Trump Administration Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent didn’t mince words when he sat down with CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation, delivering a blunt assessment of the Minnesota welfare fraud scandal and revealing what his department has uncovered so far — including troubling political connections that Democrats would rather keep buried.
The interview centered on what has become one of the most egregious fraud scandals in recent memory: billions of dollars siphoned from state and federal welfare programs in Minnesota, much of it allegedly by members of the state’s Somali migrant network. These programs were designed to help the needy. Instead, investigators say, they were exploited on a massive scale, with taxpayer dollars flowing overseas — including back to Somalia and parts of the Middle East.
Brennan opened by noting that the federal investigation into Minnesota’s welfare programs stretches back to 2022. She then pressed Bessent on President Trump’s directive to dig deeper into the scandal, referencing Trump’s recent remarks that Somali fraudsters had “ripped off the state for billions.”
Bessent made one point crystal clear right out of the gate: Minnesota officials did not uncover this fraud on their own. Federal authorities did.
“To be clear,” Bessent said, “the initial fraud that was discovered by the IRS — for which I’m the acting commissioner — was uncovered by IRS Criminal Investigations. This was not something the state of Minnesota decided to address on its own.”
That alone was a damning indictment of Democratic leadership in the state, which has long championed expansive welfare programs while seemingly turning a blind eye to abuse. But Bessent went further, explaining that as Treasury investigators followed the money trail, they uncovered donations from individuals implicated in the fraud to high-profile Minnesota Democrats.
“We had to go in and clean up the mess,” Bessent said, adding that investigators found “a lot of money” transferred from individuals who committed fraud to political figures including Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
While Bessent did not accuse those officials of wrongdoing, the revelation raises serious questions about influence, oversight, and whether political relationships helped insulate the fraud for years. At a minimum, it underscores the cozy ecosystem between radical progressive politicians and the very communities now under investigation for massive abuse of taxpayer-funded programs.
The secretary also shed light on how the money was moved. According to Bessent, fraudsters relied heavily on money services businesses — wire transfer operations that exist largely outside the traditional, regulated banking system.
When Brennan asked for clarification, Bessent explained that these services allow funds to be transferred internationally with far less scrutiny than standard banks. That loophole, he said, enabled fraud proceeds to be shipped overseas.
“That money has gone overseas,” Bessent said, noting that Treasury is actively tracking transfers to Somalia and the Middle East to determine how the funds were ultimately used.
The interview underscored a sharp contrast between the Trump administration and its predecessors. While Democrats in Minnesota presided over exploding welfare budgets and ignored red flags, federal investigators under Trump are now following the money, naming names, and closing loopholes.
As the investigation continues, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: this wasn’t just a failure of policy. It was a failure of leadership — and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made clear that accountability is finally coming.
