Category: Scott bessent
‘America demands assimilation’: BlazeTV’s Christopher Rufo and Bessent slam Somali welfare scam ‘open secret’ in Minnesota
BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo participated in a roundtable meeting on Friday led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to discuss the ongoing, rampant welfare fraud by Somalis living in Minnesota.
‘Everyone should be outraged.’
The event was attended by journalists, lawmakers, and local business and nonprofit owners.
“The thing that I found astonishing about this fraud scheme is that it was an open secret for many of the people here in Minnesota,” Rufo stated.
“What I’d like to highlight is that this is a fraud story, but … this is also an immigration story. It’s an assimilation story. It’s a cultural compatibility story,” Rufo continued. “The reality is that the latest numbers, it seems to be that the Somali community, which represents about 1% of Minnesota’s population, is perpetrating approximately 90% of the systemic fraud in this state.”
“I think America works when America demands assimilation. And Minnesota will work when it demands assimilation to the culture of good government,” Rufo added.
BlazeTV host Chris Rufo. Image source: Blaze Media
He called it a “tragedy” that Minnesota, which had previously been known as the United States’ good-government capital, has had its reputation “tarnished as the fraud capital.”
“Everyone should be outraged,” Rufo remarked.
Bessent announced during a Friday press conference that the Treasury Department was launching multiple initiatives to put an end to the fraud rings and hold perpetrators accountable. The new initiatives included investigations into money-service businesses, lowering the reporting threshold for overseas transfers to $3,000 in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, and a new IRS task force assigned to probe COVID-era fraud, among several other steps.
Image source: Blaze Media
During the roundtable, Bessent revealed that there are also plans to provide incentives for whistleblowers to come forward with information.
“If these fraudsters want to turn on each other, we welcome that,” he said. “We will be offering cash rewards to whistleblowers to turn in their fellow conmen and women.”
Bessent stated that the fraud “cover-up” nearly enabled Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) to become vice president.
“What a tragedy it would have been for the American people for someone with no integrity, who was complicit and perhaps corrupt, to assume the office of the vice president,” he added.
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‘Financial calamity’: Bessent blasts Minnesota Democrats’ massive fraud fiasco, launching sweeping interventions
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a press conference on Friday to address the rampant fraud in Minnesota that has exploded in headlines over recent weeks.
“I am optimistic that we are going to put an end to this waste, fraud, and abuse, that we are going to have recoveries for the American people, and that we are going to hold people accountable, set an example, and make sure that federal aid gets to the people it was intended for and not to these fraudsters,” Bessent stated.
He hammered the state’s left-wing leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz (DFL), for forcing residents to endure their “egregious negligence” and allowing taxpayer-funded welfare fraud to “spiral out of control.”
“Billions of dollars intended for hungry children, housing for disabled seniors, and services for children with special needs, were diverted to people who cheated the system — some of whom are not even American citizens,” Bessent continued.
Minnesota fraudsters stole at least $300 million in taxpayer funds intended for children in need, the secretary estimated.
He announced that the Treasury Department is actively investigating these issues, confirming that some of the funds could have been transferred out of the country to terrorist organizations, such as Somali-based al-Shabaab.
President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Bessent assured the American people that President Donald Trump and his entire administration are committed to “restoring accountability” and putting Minnesota “back on the right track.”
In response to the pervasive fraud schemes, Bessent announced several new initiatives, including investigations into money service businesses that may have transferred funds overseas, a geographic targeting order for Hennepin and Ramsey Counties that lowers the reporting threshold for overseas transfers to $3,000, and a new IRS task force to investigate COVID-era fraud.
Additionally, he noted that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an alert to financial institutions to help them identify and report fraud tied to federal child nutrition programs. The Treasury Department is also training Minnesota law enforcement officials on how to detect such schemes.
“We will not let the incompetents and recalcitrants of Governor Walz stop law enforcement from holding these perpetrators accountable,” Bessent declared.
The new protocols placed on Minnesota will serve as a “genesis and a launching pad” for a national rollout.
RELATED: Bessent delivers bad news to Somalis on welfare: No more wire transfers to the homeland
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
A reporter pressed Bessent about Walz’s potential role in the state’s failure to identify and stop the fraud.
“We are actively pursuing all leads to see the level of involvement, whether it’s limited to just negligence and incompetence, or is something more than that,” Bessent responded.
When asked whether Somali government officials directed their citizens to relocate to Minnesota to exploit vulnerable systems, or whether the fraudsters were acting on their own, Bessent replied, “We do not know the depth, breadth, and collusion in this financial calamity that Governor Walz has allowed to have happen.”
