Fake Autism Centers in Fraudesota, Elon Musk's Warning & Will we See Jail Time for High Lvl Officials Week In Review

Summary

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Verdict with Ted Cruz: Week in Review

Episode: Fake Autism Centers in Fraudesota, Elon Musk's Warning & Jail Time for High Level Officials
Date: January 3, 2026
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz & Ben Ferguson
Guest Investigator: Nick Shirley

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Episode Overview

This "Week in Review" episode dives into recent exposés on massive state fund fraud in Minnesota, especially concerning fake daycare and autism centers, alleged money laundering through home healthcare companies, and the broader political implications. Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson are joined by investigator Nick Shirley, sharing on-the-ground findings. The episode also revisits previous warnings by Elon Musk about entitlement fraud and debates the prospects of political accountability, up to and including potential jail time for elected officials.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fraud in Minnesota Child Care & Health Care Systems

[03:06-14:22]

• Undercover Investigations:
  • Nick Shirley’s fieldwork reveals a pattern: numerous daycare and autism centers receiving millions in state funds, with little evidence of actual children or operations.
  • Many centers are shuttered, have empty lots, or refuse enrollment—sometimes immediately reopening under new licenses after violations.
• Fraudulent Repetition:
  • Example: "Creative Minds Daycare" was shut down for violations ($2.45 million received), immediately reopened as "Super Kids Daycare" at the same address—no kids present ([07:26]).
  • Quote: "Millions and millions of dollars. And again, the kids are missing. Where are the kids?" — Nick Shirley ([08:57])
• Health Care Company Scams:
  • Discovery of a single building housing 14 Somali-owned home healthcare companies, each collecting funds yet clearly not offering services ([09:28-12:09]).
  • Estimated $50-60 million annually funneled through such buildings ([12:05]).
• Government & Law Enforcement Response:
  • Investigators are met with police intervention and accused of harassment when asking basic questions.
  • Quote: "The police show up, not to arrest these people that are just lynching our tax dollars... Instead, when a 22, 23 year old YouTuber who's a hero is the guy they're harassing." — Ben Ferguson ([13:00])
• Political Cover:
  • Cruz and Ferguson allege officials are covering for scammers due to political donations and vote blocs.

2. Elon Musk’s Warning on National Entitlement Fraud

[17:58-21:20]

• Elon Musk (flashback interview):
  • Re-emphasizes his view that massive quantities of entitlement payments (Social Security, Medicare, SBA loans, etc.) are funneled to fraudulent recipients, including illegal immigrants.
  • Scale: "I think across the country it's well north of 100 billion, maybe 200 billion." — Elon Musk ([19:18])
  • Argues that entitlement fraud has been used as an election strategy to import and retain voting blocs.
  • Quote: "Their objective is to make it one party socialist state... it'll be much worse than California, because at least California is mitigated by the fact that someone can leave." — Elon Musk ([20:55])
• Bill Ackman Tweet Discussion:
  • Raises the paradox of empty daycares being funded despite the high proportion (81%) of Somali immigrants in Minnesota being on welfare ([22:10]).
  • Cruz's takeaway: Supports fraud-buying votes narrative—"The answer is, it doesn't [make sense], unless the goal is to buy votes." — Ted Cruz ([23:27])

3. Will High-Level Officials See Jail Time?

[23:32-26:54]

• Prospect for Accountability:
  • Cruz underscores the DOJ and FBI are investigating, but prosecution requires executive branch action, not legislative ([24:07]).
  • Congressional Role: Shine light and fuel momentum for accountability. Possibility of hearings that could aid prosecutions, but not substitute for them.
• Satirical Political Ad:
  • A parody ad calling Governor Tim Walz "the most fraudulent man in America," used to discuss political repercussions and the culture of impunity ([26:10]).
• Quote: "This is only going to get worse... but we are going to see accountability." — Ted Cruz ([26:54])

4. Federal Action & Policy Fallout

[27:36-31:14]

• HHS Crackdown:
  • Assistant Secretary Alex Adams announces new safeguards, payment justifications, full reviews, and a dedicated fraud hotline.
  • Emphasizes intent to prosecute bad actors, regardless of rank ([28:52]).
• Political Blowback:
  • Governor Tim Walz accuses Trump administration of politicizing the issue ([30:41]).
  • Cruz rebuts: "When you let Somalian fraudsters steal $9 billion from taxpayers, you know who doesn’t get that? Real Minnesotans who are not fraudsters. Real kids." ([31:15])
  • Tightening of federal funds to Minnesota until stricter oversight is implemented.

