Rep. Nancy Mace grills former federal prosecutor Brendan Ballou during a House Oversight hearing on massive Minnesota fraud schemes.
During a fiery hearing of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, Rep. Nancy Mace dismantled Democrat talking points and exposed the Left’s reflexive defense of fraudsters, no matter the scale of the crime or the victims harmed.
The hearing, titled “Oversight of Fraud and Misuse of Federal Funds in Minnesota,” spotlighted a series of multibillion-dollar scams that have drained taxpayer dollars meant for hungry kids, autistic children, and disabled residents.
State lawmakers testified that liberal officials in the state resisted every effort to crack down on the systemic corruption, allowing the fraud to balloon into one of the biggest scandals in U.S. history.
Brendan Ballou, a former federal prosecutor, was called as a witness for the Democrats who showed up to testify.
In his opening statement, Ballou played the sympathy card, admitting he’s “deeply distressed” by the fraud.
According to him, back in 2022, the DOJ indicted 47 people for stealing a whopping $250 million from COVID-era child feeding programs. By late 2025, that number ballooned to 78 indictments, with 56 guilty pleas. Add in over a dozen charged for ripping off $14 million from autism programs and millions more from housing aid for the disabled.
“This is heartbreaking,” Ballou said. “Money meant for the neediest among us—the hungry, the disabled, and the destitute—was stolen.”
He even fretted that skepticism toward Minnesota’s bloated social safety net might grow, making it “harder to fund these programs in the future.”
But here’s where the leftist hypocrisy kicks in full gear. Ballou couldn’t resist defending the very community at the center of these scandals: Somali and East African immigrants.
“I fear that the actions of a few people will be used to demonize an entire population of Somali and East African Minnesotans who overwhelmingly have made the state more vibrant, more diverse, and more prosperous,” he said.
Vibrant? Diverse? Prosperous? Tell that to the taxpayers footing the bill for this immigrant-fueled fraud fest!
Things got REAL when Rep. Mace took the mic and grilled Ballou on the obvious solution: deport the fraudsters.
In a clip that’s already going viral, Mace didn’t hold back.
Here’s the must-watch exchange:
Nancy Mace: “The next question is, should Somalians who committed fraud be denaturalized and deported, Mr. Ballou?”
Brendan Ballou: “Again, I’m not sure that’s an appropriate question because the majority of Somalians in a city are citizens.”
Nancy Mace: “If you commit fraud in this country and you are here from Somalia, you don’t believe they should be denaturalized and deported. How much fraud would it take for you to want to denaturalize and deport someone who committed fraud in this country? How much? A billion, 9 billion, 19 billion? What would it take for you?”
Brendan Ballou: “Most Somali Minnesotans are citizens.”
Nancy Mace: “Right. The ones that committed fraud, the question was, if you understand English, should be those who committed fraud, should they be denaturalized and deported, the Somalians who are here, the ones that can’t speak English?”
Ballou tried to mumble something about U.S. law, but Mace wasn’t having it. She fired off her next zinger: “If you marry your brother and you commit immigration fraud, should you be denaturalized and deported? If you commit immigration fraud, yes or no?”
(For those keeping score, this is a not-so-subtle jab at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), whose own immigration scandals have dogged her for years.)
Ballou called the question “really inappropriate” and begged to finish, but Mace shut him down: “No, you can’t because you’re not answering the question.”
Then came the knockout punch, “Can you name one significant contribution to Minnesota from a Somali immigrant who can’t speak English?”
Ballou claimed “Absolutely, yes,” but couldn’t name a single one.
This is the left in a nutshell: Protect immigrants at all costs, even when they’re stealing from American kids and the disabled.
WATCH:
The post Rep. Nancy Mace TORCHES Democrat Witness in Minnesota Fraud Hearing — Leftist LOSES IT When Asked If Fraud-Committing Somali Migrants Should Be Denaturalized and Deported appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.