 That's I,

00:29:20.600 I'm never,

00:29:21.400 okay,

00:29:22.000 the connection is solidified now.

00:29:24.160 I,

00:29:24.740 that,

00:29:25.000 that ad is hysterical.

00:29:26.700 It's also incredibly accurate.

00:29:29.900 Look,

00:29:30.540 this is,

00:29:31.780 and it's just the beginning.

00:29:33.080 This is only going to get worse.

00:29:34.500 As I said,

00:29:35.740 this has happened in other states.

00:29:37.800 Minnesota,

00:29:38.800 it is a perfect storm

00:29:40.500 because you've got

00:29:41.160 the massive Somali community there,

00:29:43.240 but,

00:29:43.780 but it is happening in other states.

00:29:45.380 We are going to see accountability.

00:29:47.520 And,

00:29:47.580 and listen,

00:29:48.160 I'm really glad

00:29:48.860 the Trump administration,

00:29:50.040 DOJ and the FBI

00:29:50.920 is going after that,

00:29:52.380 this,

00:29:52.680 but also today,

00:29:54.460 HHS,

00:29:55.760 the Trump administration

00:29:56.740 came out with,

00:29:57.740 with,

00:29:57.960 with this announcement.

00:29:59.720 Give a listen.

00:30:00.840 I'm here with

00:30:01.220 Assistant Secretary Alex Adams.

00:30:03.420 Alex oversees

00:30:04.160 the Administration

00:30:04.800 for Children and Families.

00:30:06.980 Intrepid journalists

00:30:07.640 have made shocking,

00:30:08.560 incredible allegations

00:30:09.360 of extensive fraud

00:30:10.760 in Minnesota's

00:30:11.680 childcare programs.

00:30:13.400 We believe

00:30:13.840 the state of Minnesota

00:30:14.600 has allowed scammers

00:30:15.640 and fake daycares

00:30:16.640 to siphon millions

00:30:17.680 of taxpayer dollars

00:30:18.760 over the past decade.

00:30:19.680 My office,

00:30:20.880 ACF,

00:30:21.440 provides Minnesota

00:30:22.340 $185 million

00:30:23.660 in childcare funds

00:30:24.960 each year.

00:30:26.000 That money

00:30:26.400 should be helping

00:30:27.040 19,000 American children,

00:30:29.020 including toddlers

00:30:29.860 and infants.

00:30:31.140 Any dollar

00:30:31.740 stolen by fraudsters

00:30:32.980 is stolen

00:30:33.700 from those children.

00:30:35.300 Yesterday,

00:30:35.880 I spoke directly

00:30:36.820 with the director

00:30:37.520 of the Minnesota

00:30:38.060 Child Care Services office.

00:30:40.120 She could not tell me

00:30:41.000 with confidence

00:30:41.600 whether those allegations

00:30:42.640 of fraud are isolated

00:30:43.840 or whether there's fraud

00:30:44.920 stretching statewide.

00:30:46.320 Today,

00:30:46.800 we have taken

00:30:47.240 three direct actions

00:30:48.480 against the blatant fraud

00:30:49.640 that seems to be rampant

00:30:51.160 in Minnesota.

00:30:52.400 First,

00:30:53.320 I have activated

00:30:54.060 our Defend the Spend system

00:30:55.360 for all ACF

00:30:56.500 childcare payments

00:30:57.300 across America.

00:30:59.020 Starting today,

00:30:59.760 we require a justification,

00:31:01.340 receipt,

00:31:02.120 or photo evidence

00:31:02.880 before we make a payment.

00:31:04.740 Second,

00:31:05.520 I have just signed

00:31:06.520 and sent a demand letter

00:31:07.600 to Governor Walz.

00:31:09.000 I required a full

00:31:09.880 360 review

00:31:11.340 of these centers.

00:31:12.900 This includes

00:31:13.460 attendance records,

00:31:14.500 licenses,

00:31:15.160 complaints,

00:31:15.720 investigations,

00:31:16.560 and inspections.

00:31:17.720 And third,

00:31:18.260 we've launched

00:31:18.760 a dedicated

00:31:19.420 fraud reporting

00:31:20.500 hotline and email address

00:31:21.960 at childcare.gov.

00:31:23.820 Whether you're a parent,

00:31:24.800 a provider,

00:31:25.500 a member of the public,

00:31:26.380 we want to hear from you.

00:31:28.020 Let me be crystal clear,

00:31:29.460 ACF expects

00:31:30.400 every state

00:31:31.140 to uphold

00:31:31.620 the highest standards

00:31:32.700 of oversight,

00:31:34.000 monitoring,

00:31:34.500 and accountability

00:31:35.000 for federal dollars.

00:31:36.620 Minnesota is no exception.

00:31:38.700 We're committed

00:31:39.160 to holding

00:31:39.560 bad actors accountable.

00:31:41.260 Regardless of

00:31:41.760 rancor office,

00:31:42.680 anyone who's involved

00:31:43.540 in perpetrating

00:31:44.240 this fraud

00:31:44.740 against the American people 0.91

00:31:45.820 should expect

00:31:47.120 to be prosecuted

00:31:48.020 to the fullest extent

00:31:49.260 of the law.

00:31:50.300 Senator,

00:31:50.840 this is a step

00:31:51.580 in the right direction.