5. Political Context: Ethnic Voting Blocs & Allegiance

[32:59-39:35]

• Question of Motivation
  • Ben Ferguson and Ted Cruz argue financial and voting power drive political reluctance to address fraud.
  • Use of video where the mayor of Minneapolis is seen dancing with a Somali flag as example of political pandering ([34:32]).
• Congresswoman Ilhan Omar & Somali PM:
  • Somali PM Hassan Ali Khairi, with Ilhan Omar present, states her interests are “not of the American people … but Somalia.”
  • Quote: "You want to know why so many Democrats look the other way as the Somalian fraudsters were robbing the taxpayers blind? It is because they were in on it." — Ted Cruz ([39:28])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On complacency:
  • "They don't want to shut them down. They want to cover it up... All right, to all the corporate reporters who've done no journalism for years except attacking Donald Trump... Here's the next place the story's going." — Ted Cruz ([04:12])
• On state leadership:
  • "How in the world can you burn through $24 billion in two years? This is how. Right here. This is a huge part of it." — Nick Shirley ([09:55])
• On repercussions for fraud:
  • "Anyone who's involved in perpetrating this fraud against the American people should expect to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." — Assistant Secretary Alex Adams ([29:01])
• On political strategy:
  • "Their objective is to make it one party socialist state. And it'll be much worse than California..." — Elon Musk ([20:55])
• On vote-buying via social services:
  • "It doesn't unless the goal is to buy votes. And if the goal is to buy votes, it makes perfect sense. And everyone responsible needs to go to jail." — Ted Cruz ([23:27])
• On the investigation’s limitations:
  • "The only federal entity that can prosecute is the executive branch... The legislature cannot prosecute anyone. What we can do is shine a light." — Ted Cruz ([24:07])
• On the cultural shift:
  • "That is the most true. Effeminate, prancing, ass kissing... Like, unbelievably, he's just dancing and waving a Somali flag." — Ted Cruz on Mayor Frey ([34:51])
• On Ilhan Omar’s loyalty:
  • "The interest of Ilhan are not of the American people. The interest of Ilhan is that of Somalia." — Quoting Somali PM ([39:14])

---

Important Timestamps

• [03:06-14:22]: Minnesota fraud exposé with Nick Shirley
• [17:58-21:20]: Elon Musk on national entitlement fraud
• [24:07-26:54]: Discussion of possible criminal accountability for officials
• [27:36-31:14]: HHS steps in; federal and political fallout
• [34:32-39:35]: Political allegiance, ethnic voting blocs, and Ilhan Omar segment

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Tone & Style Notes

• The tone throughout is combative, direct, and at times satirical, particularly when lampooning state officials and exposing what the hosts deem as corruption or incompetence.
• Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson use rhetorical questions, sarcasm, and vivid imagery to drive their points home and highlight the scale of purported fraud and what they see as willful political complicity.

---

Summary

This episode of "Verdict with Ted Cruz" presents a deep-dive investigation into large-scale fraud in Minnesota’s welfare-funded daycare and healthcare industries, alleging that state and city officials knowingly ignored or enabled fraud for political and financial gain. Highlights include undercover reporting exposing fake child care centers, debate about the national scale of welfare fraud (with reference to Elon Musk), and a strong call for criminal accountability at the highest levels of state government. Federal action is underway, with the Trump administration touted as bringing necessary scrutiny and reforms. The hosts frame the issue as both a financial scandal and a calculated political strategy to bolster a voting bloc, using striking examples and pointed satire to illustrate what they argue is systematic corruption.

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Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

It is Verdict with Ted Cruz Week in Review. Ben Ferguson with you. And these are the stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. It all deals with fraud in Minnesota. First up, Nick Shirley goes to the autism centers to expose the massive fraud at these daycare centers as well as what does this mean? We'll explain it all to you. Also, when Elon Musk was in charge of doge, he had a major warning that this is exactly what we are going to find. He talked about in an interview with the senator and I and we're going to play it back for you. And finally, the big question everyone's asking, will people actually be arrested, go to prison? It's the Weekend Review and it starts right now. I'm not crazy to say this, and if you disagree with me, please tell me why. If you are a person that is in a position of power as an elected official, you see this video, wouldn't the first thing you would do would to get together with your staff that then we get together with law enforcement, then immediately send out teams like Monday morning to go to all these places and investigate immediately.

