Media coverage of the fraud in Minnesota committed by Somalis
It’s not just the story, it’s the coverage. After all, if only the right reads about something, the left doesn’t really have to deal with it at all.
The widespread fraud in Minnesota at the hands of a not-insignificant number of residents of Somali background has been a big story on the right for a long time. But in the MSM, although there’s been some coverage, until recently the Somali angle and the Walz angle have been muted.
Over the years, the story has been especially well-covered at the Powerline blog, as Scott Johnson writes here:
Ryan Thorpe and Christopher Rufo are to be congratulated for the attention they have drawn to the issue of fraud committed by a large cast of Minnesota Somalis. I have devoted attention to the issue over the past eight years, including in a 2018 article I wrote for City Journal headlined “Mogadishu, Minnesota,” and in daily coverage of the two federal trials conducted so far in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud for Power Line.
The Feeding Our Future case involves some $300 million obtained by blatant, gross, and widespread fraud featuring a cast of mostly Somali perpetrators. Driven manifestly by greed, they wanted to get rich fast. The motive of greed permeates these cases.
When the second trial resulted in guilty verdicts that nailed the white ringleader of the fraud and one of her main co-conspirators, I sought to bring the Feeding Our Future case to the attention of a national audience in a Washington Free Beacon article, “From Feeding the Kids to Fleecing the Government: Inside the Country’s Largest Covid Fraud.” What I sought to do in that piece Thorpe and Rufo have done a thousand times over.
President Trump has responded by announcing termination of the Temporary Protected Status of Somali immigrants in the U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed his disgust. Senator Cruz has devoted a podcast to the subject. Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth has called on United States Attorney Daniel Rosen to investigate.
Please read the whole thing. It reminds me in some ways of the British scandal in which many girls in Rotherham were raped by “Asians” (usually Pakistanis) and the authorities looked the other way for years because of fear of being called racist, fears of backlash from the “Asian” community, and incompetence. In Minnesota, some combination of these factors were probably present regarding the Walz administration, the virtue-signaling bureaucrats, and the local press.
But, why is there now more honest coverage in the MSM, especially the NY Times? Is it because of the recent City Journal piece having come to Trump’s attention, and therefore the Times felt it had to play catch-up? I think it was partly that; the article in the Times has this headline and sub-headline: “How Fraud Swamped Minnesota’s Social Services System on Tim Walz’s Watch: Prosecutors say members of the Somali diaspora, a group with growing political power, were largely responsible. President Trump has drawn national attention to the scandal amid his crackdown on immigration.” Seems like that’s pretty much it for the Times – it got to the point where it was difficult not to cover fairly honestly.
But still, the highlighting of Walz’s role surprised me. My guess is that the Times would like him to refrain from any more participation in national politics, he was such a disaster in 2024. I have no evidence for this; it’s just a hunch.
On the other hand, Time magazine has the sort of headline I would expect – the “Republicans pounce” emphasis: “What to Know About Trump’s Targeting of Somalis in Minnesota—and Allegations of Fraud.” (By the way, there haven’t just been allegations; there have been many convictions so far, and more to come.) From the piece:
During his first term, [Trump targeted Somalis] at a rally, saying “leaders in Washington brought large numbers of refugees” to Minnesota “without considering the impact on schools and communities and taxpayers.”
More recently, he claimed in a Nov. 21 Truth Social post that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing,” and he announced he would end Temporary Protected Statuses for Somalis “effective immediately,” causing alarm among the Somali population in Minnesota.
The article does go into the fraud cases, but only towards the end – after many of the people reading it have probably turned away.
“Media coverage of the fraud in Minnesota committed by [the usual suspects]”
Pretty much non-existent…
“…DOGE IS STILL QUIETLY SAVING HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS”—
https://instapundit.com/759636/
Until Trump.
(So I guess DJT can be blamed for this, too…)
As I always advise my kids, read the end of news articles to see what the Editor couldn’t avoid mentioning, but hopes you won’t get to!
