Bessent and Patel Announce Minnesota Fraud Raids; Prison Purchase Question Draws Attention

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel announced in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Friday that federal agents executed 17 search warrants a day earlier, yielding a 26-count indictment and four arrests over an alleged $41 million theft from federal health programs. Patel said the warrants included a child care center, its owners' homes and a behavioral intervention unit. Those charged include Feisal Elmi, Jama Mohamod, Faiza Ahmed and Habiba Mohammed, accused of fraud ranging from $3.27 million to $20 million each. Bessent announced a $25 million whistleblower incentive program and said the administration has identified $260 billion in fraud since January 2025. Vice President JD Vance, slated to appear, canceled without explanation. Asked about the Department of Homeland Security's $495 million August purchase of a vacant Appleton prison that owner CoreCivic had offered the state for $75 million, Bessent said he knew nothing about it.

The New Republic, on the left, leads with the event going awry: Vance's absence beneath a banner naming his task force, and the prison price, citing KARE 11, SEC filings and Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who called it unexplainable. It does not name the defendants. The right-leaning New York Post and Just the News lead with the raids and arrests. The Post lists defendants and counts and relays Bessent calling Gov. Tim Walz negligent; Just the News adds the $70 billion a year in fraud Bessent said was prevented and YouTuber Nick Shirley's reporting on Somali-linked child care centers. Neither mentions the prison; Just the News notes Vance's cancellation. All agree on the date, place, officials and whistleblower fund. The Hill, in the alternative group, stresses Bessent's claim that Democratic-led states have the weakest safeguards.