[Ted Cruz]

They don't want to shut them down. They want to cover it up. They want to say, no, no, it wasn't us. Wasn't us. We're not responsible. And this is the scale. It is so brazen, they can't deny it. And by the way, all right, to all the corporate reporters who've done no journalism for years except attacking Donald Trump for everything he says and does, here's the next place the story's going. Here's where the puck is going.

[Guest Commentator]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

How much of that money has gone directly into the campaign coffers of the elected Democrats? How much is Tim Walton?

[Ben Ferguson]

It's a great point.

[Ted Cruz]

How Much of the US Senators made, how much of the members of the House made, how much is the mayor made, how much is the city council made, how many millions of dollars Were they buying political protection in order to enable them to steal billions? All right, I want to play one more segment. Yep. And this is a. This is a segment where Nick Shirley tries to go to another daycare center. Woman answers the door. He asks if he can sign up his son Joey. That she says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We don't take children here. And then he says, all right, let's branch out. We've struck out at every daycare center, and these are all within a couple blocks of each other, all of these fake storefronts. He said, let's go to an autism center. And we've seen an explosion of autism centers. And I want you to watch and listen to what happens when he goes to an autism center that once again is being paid millions of dollars by the taxpayers of Minnesota. Give a listen. Give a watch.

[Ben Ferguson]

Little Joey would not be accepted to that daycare.

[Nick Shirley]

Joey's still homeless.

[Ben Ferguson]

Joey's still looking for daycare. And because little Joey couldn't get into a daycare, we went to an autism center. As they have been popping up everywhere as a rise of autism has occurred here in Minnesota because of the government funds that they are receiving, I tried to check my son Joey into an autism center. We've been going to a lot of these daycare centers. We're trying to find a spot for our little boy Joey, but we thought maybe we could check them in the autism center because now the daycare centers are open. Yeah. And how many kids do you guys have at this autism center? I can't give you a number. Like, more than five, probably. Probably. So you don't really know. What do you guys think about, like, the fraud that's been labeled on the autism centers here? What do you guys do? Think about the fraud or how come the autism centers are popping up? Are you a news reporter? My name is Nick. We're doing a little documentary, trying to find little Joey a spot to put himself in one of these centers here. Because there's the fraud. Yeah, because we want to make sure we're going to legit business if we're going to bring our little boy Joey here.

[Ted Cruz]

This is not a. But that's our number.

[Ben Ferguson]

We can't let you guys names. Okay, thank you. So once again, little Joey, he can't even go to daycare, and now they won't even accept him if he has autism.

[Nick Shirley]

And again, no kids. Couldn't tell you how many kids they serve.

[Ben Ferguson]

After being able to provide no evidence of them actually being an autism center in a place where a child could go, they shut the door and we headed to the next fraudulent daycare center that was just around the corner. We're on to the next location. We're still trying to find little Joey a place to go to get some daycare.

[Nick Shirley]

So where we're going now is a place called Super Kids Daycare Center. Interestingly, this daycare center was shut down when it was called Creative Minds Daycare and it had received $2.45 million this fiscal year 2025. They had to shut down because there were so many violations. And they went and they just reopened under a new license and they renamed the center Super Kids Daycare center llc.

[Ben Ferguson]

So they got shut down, then started on the other one. Literally the next day, Creative Minds Daycare, $2.45 million got sent to this daycare center. We have empty parking lot. We do have a bus here. This is different. We'll see if we see anybody. I knocked on the door. Absolutely nobody was inside. And once again, no children could be heard and anywhere. So, David, once again, another child daycare center. We have a bus out here. No one's inside. License for over 50 kids. No children anywhere. But yet millions of dollars every single year.

[Nick Shirley]

So the sign says Creative Minds Daycare. They got in so much trouble, they had so many violations that they had to shut down and they reopened the next day. Under Super Kids Daycare center, you see 3801 Portland. 3801 Portland, which is where we are.

[Ben Ferguson]

So that's fraud right there alone.

[Nick Shirley]

Millions and millions of dollars. And again, the kids are missing. Where are the kids?

[Ben Ferguson]

You would think if they had the same address that whoever's inside working at the capitol here inside of Minnesota would say, oh, maybe that's a red flag.

[Nick Shirley]

They just write the check to human services. They got to clean out the whole bunch. They're the ones who enabled this fraud. How can you not look and say, wait a minute, this, these two are registered at the same address on top.

