Free Republic

In the aftermath of the massive Feeding Our Future scandal and broader allegations of systemic fraud in Minnesota’s social programs, a troubling theme has emerged: accusations of racism repeatedly used to deflect scrutiny, intimidate investigators and stall accountability.

As we’ve reported, federal prosecutors have uncovered massive fraud in Minnesota’s federally funded food child nutrition programs, where scammers – many of them of Somalian descent – allegedly ripped off over a billion dollars from taxpayers. Some are predicting the end of Gov. Tim Walz’s political career, as this went down under his watch, and it’s been revealed that Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05) held her campaign victory party in 2018 at a restaurant owned by a man who was convicted in March on 21 counts related to the scandal, including wire fraud, federal programs bribery and money laundering. Not a...

PULSE POINTS❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Trump administration is terminating “family reunification” (chain migration) parole (FRP) programs for immigrants from several nations and ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ethiopia.👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and President Donald J. Trump.📍WHEN & WHERE: Announced Friday via a Federal Register notice and DHS press release.💬KEY QUOTE: “Parole was never intended to be used in this way, and DHS is returning parole to a case-by-case basis as intended by Congress.” – DHS news release.🎯IMPACT: FRP programs for Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras will...

Senator Ted Cruz has weighed in on Representative Ilhan Omar and issued her with a warning after allegations have swirled that the progressive congresswoman married her brother so he could become an American citizen. Cruz shared an article on X, accusing Omar of the reported sham marriage, writing: 'If this is true, then Omar faces criminal liability under three different statutes.' The Republican senator then cited three US laws, including Federal Marriage Fraud, State Incest Laws, and Tax Fraud. Federal Marriage Fraud prohibits any American from knowingly entering into a marriage to evade immigration laws. Meanwhile, all state incest laws...

The Trump Education Department has been focusing on identifying student loan fraud and they have a lot to show for their efforts. They just announced that they have uncovered more than a billion dollars in fraud. Trump’s Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, may be the last cabinet official of her kind if Trump has his way. Like many Republicans going all the way back to Ronald Reagan, Trump wants to do away with the department completely. McMahon and Trump have successfully done away with a number of horrible Bide-era policies on student loans and financial aid, which has helped them to...

A whistleblower claims that the Somali migrant community in Ohio is also involved in the same sort of massive social services funding fraud being uncovered day-by-day in Minnesota. Ohio attorney Mehek Cooke says that the same sort of theft of public funding seen in Minnesota has been occurring in the Buckeye State for more than a decade, Fox News reports. Cooke also accuses Ohio doctors of “rubber stamping” the fraud by failing to do any due diligence on those who are filing for aid. “They’re just rubberstamping a lot of these. And then that same individual, a week later, that’s...

Another one bites the dust.Per a new item from the New York Post, another BLM leader has been hit with a slew of financial crimes charges, centered around an alleged “embezzlement scheme” totaling millions of dollars:The executive director of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Oklahoma City was indicted for allegedly siphoning off more than $3 million in grants to bankroll luxury vacations, shopping sprees, groceries, a car, and six properties over five years, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52, was slapped with 20 wire fraud counts and five money laundering charges for funneling $3.15 million meant for...

This week, the lingering allegations over the marital history of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) took an ominous step when Border Tsar Tom Homan publicly acknowledged that the government is looking into the matter.Rep. Omar has long denied that she married her brother to gain his entry into the United States, but the allegation has continued to rage on the Internet and among her critics.The question is whether this is a substantive case of fraud or defamation.Homan stated that he was investigating whether Omar committed immigration fraud, but also noted that the statute of limitations has been an issue.In his...

97 percent of inpatient hospital markets lack meaningful competition....From 2014 to 2026, individual market premiums are up 129 percent, employer-sponsored insurance premiums are up 68 percent, and general inflation is up 39 percent...In 2026, the average deductible for an individual on a bronze plan is $7,476, and the average deductible for an individual on a silver (no CSR) plan is $5,304....The federal taxpayer share of the premium increased gradually from 68 percent of the premium in 2014 to nearly 80 percent in 2020. As a result of the COVID credits, the federal taxpayer share of the premium reached 93 percent...

Minnesota Governor and failed Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz blamed white men for the widespread fraud in the Somali community. It was recently revealed that Walz and the Democrats allowed a $1 billion heist to take place largely through the Somali community in Minnesota. The massive scandal happened on Tim Walz’s watch. The GOP-led Oversight Committee is conducting an investigation into the Somali fraud ring.