“Was this directed from overseas? Is it an endogenous flourishing of these fraudsters that Governor Walz allowed to grow right here in the backyard and take advantage of hardworking people of Minnesota? We’ll see. … We will get to the bottom of it,” he continued.
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Bessent delivers bad news to Somalis on welfare: No more wire transfers to the homeland
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent revealed on Thursday that the Trump administration is clamping down on extra-national remittances by individuals exploiting public assistance.
The announcement, which comes on the heels of a series of damning revelations about fraud committed by Somalis in Minnesota, could prove impactful for the crime-ridden Islamic nation of Somalia.
After all, members of the Somali diaspora sent $2.12 billion in remittances home in 2024 alone. The loss of the American portion of this funding stream would not go unnoticed for a failed nation with a GDP in the neighborhood of $12 billion.
‘Our generosity has been taken advantage of.’
Bessent, who is also the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, “We are here to follow the money because that’s what Treasury does.”
“We did it with the mafia, we have done it with the cartels, and now we are going to do it with these Somali fraudsters,” continued Bessent. “Treasury has something called FinCEN, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and we are coming in.”
Bessent indicated that the agency is launching four investigations into money-service businesses “that we believe may have wired money out of the country — a lot of the ill-gotten, stolen money — over to the Middle East, over to Somalia. We’ll see where that’s going.”
Photographer: Ben Brewer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
As part of the crackdown, Bessent indicated that FinCEN will be issuing a Geographic Targeting Order, an order that imposes new identification and record-keeping requirements pertaining to transactions within a certain region, and engaging in “enhanced surveillance.”
“There’s something called a Suspicious Activity Report if a certain amount of money gets wired,” added Bessent.
According to guidance released in October by FinCEN, financial institutions are required to “file a SAR if the institution knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect that the transaction or series of transactions are designed to evade [currency transaction reporting] requirements.”
After Ingraham suggested the threshold was $10,000, Bessent said, “We’re lowering that to $3,000.”
In addition to significantly lowering the threshold for a SAR, Bessent said that “from now on, anyone who wires money out from one of these money-service businesses has to check a box saying whether they are on public assistance.”
“If you are on public assistance, we are going to start pushing that you cannot wire money out of the country,” added Bessent.
“Our generosity has been taken advantage of.”
The treasury secretary further suggested that if a so-called asylum seeker is wiring money out of the country, “one of two things must be true: You are getting too much money and your benefits should be cut, or you are part of this conspiracy.”
Days before President Donald Trump announced the termination of the Temporary Protected Status designation for Somalia, BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo and investigative reporter Ryan Thorpe detailed the alleged direction of stolen taxpayer funds by Somalis in America to terrorists abroad.
According to the duo’s City Journal report, federal counterterrorism sources confirmed “that millions of dollars in stolen funds have been sent back to Somalia, where they ultimately landed in the hands of the terror group Al-Shabaab.”
Al-Shabaab is a Somalia-based, Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization committed to waging a global jihad.
One confidential source told Rufo and Thorpe that “the largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
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‘Blind allegiance’: Thune lays into blue states passing up Trump tax relief
With major tax breaks just around the corner, Senate Majority Leader John Thune reveals the real reason Democrats are skipping out on major tax breaks.
Several blue states across the country are opting out of the major tax breaks promised in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including provisions like deductions for seniors and no tax on tips. These tax breaks are set to go into effect on January 1, 2026.
‘They are doing it because of Trump derangement syndrome or a blind allegiance to high-tax policies.’
These policies are popular across the political spectrum, yet Democrats are depriving their constituents of the opportunity to reap the benefits. Some of these states include Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Maine, as well as Washington, D.C.
The Treasury Department called this a deliberate act of “partisan stonewalling,” suggesting Democrats are denying their constituents crucial financial relief.
RELATED: Blue-state ‘Grinches’ are stealing your tax relief, says Treasury Secretary Bessent
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“This partisan stonewalling is a direct assault on the very families and workers liberal politicians claim to champion,” the department stated. “By denying their residents access to these important tax cuts, these governors and legislators are forcing hardworking Americans to shoulder higher state tax burdens, robbing them of the relief they deserve and exacerbating the financial squeeze on low- and middle-income households.”
Thune echoed the department’s concerns, saying Democrats are getting in the way of overdue tax relief for millions of hardworking Americans.