[Ben Ferguson]

Of all the child care centers. That's just only a small piece of the fraud. What other fraud are they committing here in Minnesota?

[Nick Shirley]

So another major piece of the fraud is the home health care industry. Where we're going now is a building that has 14 Somali owned home health care companies in the same building.

[Ben Ferguson]

14 of the same health care companies in one building.

[Nick Shirley]

14 home health care companies with different names in the same building.

[Ben Ferguson]

How bad has Tim Waltz managed the budget here inside of Minnesota?

[Nick Shirley]

So the last biennium, we had an $18 billion surplus. This biennium, we have a 6 billion billion dollar deficit. That's a $24 billion swing in one biennium. How in the world can you burn through $24 billion in two years? This is how. Right here. This is a huge part of it.

[Ben Ferguson]

And so would you say a lot of that is fraud that's taking place here in Minnesota?

[Nick Shirley]

Absolutely. I would say better than.90% of it is absolute outright fraud.

[Ben Ferguson]

And a large percentage of this fraud is from these health care companies that are charging the state millions of dollars while they actually aren't providing anything. In fact, the FBI just did a raid a few days ago on a building similar to the one we are about to enter. Inside of this building, there were 14 of nearly the exact same businesses offering the exact same services. Right here you have a list of all of the healthcare companies. Loads of them. Right here. We want healthcare. Yes, we'd like to speak about getting health care here. Why can't I get healthcare here? Warning, you are under video surveillance. No trespassing. Security armed. This is the strangest place I've ever been to get health care. Just a bunch of different places. Healthcare here. Healthcare right here. Another healthcare company right here. There are three healthcare companies inside of this building. Right here in this room of 7C. Now, we have another Helping Hands, Home Care LLC. Another healthcare company present. Help right here. We're looking for the best rates of health care here inside this building because we have so many options. Who can we talk about getting the best health care?

[Nick Shirley]

I don't know.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, Sorry. All right. We will not get any healthcare here. David. This is one of the stranger places I've ever been, literally.

[Guest Commentator]

Healthcare.

[Ben Ferguson]

Every door you go to, yet nobody will give you a rate. How much money you think has been funneled through this building every year?

[Nick Shirley]

I would say 50 to 60 million at least.

[Ben Ferguson]

And finally, we were accepted into one of the daycare centers and they actually took down information to give us a rate. However, when we left, we were then met with the police. We received a complaint that someone matching your description. We're in this building harassing the individuals who here. Oh, we're just seeing. We're checking out the rates for healthcare because there's 14 healthcare companies inside this building, so.

[Nick Shirley]

Okay, that's not what he said.

[Ben Ferguson]

He said there's 14 companies here, and he's trying to assume because they're Somali providers.

[Ted Cruz]

Everyone here is fraudulent.

[Ben Ferguson]

So he's here with some kind of, like, propaganda. No, we're just checking.

[Ted Cruz]

This is. This is a area that we're allowed to enforce trespassing ordinance.

[Ben Ferguson]

Is there any other reason that you guys are here? Well, we were checking rates.

[Ted Cruz]

No, he's not.

[Ben Ferguson]

We were checking rates. We asked for rates.

[Josh Whalen]

No, you're not.

[Ted Cruz]

Okay, I'm gonna have. If you guys are all good, we're gonna step outside and we can continue this conversation.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, let's leave.

[Ted Cruz]

So.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right.

We're getting escorted out right now. The police have arrived. We were checking out the rates, seeing what was happening inside this building. No one would really speak with us. We did go inside the one daycare center, and she actually did give us rates for childcare. Much respect to that lady. What's the problem, officer?

[Ted Cruz]

Well, so again, we've been getting reports from there now. Multiple individuals that you guys were harassing.

[Ben Ferguson]

Individuals who.

[Ted Cruz]

At the end of the.

[Ben Ferguson]

Day, this is private property.

[Ted Cruz]

And it's one that people are allowed.

[Ben Ferguson]

To ask you to leave.

And it's also one.

[Ted Cruz]

The Minneapolis Police Department is allowed to enforce trespassing ordinance at this address.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. So as we got escorted out of this building, the Somalis filmed us as we left and we headed over to the next bill.

Senator, I would encourage everybody go watch. There's another 20, 10 minutes of this video, and we'll put it up on social media. But it is truly impressive to watch the Somalis there use the police to kick someone out of their building who is exposing their fraud by just asking for rates. You're talking.

