Washington officials blast conservatives for Minnesota-style day care fraud claims in new state

By Fox News · Fox News

A top blue-state governor slammed conservatives for inflicting "deep damage" on the Somali–American community, while the state’s top prosecutor warned of potential charges after citizen journalists filmed encounters with alleged Minneapolis-like day care addresses and streamed them online. Citizen journalists have raised public visibility of rampant fraud allegations in Minnesota, with a large part of the allegations stemming from within the Somali community there. Weeks after Gov. Tim Walz came under fire, other bloggers traveled to Seattle and King County, Washington, to visit what they claimed were similarly fraudulent day care sites — drawing Olympia's ire. Former White House Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk highlighted media posted by Kristen Magnuson, who, along with Cam Higby — an independent journalist recently connected with Charlie Kirk’s conservative Turning Point USA organization — and podcaster Jonathan Choe, sounded the alarm about alleged Minneapolis-style situations cropping up in the Pacific Northwest. "They are fraud-maxxing this exploit," Musk claimed in response to a post by Magnuson that included a video scrolling a list of up to 539 daycare centers in Washington state that she said allegedly listed Somali as the primary language. TIM WALZ PUSHES BACK ON MINNESOTA FRAUD ALLEGATIONS FOLLOWING VIRAL DAYCARE VIDEO Meanwhile, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, took to X to post several photos of himself meeting with what he said were Somali community leaders. In those meetings, Ferguson said he "discuss(ed) the deep damage inflicted by Donald Trump's harmful rhetoric and reckless deportations. Here in Washington state, we recognize that diversity is a strength." Democrats have claimed such "damage" as an uptick in anti-Somali rhetoric and some liberals have condemned citizen journalists taking it upon themselves to visit alleged day care sites. When Fox News Digital attempted to recreate the 539 day care center list…