Bessent alleges anti-fraud guardrails are ‘loosest’ in blue states

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Democratic-led states Friday of having poor fraud prevention mechanisms while at a Minnesota press conference.

The state has been at the center of a healthcare fraud scandal for much of this year after the Justice Department indicted more than a dozen people on accusations of defrauding taxpayers, using funds for improper billing and childcare fraud, among other allegations.

And while Minnesota is not the only state the Trump administration targeted with fraud investigations, it has become a focal point of its anti-fraud agenda.

“In Minnesota, alongside other senior U.S. officials, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent today announced several initiatives to combat the rampant fraud that has wasted billions of dollars in Minnesota,” a release from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said.

Bessent accused Democrats of letting fraud happen in states they govern, though he acknowledged such crimes also occur in red states.

“The Democrats [have] let this........

© The Hill