[Nick Shirley]

He's.

[Ben Ferguson]

He said 60, 70, 80 million running through that building every single year with no one offering anything. And yet the police show up not to it. Not to arrest these people that are just lynching our tax dollars to the American people. But Instead, when a 22, 23 year old YouTuber who's a hero is the guy they're harassing.

[Ted Cruz]

So Nick Shirley, in one afternoon, he uncovered $110 million of fraud. And in fact, during the video, he has a running tally of the fraud, each place that he uncovers the reason. At the end, it speaks volumes that the police showed up and forced them to leave, not because they were investigating fraud, that the people in that building were obviously robbing the. The Minnesota taxpayers. Now, listen, I don't fault that police officer. He's doing his job. The problem is his job is decided by the mayor of Minneapolis and the city council of Minneapolis, and they are all corrupt Democrats who are being paid for by these Somali thieves. And so at the end of the day, the police knows their jobs is protect the criminals, protect the thieves because the thieves are funding the politicians who are in charge of the city.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

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[Josh Whalen]

If you're paying more than $1 a month for any ED or hair medication, listen up at Joy and Blokes when you start TRT or Enclomiphene, you can add any ED or hair loss prescription for just $1 a month. $1 add ons with your hormone plan and right now all labs are 50% off. I'm Josh Whalen, founder of Joy and Blokes. I built this company because men are tired of paying for fragmented care without results. Every Joy and Blokes lab includes a visit with a licensed clinician who connects your symptoms to your biomarkers. You'll get a real plan that covers hormones, performance and confidence. If you're considering TRT or Enclomiphene, this is the most efficient way to do it get [e-mail] and use a promo code podcast. New customers get 50% off their labs and for a limited time you can take advantage of our $1ed or hair loss add ons when you start TRT or Enclomiphene. Not available in all states. Compounded medications are not FDA approved. Learn [e-mail] now on to story number two.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, this also goes back to saying you and I talked about several months ago when we had then the man in charge of Doge, he was warning us about waste, fraud and abuse. That was Elon Musk. He actually retweeted the last couple days this segment that we had from him in the Doge office in the EOB next to the White House. And I want to play that for people just to remind you of what he was talking about of entitlement payments going to people just like these Somalians and illegals and how this was one of the biggest frauds, as he described it, happening in the history of this country. Take a listen to Again, this is Elon Musk on this show months ago warning about this exact type of behavior.

[Guest Commentator]

And the single biggest thing that they're, that they're worried about is that Doge is going to turn off fraudulent payments of entitlements. I mean everything from Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, disability, Small Business Administration loans. Turn them off to illegals. This is the crux of the matter, okay? This is the thing that why they really hit my guts and want me to die.

[Ted Cruz]

And do you think that's billions, hundreds of billions? What do you think the scale is of that?

[Guest Commentator]

I think across the country it's wellness of 100 billion, maybe 200 billion.

[Ben Ferguson]

So.

[Guest Commentator]

By using entitlements fraud, the Democrats have been able to attract and retain vast numbers of illegal immigrants.

[Ted Cruz]

And by voters.

[Guest Commentator]

And by voters. Exactly. And basically bring in, I don't know, 10, 20 million people who are beholden to the Democrats for government handouts and will vote overwhelmingly Democrat, as has been demonstrated in California. This is, it's an election strategy. Yes.

[Ted Cruz]

It's power.

[Guest Commentator]

Yes. And it doesn't take much to turn the swing states blue. I mean, often a swing state can't be won by 10, 20,000 votes. Sure. So if the Dems can bring in 200,000 illegals and over time get them legalized, not, not counting any cheating that takes place because there is some cheating. But even without cheating, if you, if you bake, if you have, if you bring in illegals that are 10x the voter differential in a swing state. It will no longer be a swing state. Right. And the Dems will win all the swing states. Just a matter of time and America will be permanent deep blue socialist state. The House, the Senate. Yep. The presidency and the Supreme Court will all go hardcore den. They will then further cement that by bringing in even more aliens so you can't vote your way out of it. Their objective is to make it one party socialist state. And it'll be much worse than California because at least California is mitigated by the fact that someone can leave California.

[Josh Whalen]

Right.

[Ted Cruz]

And go to Texas.

[Guest Commentator]

Yeah, exactly. They're make everywhere California a bit worse.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know what's interesting is the way that he described it there, Senator, saying you can't. They'll get to a point where you can't vote your way out of it. It's almost like Elon was describing Minneapolis, Minneapolis St. Paul and. And now in essence the entire state is going that way after its total Somali control locally.

