Concerning the rampant blue state fraud that seems to have no bottom, the Trump administration is already putting Minnesota through the paces. But California has been put on notice that it's their turn to get the screws. In early January, President Donald Trump put Gov. Gavin Newsom on blast, as our editor Bob Hoge wrote:
After all, we’ve already got an $18 billion bullet train to nowhere, more billions thrown at the homelessness crisis, even as the numbers just keep increasing, and a governor who lost track of at least $24 billion.
On Tuesday, Trump put the Golden State and its elegantly coiffed governor, Gavin Newsom, on notice: you’re next. As is his custom, the president was not subtle:
His Truth Social post reads:
California, under Governor Gavin Newscum, is more corrupt than Minnesota, if that’s possible??? The Fraud Investigation of California has begun. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Newsom with his usual flippant puffery replied, “Well, I think it was, let’s — bring it on. Fraud in terms of child care? Hey, [if] you think for a second anyone countenances fraud. So if he has some unique insight and information, I look forward to partnering with them.”
Read More: Trump to California, Newsom: You're 'More Corrupt Than Minnesota,' and We're Coming for You
Trump Officials Face Troubling Response When They Go to MN to Look Into the Rampant Fraud
California Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA03), who has been one of the loudest voices in calling out the state's rampant fraud and working to expose and rectify it, appeared on Newsmax's "National Report," and warned Newsom that he should be careful what he asks for.
WATCH:
California is undoubtedly the nation’s Fraud Capital. It’s not even close. pic.twitter.com/99o8a6MDam
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) January 21, 2026
One area of fraud Kiley did not mention in this interview is the millions wasted through fraudulent financial aid applications. In April 2025, CalMatters extensively investigated this, and reported:
[...] that financial aid fraud was growing and that fake students stole more than $10 million in federal aid and more than $3 million in state aid from California’s community colleges in the prior 12 months — more than twice as much as the year before that.
Kiley and other Republican members of Congress included the CalMatters investigation in a letter to Secretary of Education (ED) Linda McMahon and Attorney General Pam Bondi, requesting a deeper look into the financial aid processes of California’s community colleges. The ED acted on this and created a new screening policy which they implemented in June of 2025. In an exclusive with Fox News, ED Under Secretary Nicholas Kent detailed what was uncovered through that investigation, and how well the screening protocols worked to combat fraud. To no one's surprise, the top two fraud states were Minnesota and California.
A top Trump administration Education Department official exposed a pair of blue states that he says are among the worst for federal student aid fraud as officials crack down on scammers who are exploiting the taxpayer-funded programs.
In 2025, the Department of Education said it prevented $1 billion of fraud in the aid programs. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said these schemes are not only a waste of taxpayer money, but also disproportionately affect low-income students trying to pay for their education.
"We talked about California being certainly a hub of fraud, waste and abuse, but we also see Minnesota, for example," Kent told Fox News Digital. "You know, one of the things that has been brought to light over the course of the last couple of weeks is the enormous amount of fraud, waste and abuse under the governor's leadership there, and this is something that the federal Department of Education had lifted up and highlighted months ago."
"And to kind of put that into perspective, that's 1,700 Pell Grants for low-income students that that money could have gone toward," Kent continued. "So when we think about limited resources, we think about taking away these things that low-income and middle-income students really need in order to get in and through their educational journey."
Of course, when the screening protocols were implemented, it was California officials who moaned the loudest, saying that the new system would disenfranchise low-income students or, God forbid, students with "undocumented" parents.
Some students may decide to forego financial aid altogether, [Las Positas College financial aid director Kevin] Harral said. “There’s some people who may not have the documents, may not have the ID, but there’s also the students where this is another barrier, maybe a psychological barrier, particularly if they have undocumented parents.”
Cry us a river. The ED investigation found $10 million stolen during just 12 months.
During a 12-month period between 2024 and 2025, scammers stole at least $10 million in federal financial aid from community colleges in California. According to one report, 34% of applications to community colleges in the state last year were likely fake.
