A viral video allegedly showing abandoned day cares in Minnesota drew the attention of the FBI and Vice PresidentJD Vance, the latest in a wave of scrutiny on the state amid an ongoingfraud investigation targeting social services.
The video by online conservative influencer Nick Shirley shows him visiting multiple day care centers in Minnesota in that the narrator says are abandoned despite being licensed to serve dozens of children and receiving public funds.
Since being posted on Dec. 26, Shirley's 42-minute long video has racked up over100 million views on X. Vance applauded the video,writing on social media, "This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024@pulitzercenterprizes."
On Dec. 28,FBI Director Kash Patel weighed in, saying the bureau is "aware of recent social media reports in Minnesota," adding that the FBI has already "surged" investigative resources to the state to probe the alleged fraud.
"The FBI believes this is just the tip of a very large iceberg," Patel said. "We will continue to follow the money and protect children, and this investigation very much remains ongoing."
A spokesperson for Minnesota Gov.Tim Walzsaid in a statement to USA TODAY that the governor has taken many steps to address the problem, including hiring an outside firm to audit high-risk programs and supporting criminal prosecutions.
"The Governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action," the spokesperson said. "He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed."
Shirley's videos have increasingly been hailed by the Trump administration. After he and another conservative personality posted video of migrants selling knock-off merchandise in Manhattan, immigration agentslaunched an operation targeting the street vendors.
Shirley has also been criticized for publishing false information. For example, in Shirley's recent viral video, he claims the Minnesota state flag was recently changed to resemble the Somalian flag. The flag's designer and an expert adviser on the redesignrecently told Reuters those claims are false.
The video and responses from the Trump administration are the latest developments in a scandal that has rocked Minnesota state politics and spawned multiple federal probes. The pandemic-era fraud cases first made headlines in 2022, but they gained new attention in recent months as Trump has gone after Walz and the state's Somali community.
Since 2022, federal prosecutors have charged 78 people for their suspected roles in the $250 million fraud scheme involving federal nutrition aid, many of them U.S. citizens of Somali descent. At least 60 suspects have been convicted.
The latest comments from Vance and Patel also come after federal prosecutors suggested more than $9 billion may have been stolen from more than a dozen Medicaid-funded programs in Minnesota, including initiatives meant to tackle child hunger and housing insecurity.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson on Dec. 18 announced the staggering figure and said fraud is "swamping Minnesota and calling into question everything we know about our state." Thompson did not detail how authorities reached the $9 billion figure, which far surpasses the amount that those charged have been accused of stealing.
Thompson cited the figure during a news conference in which he announced charges againstfive more people accused of defraudingthe Medicaid-funded Housing Stabilization Services program.
Walz shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program in October after it was found to be vulnerable to fraud, according to federal prosecutors. The program was designed to "help people with disabilities, including seniors and people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders, find and maintain housing," the Department of Justice says.
In astatement posted on X, Walz celebrated the arrests.
"Today's charges are exactly the type of strong action we need from prosecutors to put fraudsters behind bars," he said, adding, "We will not tolerate fraud, and we will continue to work with our federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught."
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:FBI, JD Vance respond to video alleging daycare fraud in Minnesota
