The fraud in Minnesota has put a major spotlight on blue states, with a renewed focus also now trained on Biden-era decisions.
Two major scandals are breaking that will once again just obliterate what little was left of Joe Biden's legacy.
One scandal centers on rental assistance provided by the Biden-era Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), while the other concerns a debunked study that was used by Biden officials to justify opening the border.
The fraud problem in Minnesota dates back as far as 2015, from the reports I have seen, with cases first going to trial back in 2018.
The situation really hit the mainstream media in November, when the New York Times published a piece on the way in which fraud “swamped” the state's social services system, specifically due to the massive wrongdoing within the Somali community.
Now, everyone is digging into various agencies and services, and what they are finding is yet more proof that the concept of DOGE remains badly needed.
The Biden legacy, it also appears, is about to take another major hit from a HUD and border scandal.
A new HUD study was just released documenting “questionable” rental assistance payments made during the Biden administration.
According to the report, there were tens of thousands of deceased tenants receiving rental assistance checks from the federal government.
Trump administration HUD Secretary Scott Turner stated, "A massive abuse of taxpayer dollars not only occurred under President Biden’s watch, but was effectively incentivized by his administration’s failure to implement strong financial controls resulting in billions worth of potential improper payments.”
He continued, "HUD will continue investigating the shocking results and will take appropriate action to hold bad actors accountable. Additionally, the Department is advancing efforts made under President Trump’s first administration to strengthen program integrity and ensure taxpayer-funded assistance serves the vulnerable communities it was intended for."
During the Biden years, many migrant-centered programs that were enacted were based on the claim that refugees and asylum seekers were contributing more to the system than they were taking.
During the first Trump administration, those talking points were debunked, with information emerging that 73% of Somali households had at least one person enrolled in Medicaid, with 89% of Somali families with children enrolled in welfare programs.
The study cited Biden officials omitted key numbers, such as state-paid general assistance programs, and some welfare programs that were only in a limited number of states. I have often referred to this as juking the stats (fans of The Wire will understand that reference).
When Biden was in office, we regularly heard Democrats and the media talking about how much migrants contribute to this country, benefitting the nation overall, but if the Trump report was accurate, that claim was based on juked stats. Now, I have been covering this for more than a decade, and I have regularly stated that the Democrat talking points never seemed to add up and pass the eye test. It now appears that I was right. Numbers can be manipulated to say whatever you want; you just have to know which ones to use.
