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This 42-minute investigation from independent journalist and YouTuber Nick Shirley into alleged welfare fraud in Minnesota has gotten 80 million views on YouTube and Twitter/X this weekend. It offers an incredible look at some of the places at the center of conversations about the reportedly billion-dollar pattern of welfare fraud in Minnesota.

Shirley visited apparently empty daycare and healthcare facilities in the Minneapolis area, which together take in tens of millions of dollars annually from state and federal aid programs. The most egregious is a daycare facility with no children and a misspelled sign, which reportedly collected $4 million in government funding in recent years.

No one at any of the facilities was willing to answer questions about signing a kid up for daycare, and Shirley was universally asked to leave. In one case, a woman shouted repeatedly, "Don’t open up! It’s ICE!"


Vice President Vance called Shirley's work "far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 Pulitzer prizes."

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