"Federal prosecutors first filed criminal charges in 2022 against the fraudsters at a Minnesota nonprofit called Feeding Our Future, who stole hundreds of millions of dollars while supposedly serving meals to low-income children and adults. Nearly 80 people have already been convicted or pleaded guilty, and more are expected. But only in recent months has this case-which the lead prosecutor has described as "industrial-scale fraud"-become a national fixation."
"Given the politics involved, it might seem best for Democrats to simply downplay what happened in Minnesota as the product of a few proverbial bad apples. Accusations of welfare fraud have been a staple of right-wing discourse for decades, after all. Ronald Reagan famously rode into office in 1981 with speeches about the wasteful, slothful cunning of a "welfare queen.""
Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges in 2022 against Feeding Our Future for stealing hundreds of millions intended for meals to low-income children and adults. Nearly 80 people have been convicted or pleaded guilty, and more prosecutions are expected. President Trump is exploiting the case to advance anti-immigrant policies and to criticize Democratic-led states for mismanagement. The White House sought to freeze billions in federal social-services funding pending data on recipients and providers, a move temporarily blocked by a judge. Political reactions have included calls to dismiss welfare systems as corrupt. The scandal demands reforms in state oversight and benefit program administration.
Read at The Atlantic
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