A group of Fox News hosts were taken to task over selective outrage as a federal fraud investigation ramps up in Minnesota.
The probe into fraud at the state’s social services programs has gained the attention of top Trump administration officials as well as GOP lawmakers.
But as political strategist Jessica Tarlov noted, members of the administration enraged over widespread fraud reports in Democratic Governor Tim Walz’s state have allowed some of the biggest convicted fraudsters in the country off the hook.
Tarlov did not attempt to downplay the fraud probe underway in Minnesota and slammed any criminal activity, but she also brought receipts.
“Donald Trump and his administration have not taken fraud seriously,” she told her Fox News colleagues during a segment on The Five.
She noted that Philip Esformes, a former healthcare and nursing home executive convicted in a $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme, one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes in U.S. history, had his 20-year prison sentence commuted by Trump during his first term.
She also pointed a finger at another convicted fraudster, former private equity executive David Gentile. Gentile was found to have defrauded thousands of investors in a $1.6 billion scheme, but he was granted clemency by the president last month.
Tarlov also brought up Trump University, which the president started before he entered politics. It reached a $25 million settlement after being sued for defrauding its students.
“Do not go out there and say this was all a liberal problem if you don’t want to look under the hood of your own car,” Tarlov said.
The fraud in Minnesota’s social service programs has been covered by The New York Times for years, as some of the federal charges date back to 2022.
But it blew up in MAGA world in the past few days after a video alleging fraud at child care centers went viral. At the same time, there’s been a ramp of federal resources, including the FBI and immigration officials in the state, which is home to the country’s largest Somali population.
The video, which did little to prove its allegations of fraud at child care centers, gained the attention of Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance, who has ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric as the investigation unfolds.
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors announced they were expanding the fraud investigation with billions in 14 social services programs in the state.
So far, 98 people have been charged in the years-long investigation, which began during the Biden administration. Sixty people have been convicted. Others are still awaiting trial or have left the country.
On Monday, Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer called for the denaturalization and deportation of every Somali found to have engaged in fraud in his state.
