Nick Shirley

and not knowing where it's going.

That's essentially what had been happening in Minnesota for years as billions of dollars have been misplaced.

And meanwhile, while people like Governor Tim Walz call people like me white supremacist, delusional conspiracy theorist, he actually decided to drop out of re-election because, I believe, of how deep and extensive this fraud is.

Yeah, and fraud in California might be worse than the fraud in Minnesota.

What makes you say that?

Well, $24 billion went missing for homelessness.

Yeah, it's a major red flag.

They're not smart.

No, but yeah, I mean, it's so obvious, and that's what we saw in Minnesota is how complicit the government has been in enabling this fraud to happen.

Nick Shirley said young people have lost trust in public benefits spending.

A former Minnesota fraud investigator told lawmakers his early recommendations were not taken seriously, leading him to retire in 2019.

Republicans on the panel repeatedly cast blame on Democrats.

though a witness with an independent watchdog called out the Trump administration for undermining anti-fraud efforts by, among other things, firing inspectors general and attacking whistleblowers.

Lawmakers also heard from the head of an autism clinic for children who said her center did nothing wrong, yet now it's at risk of closing because all child care funding has been frozen by the Trump administration, which says it's protecting taxpayer dollars.

Jennifer Lutton, NPR News, Washington.

Witnesses testifying in the House fraud hearing include independent journalist Nick Shirley, who's reporting blew the lid on alleged stolen taxpayer dollars related to Minnesota daycare and other government-funded centers, much of them owned and operated by Somalis.

Since my reporting, the HHS department froze over $185 million, and to this day, not a single business has been able to prove proof of legitimacy.

How fast would you be proving that you are a legitimate business if you have children to actually feed and to take care of?

The hearing, bipartisan in nature, highlighting the need for enhanced investigation, enforcement, and prosecution to ensure offenders, not just in Minnesota but in states across the country, are held accountable.

No, you don't ask me any questions.