[Ted Cruz]

Now look, that. That is exactly right. I will say by the way, that the interview we did with Elon Musk, it was an hour long interview. We did it in the course of two podcasts. It remains one of my favorite pods we've. We've ever done. If you didn't listen to it when it came out, I would encourage you. It was fascinating. We got to ask Elon all sorts of questions about how he built Tesla, how he built SpaceX, what are the odds of killer robots killing us all? What's going to happen with AI? I mean, it was fun, it was interesting. Elon is a good friend and that exchange, it was prescient that he predicted. And it's interesting. He said north of 100 billion nationwide. We look at Minneapolis and Minnesota where it's already north of 9 billion in just one state. And I think that prediction of 100 billion or more is very accurate. You know, I'll also say on the point about getting, you know, Elon talked right there about getting people locked into welfare and dependency and making them dependent on the Democrats. You know, there was a tweet that Bill Ackman, the New York investor put out today that I thought was quite insightful. He said, quote, even assuming there was no fraud, none of this makes sense. How is it that we have been funding billions of dollars of daycare for Somali immigrants in Minnesota, 81% of which according to Gemini, are on welfare. Now get this. Listen to that fact again. 81% of Somali immigrants are on welfare. Ackman continues. In other words, if mom and dad don't work, why the need for childcare? Perhaps you could say the welfare statistics include some subsidies for working parents. But still, in this case, the childcare does not appear to be needed as the daycare centers are empty. Furthermore, why is federal funded child care provided to recent immigrants on welfare versus long standing American working families who are not on welfare? How does this make sense? And the answer is it doesn't. It doesn't unless the goal is to buy votes. And if the goal is to buy votes, it makes perfect sense. And everyone responsible needs to go to jail.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, we're talking about accountability and CEOs. They're held accountable when they commit major frauds. Bernie Madoff is one I mentioned a moment ago as well. Is there a real chance that we will see government elected officials because of this fraud actually be arrested and held accountable for the fact that they're the CEO of the state and they are the ones that allowed this to happen? There were a lot of warning signs. There were whistleblowers that have come forward saying that they had taken to the governor and they were actually punished for being a whistleblower in Minnesota. That's part of this story that can't be overlooked.

[Ted Cruz]

Look, look, I hope so. And I believe there will be accountability. We've already seen people being prosecuted, the fraudsters themselves. We've seen DOJ and the FBI promising to go higher up the chain. And I hope and expect that to happen now. You know, I will say on Twitter, lots of folks are commenting with our last couple of pods and they're yelling at me going, will Ted do something about it. And let's get back to the basic constitution and the separation of powers. The only federal entity that can prosecute is the executive branch. That is the Department of Justice, that is the FBI. They can bring criminal charges. I serve in the legislature. The legislature cannot prosecute anyone. What we can do is shine a light. What we can do. This podcast reaches millions of people by shining a light and calling for accountability. That builds the momentum for then the executive has to bring the indictments and has to prosecute. And that we're going to do. And I fully expect we will also have congressional hearings again to shine a light. Now, a congressional hearing cannot actually indict anyone and put one in jail, but it can draw real attention and it could uncover evidence that helps, helps the executive then prosecute. There are also political consequences. And I want to play actually an ad that I saw online. I don't know who put this together, but it's a satirical ad about Tim Waltz that gives some of the sense of political consequences that will happen. This just came out today. Give a listen. Jim Walls doesn't seek out fraud. Fraud seeks out Tim Walls. When scammers apply for jobs, they list him as a reference under his watch. Fraud is Minnesota's fastest growing small business. His biggest export, taxpayer money delivered to foreign terrorists. If fraud had a frequent flyer program, he would always fly first class. He is Tim Walls, the most fraudulent man in America. Jim Walls doesn't seek.

[Ben Ferguson]

I, I love the and I remember the most interesting man in the world. That's that theme to that with dose Equis.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it's the Dosakis.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Which is such a great, like, great ad series they did there for years.

[Ted Cruz]

And by the way, by the way, by the way, Ben, I, I, I have to say I'm also a fan of, of bearded Latinos with, with just, you know, with something to say in the world.

[Ben Ferguson]

There's something I understand your beard like never before. You are trying to be the most interesting man in the world of politics. Okay, now it's full circle.

