by Dan Burns

Jun 10, 2026, 8:30 AM

Where’s that $9 billion in fraud?

Before determining (along with numerous colleagues) that he could no longer deal with the vile realities of what working for Trump really means, Joe Thompson claimed, back in December when he was still a US attorney, that there was at least $9 billion in fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs yet to be brought to light. Steve wrote a story about it.

Joe Thompson has proven in court the smallest sliver of $9 billion. The speculation and odious pretrial publicity in Thompson’s remarks are breathtaking. That they were delivered, laying them at the feet of Minnesota’s Somali community, while flanked by seven (7) (that’s how lawyers write it) white office apparatchiks — words fail me. Well, two words don’t fail me: racist and xenophobic.
(LeftMN)

What I’m doing now, though, isn’t about Joe Thompson and/or the Trump administration. It’s about Minnesota’s corporate media.

I spent a while this morning web-searching what comes up when you enter “Joe Thompson fraud Minnesota.” Despite, as Steve noted, Thompson having provided no evidence whatsoever for $9B, all of Minnesota’s major “legacy” news media – the Minnesota Star Tribune, MPR, and all four of the major broadcast networks – gleefully ran with it. Oh, there was an occasional fleeting caveat, but no more. And I didn’t find any subsequent mention of the following among MN’s media bigs, except in one CBS article and a Strib opinion piece. From January:

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) says that new federal data released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shows the overall rate of improper payment in Minnesota’s Medicaid program is far below national averages.

In the report released earlier this week, CMS found an error rate of 2.3%, which is lower than the national average of 6.1%.
(KEYC)

That model of rational sanity Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was in the metro in May to announce the results of a supposedly blockbuster federal fraud investigation. The $90 million that was pimped is all of one percent of $9 billion.

To be fair, I suppose, since then the aforementioned corporate propaganda outlets have mostly left that $9B number alone. But have they apologized and promised to stop engaging in such sorry, crap ”journalism?” Yeah, I’m kidding, all right. Sometimes I crack myself up with my own momentary flights of bizarre fantasy.

Addendum from Steve: There is a recent article in the Washington Post about J. Davenport and Dr. Oz’s fraud task force targeting small and legitimate businesses in California and Minnesota. This is the kind of stuff that Republican statewide candidates in Minnesota (governor and senator) would encourage, not resist. If you don’t believe it, just listen to the Ovoid Sorehead, Tom Emmer, or Lisa Demuth, Kendall Qualls, Mike Lindell, Adam Schwarze, or Michele Tafoya. All of whom are panting for Trump’s endorsement. Or our sad, little Republican apparatchik USA Daniel Rosen.

Our media, though, do not come close to connecting the dots.

Lisa Demuth, in fact, worked behind the scenes to bring the puerile Nick Shirley to Minneapolis and produce his smear-y ‘documentary.’

You shouldn’t miss this podcast from Alex Wagner’s Runaway Country about the Republican weaponization of fraud allegations in blue states.

Comment from Mac Hall: At a recent congressional hearing on the subject of fraud, the witness said to the effect that if there is a government program, someone will cheat to benefit themselves.

The Minnesota fraud case is perfect campaign fodder … yet there is not a lot of follow-up on the 58 Minnesota cases of PPP loans to the “politically connected” … there are Internet accusations about Finstad’s Frontier Labs and the Stauber Brothers … and did anyone ever find the Minnesota “orange groves” that got a loan?

Yep, fraud has been going on for…well, forever.

The first time I heard about it was in college when our Alumni Advisor was arrested by the FBI for Medicare fraud … he was an attorney who worked with a doctor (I knew his daughter, so that was two people that I knew) who collaborated on the paperwork … it was the first time that I heard about the potential long term effects of using a stapler causing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I graduated and never heard how the case was resolved but knowing who was involved, I am guessing that it was quietly resolved without any jail time or major fines. It’s who ya know that counts.

Comment from Joe Musich: Well done Dan. I would like to expect better from the Strib as they shout to the rivers and valleys about their awards. The Reformer has more to say. It is time for local Substack i.e. journalism.