I do believe that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent's announcement on Laura Ingraham's show, which was broadcast from Minneapolis last night, is going to become one of my 'Hell, yeah I voted for this!' triggers.
Because that was pretty much exactly what I squawked on the couch as the words came out of his mouth.
It was a thing of beauty to my ears, and, if you haven't heard it yet, I'm pretty sure it will be to yours as well.
What Bessent said was all about the beefed-up federal investigation the burgeoning Somali fraud scandal is bringing to Minnesota.
Yesterday, in addition to the 2000 agents that DHS is surging into the area, Vice President J.D. Vance announced the creation of a new Assistant Attorney General position. The new AAG will focus on hunting down fraud associated with federal programs, starting with Minnesota.
🚨 @VP announces the Trump Administration will create a new Assistant Attorney General position who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud — focusing first primarily in Minnesota, then expanding nationwide. pic.twitter.com/QnU1pti7kM
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 8, 2026
Bessent, as acting head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), will also be working hand in glove.
The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement is going to be digging through four money services that have been operating in the state and have become notorious for sending vast amounts of cash to mostly Somalia. There are indications that plenty of it went to terrorist groups in the country, like Al-Shabaab. Nice, right?
While the investigation is ongoing, Treasury is requiring that wired amounts exceeding $3000 be reported to the government. They're going to use 'suspicious activity reporting' with a 'geographical targeting order,' much as they do when tracking drug money laundering or, as Bessent notes, years ago, when they were targeting Mafia transactions.
...The US Treasury is preparing to announce a crackdown on money services businesses in Minnesota as part of an ongoing probe into fraud and alleged money laundering in the state, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.
Bessent said the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, would lead an investigation into at least four money services businesses, which facilitate wire transfers, as part of the push.
He also said that FinCEN would require transactions over $3,000 to be reported to the government as part of a geographic targeting order. Bessent said in December that this information will be shared with law enforcement agencies investigating the transfer of money to areas of concern, including Somalia.
But it was what he said next that had us cheering.
How is it that a community which, on paper, is one in which a majority of it subsists on some measure of public assistance - read welfare handouts - and yet has so much cash to send overseas?
That implies those are American taxpayer funds being looted.
So in these two counties and targeted areas, anyone attempting to wire money is going to have to check a box on the form that asks them if they are on any form of public assistance.
If you are on any form of public assistance, we are going to start pushing that you cannot wire any money out of the country.
Bessent: We are going to put in what we call a geographical-out targeting order. So there is something called a suspicious activity report. We’re lowering that to $3,000. And if you are on public assistance, we are going to start pushing that you cannot wire money out of the… pic.twitter.com/zehjpOMGPv
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 9, 2026
Hallelujah, YES.
Ingraham follows up with a perfectly reasonable 'What if they lie?' pointing out that's another crime for lying on a federal form.
FRAUD REMITTANCES BLOCKED: Treasury unleashes crackdown on welfare cheats sending American taxpayer dollars abroad in massive Somali scam rings!
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) January 9, 2026
Bessent roared, "If you are wiring out of the country, you're either getting TOO MUCH or you're part of this CONSPIRACY! We're gonna… pic.twitter.com/kZ9xyHXhV4
Bessent answers there's going to be follow-ups - as the transactions are already being scrutinized by the IRS and can easily be cross-referenced with public assistance records - and then he says the obvious but so refreshing:
If you are wiring money out of the country, one of two things must be true:
You're either getting TOO MUCH money and your benefits should be cut or you're part of this CONSPIRACY.
Where did that money come from and we're going to find it out.
Hawt DAWG.
DERAILING THE GRAVY TRAIN
BREAKING NEWS: Treasury Secretary Bessent announcing tonight from Minnesota:
— David Asman (@DavidAsmanfox) January 9, 2026
Starting tomorrow, if you’re on public assistance, you can’t wire money out of the country.
Treasury is derailing the gravy train to Somalia. pic.twitter.com/McQjNjdNMd
It IS probably going to be a sticky legal wicket telling people they can't wire money...
...The Treasury will push to require that people on public assistance can no longer wire money out of the country if on public assistance in these cases, Bessent said.
...but if the government can make the process uncomfortable enough for those sending the cash, they can probably put a serious crimp in the dollar flow to overseas without the legal fight over an outright ban on welfare recipients wiring funds. There is no law against monitoring what money leaves the country in these suspicious cases, and if someone pops up in a cross-reference on the public assistance lists, they also have parameters they cannot exceed income-wise to be on those lists.
An audit of their circumstances could be very illuminating. An excess household cash flow that exceeded income limits for public assistance could see benefits shut down without ever telling them 'no, you can't wire cash' once.
As it is, this has to have the fraudsters in the target area squirming in their slippers, and that's a great thing.
Hell, yeah, I voted for this.
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