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On Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance joined White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in the James Brady Briefing Room for a special announcement, revealing the Trump administration’s plan to fight fraud at every level in the U.S.
The vice president led off his announcement by referring to the scandalous allegations of widespread fraud in Minnesota.
The fraud scandal has been so great, in fact, that current Democrat Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced his decision to drop out of his gubernatorial reelection bid this week amid seismic political blowback.
“If you’re a young parent struggling to afford childcare in the United States of America, there are programs that we have to make it easier for your kids to get in daycare, for your kids to get in preschool,” Vice President Vance said during the briefing. “Those programs should go to American citizens, not be defrauded by Somali immigrants and others, making it hard for you to get the access to the resources you need.”
VP Vance revealed that the Trump administration had just “activated a major interagency task force to make it possible to get to the heart of this fraud.”
He referenced multi-agency efforts to crack down on fraud, like SNAP abuse, and highlighted over 1500 subpoenas recently issued by the Department of Justice. to “get to the heart of the fraud ring.”
The vice president said there have also been almost 100 indictments on “mostly Somali immigrants, but also a few others.”
He continued, “We also want to expand this. We know the fraud isn’t just happening in Minneapolis, it’s also happening in states like Ohio, it’s happening in states like California.”
To properly investigate allegations of fraud nationwide and coordinate these interagency efforts, Vice President Vance announced a new Assistant Attorney General Position “who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud.”
He said this new assistant’s focus would start in Minnesota and then expand nationwide.
“The American people have been defrauded in a very nationwide way,” Vice President Vance said.
The vice president’s announcement comes just days after President Donald Trump suggested that alleged corruption in California may far exceed the shocking scandals being uncovered in Minnesota.
“The Fraud Investigation of California has begun. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” the president said earlier this week.
Vice President Vance said on Thursday that a nomination for this newly created position will likely take place in the next few days. “This is the person that is going to make sure that we stop defrauding the American people,” he said.
Vance further said that this position will be supervised directly by the President of the United States and the Vice President in the White House.
The nominee will additionally need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“Pres Trump/VP Vance’s announcement of a new Asst Atty General at Dept of Justice focused on fraud is GR8 NEWS 4 the American taxpayer[,]” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. “Once Pres Trump selects his nominee I look fwd 2 overseeing their nomination in the Sen Judic Cmte[.]”
According to Vice President Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.) has promised a “swift confirmation” for this position.