[Ted Cruz]

It's a low bar. I mean, I get it.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's so good. That's. I'm never. Okay, the connection is solidified now. I, that that ad is hysterical. It's also incredibly accurate.

[Ted Cruz]

Look, this is, and it's just the beginning. This is only going to get worse. As I said, this has happened in other states. Minnesota, it is a perfect storm because you've got the massive Somali community there. But, but it is happening in other states. We are going to see accountability and listen, I'm really glad the Trump administration, DOJ and the FBI is going after that this. But also today, hhs, the Trump administration came out with this announcement. Give a listen. I'm here with Assistant Secretary Alex Adams. Alex oversees the administration for children and families. Intrepid journalists have made shocking and credible allegations of extensive fraud in Minnesota's child care programs. We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake daycares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade. My office, ACF, provides Minnesota $185 million in childcare funds each year. That money should be helping 19,000American children, including toddlers and infants. Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children. Yesterday I spoke directly with the director.

[Josh Whalen]

Of the Minnesota Child Care Services office. She could not tell me with confidence.

[Ted Cruz]

Whether those allegations of fraud are isolated or whether there's fraud stretching statewide. Today we have taken three direct actions against the Blatant fraud that seems to be rampant in Minnesota. First, I have activated our Defend the Spend system for all ACF child care payments across America starting today. We require a justification, receipt or photo evidence before we make a payment. Second, I've just signed and sent a demand letter to Governor Walz. I required a full 360 review of these centers. This includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections. And third, we've launched a dedicated fraud reporting hotline and email [e-mail] whether you're a parent, a provider, a member of.

[Josh Whalen]

The public, we want to hear from you.

[Ted Cruz]

Let me be crystal clear. ACF expects every state to uphold the.

[Josh Whalen]

Highest standards of oversight, monitoring and accountability for federal dollars.

[Ted Cruz]

Minnesota is no exception. We're committed to holding bad actors accountable, regardless the rank or office. Anyone who's involved in perpetrating this fraud against the American people should expect to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, this is a step in the right direction. If you look at the President's response and the administration's response, I do think the best part is he's using all of government. We're hearing that the IRS is getting involved, that the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, they're working with, with basically every part of our government to fight this fraud. You see this from hhs, and there are some that will say, well, this is unfair because they're stopping the funding and there has to be somebody doing good work in Minnesota. If you're mad, I would say then you should be mad at the Democrats for allowing it to get to the point where they had to stop the funding going to the state of Minnesota. If you're angry, you should be angry at Waltz, and you should be angry at every Democrat that allowed this to continue when there was massive amounts of warning signs, not for weeks, not for months, but for literally years and years and years.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, Ben, Jim o', Neill, who just made that announcement, he is the Deputy Secretary of hhs. He's Bobby Kennedy's deputy. Jim has been a good friend of mine for 25 years. Actually, Jim was a groomsman at Heidi's and my wedding. So actually, long ago, we got married 25 years ago. So Jim was a groomsman at our wedding. And, uh, and, and he's a great friend. He's doing a terrific job as Deputy Secretary at hhs. But that's the kind of leadership we see now. It's, now it's striking when, when, when HHS put this out, immediately Tim Waltz responded. And, and, and here's what what Tim Waltz said in response. This is Trump's long game. We've spent years cracking down on fraudsters. It's a serious issue. But this has been his plan all along. He's politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans. And, and, and this is, this is Saul Alinsky like jujitsu of attacking the Trump administration for holding him accountable. Look, Governor Waltz, when you let Somalian fraudster steal $9 billion from taxpayers, you know who doesn't get that? Real Minnesotans who are not fraudsters. Real kids. And that that's what the Trump HHS emphasized right now is this money is is made to go to Americans in need, not to thieves who are supporting Democrats. And, and we're going to see a whole lot more accountability coming as before.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed. If this was a private sector fraud, there would already be people in handcuffs. Yep, there would be people there that would be doing per walks. It would be wall to wall coverage. But somehow because it's the government, it's like the governor's not even A suspect? The AG is not even a suspect. It's like, oh, well, you know, we want to bring in more Somalis. That's what the governor said a couple days ago. We should bring more of them in. How dare you demonize them. And if there is no accountability, then did they in fact get away with it? I would argue the answer is yes, because ultimately their goal was to get Somalis to vote for them. This was the payoff. It's pay to play politics in Minnesota. Am I wrong?