Kent explained that in many cases, "ghost students" are to blame.
Dive Deeper: 'The Varsity Team': California Medicare Fraud Puts Minnesota to Shame
Just 12 Cents on the Dollar: Vance's Wake-Up Call on Aid Fraud
Those "ghost students" are foreign and national scammers who use fake or stolen identities, then employ AI to flood these phony students through the community college application system.
The ghost students are fake or stolen identities wielded by scammers who flood colleges with thousands of applications in minutes, gain fast acceptance as students, request financial aid, and then disappear with the money. Some even submit homework to keep from being booted from class before they can collect.
In response to the ED's new screening requirements, California's community college system started using AI to track and eliminate these fraudulent applications.
After being hit hard in 2024 by ghost students, the California Community College (CCC) system started fighting the AI-driven scheme—with AI. This month, the CCC launched an enterprise-wide AI initiative, using N2N’s LightLeap.AI platform to detect fraudulent enrollments. Since the rollout, which is still in the process of taking effect across all 116 colleges, 79,016 total applications have been detected as fraudulent across more than half a million applications, according to a recent update.
As for Minnesota's financial aid fraud, they cried that it's the federal government's fault! According to their education spokesperson, it is the ED's job to supply accurate information, and at the state-level, they have nothing to do with oversight. Riddle me this: why do you have a state-level organization to coordinate federal funds if you cannot self-regulate or take accountability?
Keith Hovis is a spokesperson for the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE).
He explained that FAFSA verification — that is, checking to make sure accurate information is provided on the federal student aid form — is done at the federal level and by colleges. His office has nothing to do with such oversight.
"Financial aid staff at each college — be it a Minnesota college or other state college — review the FAFSA, verify following US DOE procedure, and then put together a financial aid package," he said. "If the student receives Federal funds, the school submits that to the Feds who then distribute/release funds if all requirements are met."
In 2025, California attempted this tack as well, complaining that the cuts by the Trump administration to federal education budgets and resources only made their job of combatting fraudulent applications harder.
While California’s colleges control which students they accept, they rely on the U.S. Education Department to help determine who is eligible for financial aid. Even California’s state financial aid program, Cal Grant, vets applicants using FAFSA. However, the Trump administration has cut staffing at the education department, hindering its ability to administer aid and investigate abuses.
With the AI-driven detection tools and other screening methods, California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office is proving that they can actually police themselves.
A spokesperson for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office said it is actively working to prevent fraud, including "identity verification measures using the State’s mobile driver's license system and ID.me that are deployed as part of the statewide college application to enable students to confirm their identity."
[...]
"The Chancellor’s Office has also begun shifting the statewide application system to require mandatory identity verification using primarily the Department of Motor Vehicles mobile driver’s license process, with ID.me and in-person verification options available as well," the spokesperson said.
Amazing what one can do when one's feet are put to the fire. As Under Secretary Kent noted, when the colleges themselves benefit from the fraud, they are motivated to avoid scrutiny rather than expose it.
Kent also noted that sometimes, colleges will turn a blind eye to federal student aid fraud, saying they benefit from the funding too.
"So, we're also holding institutions accountable for understanding that if fraud is on your campus, you should know about it and you should be putting your own fraud detection efforts in place," he said. "Affordability is a critical component of the Trump administration's agenda, and one part of that is making sure that taxpayer resources are going to individuals, to families that deserve them. And criminals do not deserve this money."
But neither California nor Minnesota will escape scrutiny any time soon. The Department of Justice is all over Minnesota, and AG Bondi is signaling upcoming arrests and prosecutions. In the meantime, Newsom beclowns himself at Davos, while Rep. Kiley continues to beat the drum to expose the fraud in every corner of the Golden State.
Editor’s Note: The mainstream media isn't interested in the facts; they're only interested in attacking the president. Help us continue to get to the bottom of the massive blue-state fraud epidemic by supporting our truth-seeking journalism today.
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