Shirley Calls for 'Guardrails' on Fraud He Exposed in Minnesota

Independent journalist Nick Shirley is taking his reporting on alleged Minnesota child care fraud to Washington, D.C., and Congress on Wednesday, urging oversight and accountability in an exclusive with Newsmax Congressional Correspondent Kilmeny Duchardt.

"I hope they put more guardrails and they prevent it from happening, because a lot of the fraud that's taking place in Minnesota was so blatantly obvious that someone like me could show up and show that there was no children inside these daycares," Shirley told Duchardt in a short exclusive.

The interview aired on Newsmax's "National Report" as the hearing before the House Judiciary Committee was getting underway on the topic of "When Public Funds Are Abused: Addressing Fraud and the Theft of Taxpayer Dollars."

Shirley recounted his reporting and said he helped bring a long-running fraud investigation in Minnesota to broader public attention.

His reporting has drawn increased scrutiny to public funding oversight in Minnesota and led to potential investigations into whether state officials ignored or failed to act on warning signs.

"They couldn't give you a brochure to enroll a child, yet they're receiving millions of dollars," Shirley added. "So hopefully there'll be more oversight in the future because nobody wants to see children or adults or the most vulnerable people be used as pawns to receive money from the government."

Shirley said he is willing to take on not only those he accuses of fraud, but also Democrats and media outlets he says have failed to hold them accountable.

"What I want to communicate today is that fraud is fraud, and fraud's bad," he said. 

"We as taxpayers spend way too much money to have fraud be happening in our country. So that's really what it is, just plain and simple, that fraud is bad. 

"And it's going to be interesting to see if people start to defend the fraudsters today. And I'm excited to have the opportunity to testify."

Shirley said he has defended his reporting against what he described as inaccurate media claims that the now-closed child care centers were legitimate.

"Well, they're defending fraud, and I went and did my video, I showed them the people, to make their own analysis on what was happening," he said. "And everyone has their right to make their own analysis on what's happening. 

"I showed the people, and you've seen federal investigations launched because of fraud that's taking place."

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