Stephen Miller didn’t mince words on Friday night when he told Laura Ingraham that this alleged Somali fraud scandal could eclipse “anybody’s worst nightmare” and rank among the largest financial thefts in American history. His blunt assessment reflected growing alarm inside the federal government and conservative media that what began as scattered probes may reveal systemic, long-running theft from taxpayers.
The scale being reported is breathtaking: disclosures tied to pandemic-era programs, Medicaid autism claims, and a runaway Housing Stabilization Services program suggest losses measured in the hundreds of millions and possibly over a billion dollars. Investigations into Feeding Our Future and other schemes expose how quickly an out-of-control welfare apparatus can be weaponized by profiteers, and why taxpayers are finally demanding answers.
Washington is finally responding, with the Treasury Department stepping in to scrutinize money-transmission networks and deploy investigators to Minnesota, and federal enforcement teams probing businesses that may have been used to launder stolen public funds. This is the kind of all-hands-on-deck federal response conservatives have been calling for for years — because when state systems fail, the feds must step in to protect the people who actually pay the bills.
Some reporting has even traced suspicious remittances sent through hawala networks back to Somalia and raised unproven but troubling questions about whether illicit proceeds helped finance al-Shabaab. Those are explosive allegations that require rigorous proof, and it’s worth noting authorities have not yet filed terrorism-financing charges even as they expand the probe. Americans should demand both swift action and sober, evidence-based public explanations so political spin doesn’t drown out the facts.
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s political leadership is under a harsh glare for what whistleblowers and critics describe as cover-ups, retaliation, and incompetence that allowed fraud to metastasize. Conservatives aren’t interested in collective punishment of innocent families, but neither will we tolerate a one-party culture that excuses graft because it’s inconvenient to admit the state failed its citizens.
This moment should be a turning point: Congress must back investigations, governors must cooperate, and the justice system must throw the book at anyone who stole from the vulnerable to line their own pockets. We owe it to working Americans to secure our safety net, tighten borders and vetting, and restore accountability so taxpayers never again become the bankroll for fraud or, worse, foreign terror.
