Turner, who is President Donald Trump’s Housing and Urban Development secretary, said in an appearance on Washington Watch Monday that rampant fraud in Minnesota isn’t isolated or accidental.
There’s a plan, he said, to steal tens of millions of dollars in taxpayers' money.
“No, it seems like it’s coordinated," Turner told show host Tony Perkins.
"Every stone that’s being unturned," he continued, "show us, really, the negligence and the turning a blind eye, the lack of financial controls, and really the lack of caring about the American people and taxpayer money that goes to fund these programs in Minnesota and around the country."
Early investigation by HUD has found fraud totaling more than $84 million with roughly $500,000 in assistance earmarked for dead people, Turner said.
Minnesota is at the center of an expanding multi-year fraud investigation involving federal and state social services funds — including nutrition programs, Medicaid-linked services, childcare subsidies, housing assistance, and more. Federal authorities characterize this as one of the largest welfare fraud scandals in recent U.S. history.
Affected funds were intended to feed children, support autistic children, aid disabled and low-income residents, finance childcare and more, The Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
During a White House news conference last week, Vice President J.D. Vance announced the creation of a new assistant attorney general position within the Justice Department that will be solely dedicated to uncovering fraud nationwide.
The individual will have complete jurisdiction over fraud with all the benefits, resources and authority of a special council appointee.
The new position had 81% support in Monday’s poll of AFN readers.
"We know that fraud isn't just happening in Minneapolis. It's also happening in states like Ohio; it's happening in states like California," Vance said.
The new position will allow the administration to “prosecute the bad guys and do it as swiftly and efficiently as possible,” he said.
“I'm so glad that we have this opportunity to be transparent before the American people and root out this fraud and bring those to justice who have really criminalized the programs that were meant to help American people in need,” Turner said.
More than 90% of people charged in three different fraud cases in Minnesota are of Somali descent, a total of 86 people, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota.
Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the U.S., most of them centered in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, The Associated Press reports.
The most prominent is far-left Democrat U.S. House member Ilhan Omar.
Turner said borders left open by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, have created pressure on the housing industry nationwide.
“Well, over 12 million people came across our border. Illegal migrants, illegal aliens came across unchecked which has really caused the housing supply in our country to be squeezed. It’s caused the cost of housing to go up. Nearly 100% of the rental demand in states like New York and California is due to illegal immigration,” he said.
Almost 60% of illegal alien families use one or more federal welfare programs costing U.S. taxpayers $42 billion a year, Turner said.
“We have to turn the faucet off. This has been a great burden on our country, but I’m thankful to President Trump, Sec. (Kristi) Noem, Tom Holman and other that have secured our border.”