[Ted Cruz]

You're not wrong. And that needs to be one significant part of the investigation, both from journalists and from prosecutors. There needs to be significant investigation into how much of that money ended up in political coffers of politicians. How much? The reason that the Democrats in Minnesota all look the other way is they're all getting paid a. It's a huge voting block. And I want you to watch this. For those of you who are watching this online, I want you to see this video of the mayor of Minneapolis dancing, waving a Somali flag. If you haven't, if you're not watching it online, if you're listening on radio, we're going to narrate it. But here, give a look if you can, and Ben and I will tell you what you're looking at.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, this video is amazing. You got the mayor of Minneapolis up there on stage center waving a Somali flag and dancing with a shirt of the Somali flag on his shirt as well. If you want to know how we got to where we are now, this is just proof of it. Am I wrong?

[Ted Cruz]

Okay. And I gotta say, this mayor manages to dance in a way that makes Tim Waltz look manly. That is the most true. Effeminate, prancing, ass kissing. Like, like, like, unbelievably, he's just dancing and waving a Somali flag. Now let me ask you, do you think someone who is desperately trying to get the votes of the hundred thousand Somalis that Democrats have imported into Minnesota and desperately trying to get their cash, do you think he has any interest in investigating and finding out the billions of dollars they're stealing from the taxpayers?

[Ben Ferguson]

Hell no.

[Ted Cruz]

Well. And that's how we got here.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let's go back to the dancing mayor and talk a little bit more about the propaganda he puts out on social media, clearly making it well known where his allegiance is and is not to the American taxpayer.

[Guest Commentator]

Fair.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, look, if you're asking how could this happen? How could it be so brazen? How could you have daycare centers with no kids? How could you have daycare centers with no playground equipment. How could you have centers for kids with autism with no kids in them? How could you have home health care providers that are not actually providing health care? Like, the raw brazenness of it? And the answer is the politicians were complicit. And to understand just how craven and corrupt they are, I want to go back to the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, and. Or Frey or Fry, or however you say his name.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you're talking in Somali, you know, I don't know. It depends on what you're doing.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, I want to play a video that he put out, and this is him really speaking to America's heartland, speaking to you, to me, to all of us, because he's a mayor of a major American city. So give a listen to Mayor Fry Maga Igawad Jacob Fry Fry Dokimagalada, Minneapolis, Damaan Shahabka, Somalia.

[Ben Ferguson]

Kayemid, Mogadishu Getaway, Hargeza, Osaso Bedabo, Kismayo, Wahan Raba in an Idim Shego, Minneapolis.

[Ted Cruz]

Okay, that's enough. I did hear him say, by the.

[Ben Ferguson]

Way, you and I are officially unelectable in Minnesota. I just want to be very.

[Ted Cruz]

I did hear him say kiss Mayo. And he is saying to his voters, kiss Mayo. He's telling them to kiss Mayo. He said Mogadishu. And apparently he's running for mayor of Mogadishu. And maybe he is mayor of Mogadishu. Look, if you're the biggest funder of Al Shabaab, you're actually quite a star in Mogadishu. Do you think. Look, I don't know what that guy's saying. And that is by design. And by the way, you might think, well, okay, he's just, you know, he's just trying to appeal to a constituency. I want you to listen to the prime minister of Somalia standing next, Ilhan Omar. Ilhan Omar is the congresswoman who represents this Somali community. And I want you to listen to what the prime minister of Somalia says about Ilhan Omar.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, this is, I honestly, shocking when he's talking about. It's not in the interest of somebody else.

[Ted Cruz]

All right, and let me. For our listeners, you'll be forgiven if you thought that might have been the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry, because. Because they both speak Somalian. And so, you know, it is understandable that the prime minister of Somalia sounds just like the Minneapolis mayor. But. But here actually is. Is what the Somalian prime minister's name. And it's. It's Hassan Ali Khairi. And he says the following for those listening on radio. You don't have the English translations. Let me translate what he said. Quote the interest of Ilhan are not of the American people. The interest of Ilh Ilhan is that of of the Somalian people and Somalia. That. That's not me saying that or you saying that. That's the Prime Minister of Somalia in Minneapolis in America telling presumably Americans your member of Congress her interest are not America. They are Somalians and Somalia. And you want to know why so many Democrats look the other way as the Somalian fraudsters were robbing the taxpayers blind. It is because they were in on it. They were profiting from it, they were benefiting from it. And and and and this embodies level upon level of corruption.

[Ben Ferguson]

As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here on Monday morning.

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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