Minneapolis Daycares Only the Tip of the Fraud Scandal

National Review Online

Saturday, January 03, 2026

 

YouTuber Nick Shirley created a sensation with a viral video about daycare fraud in Minneapolis.

 

His video’s success was an invitation to a number of legacy media outlets, not to follow up and advance his reporting, but to do what they could to discredit his work. CNN sent a reporter to confront Shirley — something, as far as we’ve noticed, the network has never done to Governor Tim Walz, who allowed the widespread fraud to happen on his watch and who still minimizes it.

 

Shirley does appear to have made mistakes in his video, as one might expect of a one-man band parachuting into a multifaceted, ongoing scandal. But the minimalist, cinéma vérité style of his reporting, plus the stark reality of daycare centers that have billed the state millions despite not having anyone in them, makes for compelling, maddening viewing. Even the would-be debunkers, including CNN and the Minnesota Star Tribune, have had trouble finding people at a number of the sites visited by Shirley.

 

Whatever can be done, within reason, to draw more attention to the Minnesota story is a good thing, but a downside of the recent viral coverage is that it creates the misimpression that the fraud scandal just emerged and no one has done anything about it. The fact is that federal prosecutors have been on the case for quite some time now and have indicted more than 90 people. The local guide accompanying Shirley in his video refers, at one point, to fraudulent operations in Saint Paul’s Griggs–Midway Building — operations that the FBI raided months ago, with federal prosecutors lodging charges last September (related to the state’s Housing Stabilization Services).

 

Intrepid local journalists have been on the story for a long time, most notably our friends at Power Line, who have covered all the ins and outs, including writing exhaustive dispatches from trials. One local TV station had even knocked on the doors of empty daycare facilities a year ago.

 

In an effort to keep pace with the online outrage, DHS has made showy visits to daycare outlets, but that’s unlikely to move the ball. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson has done yeoman’s work on this scandal, with a very small group of prosecutors. If his team can be beefed up with a few additional talented prosecutors and investigators, it will produce fewer headlines but make much more of a difference.

 

Thompson has been frank that Minnesota has been awash in systemic fraud for years. The number of purported recipients of various welfare programs and the payouts from the state have skyrocketed since 2018. The daycare element of the fraud may be the least of it.

 

In short, viral content about the scandal is useful, but the name of the game should be nailing as many of the malefactors as possible.