“Affordability starts with more money in your pocket,” Thune told Blaze News. “Republicans passed the Working Families Tax Cuts so that every working family, regardless of where they live, can have more money and new opportunities to get ahead.”
“It is outrageous that Democrat politicians would try to stop seniors, tipped workers, and people who work overtime from receiving this historic tax relief,” Thune added.
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Thune speculated that the Democrats’ refusal to embrace even Trump’s most popular policies is rooted in an inexplicable “blind allegiance” to high taxes, or just plain old Trump derangement syndrome.
“Whether they are doing it because of Trump derangement syndrome or a blind allegiance to high-tax policies, Democrat leaders like Governor Mills, Hochul, and Pritzker are making explicitly clear that Democrats prioritize high taxes and regulatory burdens over the financial well-being of the people they represent,” Thune added, referring to Governors Janet Mills of Maine, Kathy Hochul of New York, and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois.
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Trump Accounts: Newborns get a $1,000 tax-free nest egg that grows until age 18 — American dream revival or debt nightmare?
Back in July, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, establishing Trump Accounts — a tax-free savings program that provides a $1,000 government deposit for every U.S. newborn from 2025 to 2028. Families are permitted to contribute up to $5,000 annually starting July 4, 2026. Funds are locked until age 18, when they become available for uses like education, a first home, or business startup.
The core idea behind the initiative is to revive the American dream for today’s young Americans, who have lower home ownership rates, more student debt, and less wealth at age 30 than their parents or grandparents did.
But is it really a good idea? Or is it just another form of socialist wealth redistribution that creates dependency rather than true opportunity?
On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn spoke with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s adviser Joseph Lavorgna.
Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described these Trump Accounts as “the beginning of a shareholder economy” during a panel at the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York.
“That’s a little frightening because we’ve been warning against the stakeholder economy. How far down the road does Secretary Bessent think we were on the stakeholder if this is the beginning of a shareholder economy?” Glenn asks.
But Lavorgna says there’s nothing frightening about Bessent’s statement.
“What he meant by that was that the U.S. economy is one that thrives when you’ve got incentives to produce and work,” he says.
“The bill that the president signed … encourages capital formation and growth and the ability to invest in the future to teach, in many cases yet-to-be-born boys and girls, the power of compound interest in being a stakeholder in the capitalist system.”
“In other words, if you have a stake in the system, you don’t want to burn it down?” Glenn asks.
“Right. It’s essentially the American dream. It’s a way to build wealth creation,” Lavorgna confirms, praising Trump Accounts as “a great investment for the future.”
But Glenn has two major concerns.
One: The same idea was proposed to our founders, but they shut it down.
“This was proposed before, during the founding era. It was called Agrarian Justice, and Thomas Paine said, ‘We should give 15 pounds to everybody who turns 21,’ and that 15 pounds … would be, in today’s dollars, about $2,500 to $3,000,” says Glenn.
The founders, he explains, “rejected it” as “redistribution of wealth” and “not government’s role.”
But Lavorgna defends the idea. “That was over a couple hundred years ago, and the economy and the capitalist system has evolved significantly. This isn’t a redistribution of wealth; this is an investment in the future and people’s livelihoods.”
He also argues that the program is a tool for developing “financial literacy,” meaning American youth will be taught that “when they put money aside, that money will grow and do wondrous things through the power of compound interest.”
Glenn’s second counterargument is that we shouldn’t be beginning any new government programs when the national debt is already out of control.
“We’re $38 trillion in debt. I’m so torn on this because I really do understand people feel like they don’t have a stake; they’re never going to get ahead; they’re never going to get a house — all of this stuff that’s leading them to this lie of socialism,” he says.
“We have to do something. But again, I’m so concerned about opening up a can of worms here that just gets out of control again.”
But Lavorgna says Trump Accounts are “not consumption.” The money, he says, goes straight “back into the capitalist system” — sparking businesses, growing companies, and creating jobs and wealth.
“The only way that we are going to be able to deal with the debt situation is to grow and to grow fast,” he says.
To hear Glenn’s response, watch the full interview above.
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FED UP: Bessent Says ‘Very Good Chance’ Trump Names Powell Successor By Christmas [WATCH]
![FED UP: Bessent Says ‘Very Good Chance’ Trump Names Powell Successor By Christmas [WATCH]](https://hannity.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GettyImages-2214095040-300x200.jpg "SWITZERLAND-US-CHINA-DIPLOMACY-TARIFF-TRADE")
President Trump may name a replacement for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before Christmas, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday.