00:31:52.540 If you look at

00:31:53.100 the president's response

00:31:54.680 and the administration's response,

00:31:56.340 I do think

00:31:57.160 the best part is

00:31:58.080 he's using

00:31:58.860 all of government.

00:32:00.500 We're hearing

00:32:01.100 that the IRS

00:32:01.700 is getting involved,

00:32:02.820 that the Department

00:32:03.380 of Homeland Security,

00:32:04.340 the FBI,

00:32:05.640 they're working

00:32:06.440 with basically

00:32:07.660 every part

00:32:08.900 of our government

00:32:09.740 to fight this fraud.

00:32:11.420 You see this

00:32:11.960 from HHS,

00:32:13.240 and there are some

00:32:14.140 that will say,

00:32:14.740 well,

00:32:14.860 this is unfair

00:32:15.880 because they're stopping

00:32:16.940 the funding

00:32:17.500 and there has to be

00:32:18.360 somebody doing

00:32:19.120 good work in Minnesota.

00:32:20.300 If you're mad,

00:32:21.700 I would say

00:32:22.400 that you should be mad

00:32:23.120 at the Democrats

00:32:23.740 for allowing it

00:32:24.740 to get to the point

00:32:25.400 where they had

00:32:25.840 to stop the funding

00:32:26.620 going to the state

00:32:27.320 of Minnesota.

00:32:28.180 If you're angry,

00:32:29.160 you should be angry

00:32:29.680 at Walt's

00:32:30.280 and you should be angry

00:32:31.120 at every Democrat

00:32:32.400 that allowed this

00:32:33.800 to continue

00:32:34.760 when there was

00:32:35.420 massive amounts

00:32:36.360 of warning signs

00:32:37.180 not for weeks,

00:32:38.240 not for months,

00:32:38.880 but for literally

00:32:39.500 years and years

00:32:40.400 and years.

00:32:41.520 Well, Ben,

00:32:42.280 Jim O'Neill,

00:32:42.860 who just made

00:32:43.340 that announcement,

00:32:44.040 he is the Deputy

00:32:44.680 Secretary of HHS.

00:32:46.080 He's Bobby Kennedy's

00:32:46.940 deputy.

00:32:48.020 Jim has been

00:32:48.620 a good friend of mine

00:32:49.800 for 25 years.

00:32:50.920 Actually,

00:32:51.240 Jim was a groomsman

00:32:52.620 at Heidi's

00:32:53.700 and my wedding,

00:32:54.300 so actually longer.

00:32:54.860 We got married

00:32:55.320 25 years ago,

00:32:56.420 so Jim was a groomsman

00:32:57.340 at our wedding

00:32:57.880 and he's a great friend.

00:33:00.280 He's doing a terrific job

00:33:01.480 as Deputy Secretary

00:33:02.360 at HHS,

00:33:03.300 but that's the kind

00:33:04.320 of leadership we see.

00:33:05.380 Now, it's striking

00:33:06.300 when HHS put this out,

00:33:10.780 immediately Tim Waltz

00:33:12.520 responded,

00:33:13.380 and here's what

00:33:14.240 Tim Waltz said

00:33:15.300 in response.

00:33:16.800 This is Trump's

00:33:18.080 long game.

00:33:19.560 We've spent years

00:33:21.180 cracking down

00:33:22.200 on fraudsters.

00:33:23.400 It's a serious issue,

00:33:24.860 but this has been

00:33:25.880 his plan all along.

00:33:27.560 He's politicizing

00:33:28.660 the issue

00:33:29.200 to defund programs

00:33:30.800 that help Minnesotans.

00:33:33.200 And this is,

00:33:34.140 this is Saul Alinsky

00:33:35.560 like jujitsu

00:33:37.840 of attacking

00:33:39.480 the Trump administration

00:33:40.480 for holding him

00:33:41.360 accountable.

00:33:42.400 Look,

00:33:42.920 Governor Waltz,

00:33:44.320 when you let 0.95

00:33:45.280 Somalian fraudsters 1.00

00:33:46.660 steal $9 billion

00:33:48.220 from taxpayers,

00:33:49.580 you know who doesn't

00:33:50.220 get that?

00:33:51.060 Real Minnesotans

00:33:52.340 who are not fraudsters,

00:33:53.980 real kids,

00:33:55.140 and that's what

00:33:56.120 the Trump HHS

00:33:57.020 emphasized right now

00:33:58.080 is this money

00:33:58.680 is made to go

00:34:00.040 to Americans

00:34:00.720 in need,

00:34:01.920 not to thieves

00:34:03.520 who are supporting

00:34:04.580 Democrats,

00:34:05.060 and we're going

00:34:06.960 to see a whole lot

00:34:07.740 more accountability

00:34:08.380 coming.

00:34:09.540 Yeah,

00:34:09.640 we're going to

00:34:10.000 keep you updated

00:34:10.680 on it.

00:34:10.960 We can promise

00:34:11.620 you that here,

00:34:12.420 so don't miss

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00:34:14.040 Verdict with Ted Cruz

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00:34:27.140 The Senate and I

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Verdict with Ted Cruz - December 31, 2025

Accountability NOW： Prosecute the Minnesota Fraudsters, their Funders & Organizers, and the Politicians Who were Complicit

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