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Finally: Justice Dept. Suing Blue States That Refuse to Hand Over SNAP Data So Fraudsters Can Be Removed

Updated: LAW & COURT
Credit: Gage Skidmore

Enough, already. For a year, states run by domestic terrorist party members, including Tim Walz in Minnesota and Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, have been refusing to hand over data on the SNAP program to federal officials seeking to root out fraudsters. All the while, they’ve been giving the middle finger to Americans for whom the program was designed – those who can’t afford enough food.

As of Friday evening, the Justice Department said the BS stalling is over:

Today @DOJCivil and @DOJFraudDiv sued four states-Minnesota, Kentucky, Michigan, and Pennsylvania-for refusing to provide SNAP eligibility data to @USDA.

The @TheJusticeDept is dedicated to combatting waste, fraud, and abuse in federal benefits programs, and ensuring that American taxpayers are not footing the bill for benefits that recipients are not entitled to under federal law.

In a press release, the US attorneys and DOJ explained that having some patients with these Democrat malcontents hasn’t worked:

When USDA requested this data last year, these states and several others refused to comply. Twenty-eight other jurisdictions, however, promptly provided their data. Data received from the compliant 28 states indicate there are billions of dollars per year in SNAP funds going to overpayments and fraud.

Faced with this evidence, USDA again requested SNAP applicant data from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota in May. Yet again, these states refused to comply. The states’ ongoing noncompliance creates the likelihood of ongoing, material waste, fraud, and abuse going undetected. Such reckless disregard for Federal law and the public fisc cannot continue.

For the record, the federal government, which foots most of the SNAP bill for states, has every right to this data. States receiving SNAP assistance, meanwhile, have zero right to withhold it.

“The American people deserve a government that is transparent about how it spends their hard-earned tax dollars,” acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “These four states are thwarting USDA’s efforts to ensure that the billions of dollars in SNAP benefits they distribute every year are not lost to fraud. It’s unacceptable, suspicious, and it will not stand under this Administration.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requested the DOJ file the lawsuits after noting that these states have defied federal law and refused to work with her agency for “nearly 365 days”:

For nearly 365 days, several States have shamelessly defied federal law and withheld data to which the U.S. Department of Agriculture is entitled…If a State misguidedly stands between the federal government and the information needed to protect the generosity of the American taxpayer, the Trump Administration will take them to court.

It gets worse. Leah Foley, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, appeared as a guest on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle with host Brian Kilmeade on Friday. She discussed the significant pushback the USDA has been receiving from various state officials.

Foley stated that the methods being used to defraud the American public in states like Minnesota, Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania are similar to what’s occurring in her own state. She explained that anyone with a SNAP card can use it as a “magic key” to gain access to government healthcare and housing, resulting in a flood of benefits. What was most frustrating was her response to Kilmeade’s question regarding the states’ verification process.

She said those states won’t even answer that simple question posed by the USDA:

She added:

Literally, we have asked the state to provide us with the names of the people who are on the rolls now…The federal government gives the state billions of dollars to distribute. We ask them, USDA asks them, for the list of names of the recipients, and they refuse to turn them over. And the USDA wants the names and identifiers, so they can confirm whether these people are actually true identities or are also receiving these payouts in other states.

It’s beyond maddening that these Democrat governors think they have the authority to simply refuse to help U.S. investigators trying to root out fraud and abuse. The law is clear. So this legal action is exactly what is needed. Beyond that, maybe it’s time for the Justice Department to begin looking at criminal charges for these governors. Let them sweat out their reckless resistance in court.