I haven’t the foggiest idea of how many people actually read stuff on Time’s website with any regularity. Truthfully I’m barely aware of it’s continued existence. But I think it’s safe to say that an order of magnitude more people will consume the NYT piece, which seems to hew a little closer to reality at any rate. Whatever the reason for the NYT committing acts of journalism, at least this means that more mainstream Democrat voters will be exposed to some truth for once as painful as that might be for them.
Neo’s hunch is my first assumption. Democratic Party media want to rid themselves of Walz.
At the same time, they can use the story to accuse Republicans of racism. A twofer.
It reminds me in some ways of the British scandal in which many girls in Rotherham were raped by “Asians” (usually Pakistanis) and the authorities looked the other way for years because of fear of being called racist, fears of backlash from the “Asian” community, and incompetence.
Yes! My only solace concerning the Rotherham-gate scandal is that it’s not the USA. But that one is so, so stark in its combined craziness and severe consequences, that it is hard to believe. And those consequences are highly politically incorrect as well. (Wasted money snagged by fraudsters is a bit of a yawn, by comparison.) But fear of the racism tag trumps all.
Somalis are perhaps the worst group to bring into our country.
Nothing on CNN, Drudge, or MSNBC at all. Kill the story by ignoring the story.
My opinion re Rotherham, individual police were afraid for their personal physical safety.
No weapons, outnumbered by vicious gangster immigrants who basically have nothing to lose.
And, “Five women who were exploited by grooming gangs in Rotherham as children say they were also abused by police officers in the town at the time.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9y0lvpyqvo
It may be that the Dem establishment wants to ditch Walz. I wonder what role AG Keith Ellison plays in this, and whether legacy media hesitate to bring that up for fear of being called “racist.” Surely the AG has some responsibility to see that state agencies properly handle federal funds. (Ellison was raised Catholic, became a member of Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam in college, to which he belonged for several years, and now claims to be a mainstream Muslim.)
At this time Walz brings nothing to the table save blind loyalty to the Party, and that kind is dime-a-dozen on the left.
It’s a bit like what they used to call back in the Watergate days a “limited modified hangout.” Concede one thing, throw someone expendable under the bus, and hope that that cools off the story.
@fullmoon: My opinion re Rotherham, individual police were afraid for their personal physical safety.
I would add — and because police knew they didn’t have backup from higher authorities.
Otherwise, any criminal group could get away with whatever they wanted by threatening individual police.
To me, by their behavior, it seems obvious that many higher up government officials in Minneapolis and Minnesota are on the Somali payroll, or that they fear for their lives. Typical organized crime tactics.
Kate, I read earlier today that Keith Ellison is investigating the Somali fraudsters, but I can’t locate the link at the moment.
I wonder if Keith Ellison could/can fairly investigate & prosecute other Muslims.
Especially immigrants. Especially a powerful population.
This is the Left deciding that they can no longer hide the crimes of long term Dems. Too many people know, and with the aggressive uncovering of financial foolery, the truth will come out.
So, they have decided to throw expendable politicians on the bonfire. This is a two-for. They can evade further investigation and toss the loser pols overboard.
The losers chosen for sacrifice will be easy to recognize. That would be those in districts/states that otherwise might fall into non-partisan hands. They will anoint some charismatic tool with a sanitized background to replace them, throw astroturfed support around them, and ride that figurehead into the sunset.
The Powerline blog covers lots of MN issues. Several MN attorneys who dig into issues in depth and detail. You have to pay to be VIP in order to comment, but interesting reading.
Kate, Selfy, Marlene,
Keith Ellison is complicit in the fraud. He is on a circa 2022 video meeting with Somali fraudsters, assuring them that he is fighting for them against state agencies they are suing. The problem is, his job is to support and defend those agencies, not attack them.
My read on Ellison is he’s a mini-Obama: hates America and wants to ‘transform’ it even at the cost of destroying it. Same for the little chinadoll, Walz.