Vice President J.D. Vance has reportedly uncovered over $6 billion in potential fraud after President Donald Trump tapped him to lead a nationwide task force meant to root out criminal activity.
The task force has identified $6.3 billion in government contracts linked to potentially fraudulent businesses, The Daily Caller reported Wednesday.
“The task force, alongside the General Services Administration (GSA), are beginning to send out letters to nearly 400 businesses with government contracts that they believe could be fraudulent,” according to the report. The investigation found 895 contracts awarded to 392 businesses, totaling $6.3 billion, “with $3 billion still left to be rewarded.”
These businesses will have 30 days to prove their legitimacy and must provide evidence of a real, physical location where their operations take place.
The task force was created shortly after reports circulated of mass fraud that was uncovered in Minnesota earlier this year, when multiple day care centers — many run by Somali immigrants — were found to have no children enrolled, yet were still receiving massive quantities of taxpayer funds.
The Department of Justice estimated that several billion dollars have been stolen by phony organizations in Minnesota alone. The DOJ cited examples of waste and mismanagement of social services programs meant to provide food and health care for the needy.
In his executive order establishing the task force, Trump wrote, “The staggering fraud and waste in Minnesota alone is a case in point. Federal prosecutors in the State estimate that Medicaid fraud in recent years could total in the billions. Nearly 9 percent of the roughly $866 million spent on food stamps in Minnesota each year is estimated to be spent in error.”
The commander in chief also addressed fraud numbers during a speech in February, adding that, “There’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. We have all the information and, in actuality, the number is much higher than that.”
The majority of the contracts that are currently under scrutiny were awarded under the Biden administration, a senior administration official told The Daily Caller.
“The fact that these taxpayer dollars went out without verifying if the contractors and vendors were even real or lawful businesses is a disgrace and yet another example of how the previous administration flouted basic anti-fraud guardrails,” a senior White House official told the news outlet.
Vance met with his new anti-fraud team for the first time March 27.
A spokesperson for the vice president added, “[The] task force will leave no stone unturned in the hunt for fraud. If fraudsters are robbing hardworking Americans of their tax dollars and services, we will find them.”
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota will be a main target of the new group for alleged immigration fraud, joining fellow Minnesota Democrats Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Walz and Ellison were grilled before Congress in March over what they knew, and when they knew it, concerning the recent fraud scandals.
One lawmaker, Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who also hails from Minnesota, said during the hearing that if allegations against Ellison are proven to be true, he belongs in jail.
“Mr. Ellison, my concern is that you actively obstructed this investigation in exchange for campaign donations — a quid pro quo. If these concerns are proven to be true, you should be disbarred, and you should go to jail,” Emmer declared.
Walz’s actions were also put under a microscope during that same hearing, when GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio pressed the former vice-presidential nominee about the Feeding our Future fraud case.
Jordan accused Walz of lying about restarting payments to the organization after they were initially suspended, saying, “Why didn’t you just tell the truth about the Feeding Our Future program? This program, in my understanding, received $3 million the first year, [and] within a couple years was getting $200 million of taxpayer money. Whistleblowers raised concerns, as the chairman said. Auditors raised concerns. Everybody raised concerns.”
“March 30, 2021, the payments are stopped, and a little over a month later, the payments are restarted,” he continued. “Why didn’t you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?”
Walz claimed the payments were resumed due to a court order, but a statement on the Minnesota judicial branch web site explained that no such order was ever issued.
“Well, somebody’s lying!” Jordan proclaimed. “Somebody’s lying. Because you can’t say the court ordered you to restart the payments, and then the court says, ‘We didn’t order you to restart the payments.’ So either you’re lying, or the court’s lying. And I’m just asking you, which one is it?”
Walz claimed it “simply” came down to a “misinterpretation,” but Jordan disagreed, saying Walz likely feared “political backlash” from the Somali community.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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