Maryland will launch a study to analyze the economic impacts of climate change to determine the costs associated with storm damage and health outcomes. The move is part of the Moore-Miller administration's strategic approach to investing in a clean energy economy and modernizing the state's energy infrastructure. "While the federal government has spent the past year rolling back climate protections and driving up energy costs, Maryland is taking a responsible step toward understanding the true price tag of climate change," Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement. "This study will give us a clear, data-driven look at the real burden...

$79 BILLION TAX DOLLARS Stolen from PPP by Applicants who used Barbie Dolls as IDs

Prosecutors allege the misconduct began during the period when national bail funds allowed BLM OKC to retain portions of returned bail money to build a revolving bail fund or support its stated mission. In 2022, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, a separate national organization not affiliated with BLM OKC, came under scrutiny after New York Magazine reported that it had purchased a $6 million California property using donor funds. Internal memos showed senior leaders discussing how to manage questions about the house, which the group said was intended to serve as creative and community space. The reporting ignited debate...

The recent federal indictment of Dana Williamson — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff — should come as no surprise: It’s the latest example of a thoroughly corrupt Sacramento political culture that afflicts both parties. But as bad as you may think the corruption is, I can tell you first-hand that it is much worse. For Democrats, supermajority status has resulted in a “might makes right” attitude of abusing their power to impose their will — and to help themselves. Worse, because Democrats control almost all the levers of state and local law enforcement (including the state attorney...

Marjorie Taylor Greene is returning to "The View" for another round. The Republican congresswoman from Georgia will sit for a second interview on the ABC talk show Jan. 7, Executive Producer Brian Teta revealed on his "Behind the Table" podcast Wednesday. Perhaps by little coincidence, Greene's last day in Congress is scheduled for Jan. 5.

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened Friday to yank $73 million in federal highway funding meant for New York after an audit found more than half of the Empire State’s commercial trucking licenses were issued to foreign-born drivers in the US illegally. “What New York does is if an applicant comes in and they have a work authorization — for 30 days, 60 days, one year — New York automatically issues them an eight-year commercial driver’s license,” Duffy said during a press conference at DOT headquarters in DC Friday. “That’s contrary to the law.” “But we also found that...

On the heels of Minnesota’s still-unfolding massive social services fraud scandal, a whistleblower is exposing a similar scheme occurring among the Ohio Somali community, which she says dates back over a decade and totals millions in stolen taxpayer dollars. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Mehek Cooke, an Ohio attorney and conservative commentator, said that "Minnesota was just the tip of the spear." She said that providers within the Ohio Somali community have confided to her that they have been pressured to join in a "massive" Medicaid fraud scheme that involves doctors "rubber stamping" home health care payouts to...

As the Trump administration is reportedly preparing to deploy 100 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Minnesota, home to an estimated 87,000 people with Somali ties, Lutheran church leaders are pushing back against federal immigration enforcement actions with evangelism. Last Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said ICE agents are being deployed to the Twin Cities to specifically target the Somali community, which has faced allegations of rampant fraud involving the state’s benefit system after federal prosecutors charged dozens of individuals with stealing over $300 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota-based nonprofit....

(NewsNation) — Taxpayers in Maine have been bilked out of millions of dollars from the state’s Medicaid program, according to a whistleblower who in an interview with NewsNation likened the case to a burgeoning scandal in Minnesota, where people in the Somali community are accused of defrauding taxpayers of $1 billion meant for social services. The whistleblower, Christopher Bernardini, describes himself as a former “billing guru” of Gateway Community Services — a health services contractor that he says defrauded Maine’s Medicaid program. Bernardini worked for Gateway from May 2018 until April 2025 as a program coordinator. Bernardini alleges that Gateway...

An outraged San Diego couple say their Tesla's cameras caught a crooked parking cop ticketing their legally parked vehicle on camera. Vanessa Pearce shared video footage of her trip to the East Village of the California city on the afternoon of December 6, where a parking enforcement officer allegedly issued her a fraudulent citation. The now viral interaction with the unidentified cop has garnered more than 800,000 views and was captioned, 'When your own city tries to scam you! Do better, San Diego!' Before the couple was written the $85 parking citation, they were parked near the Izola Bakery on...