Federal authorities have arrested two Minnesota women accused of orchestrating a $21.1 million Medicaid fraud scheme tied to autism treatment programs, the latest bombshell case in what Trump administration officials describe as a deeply entrenched culture of public assistance fraud in the state. The Department of Homeland Security announced this week that Homeland Security Investigations, alongside federal partners, arrested Shamso Ahmed Hassan and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf on charges including conspiracy to commit health care fraud, eight counts of health care fraud, and two counts of money laundering. “These Minnesota residents have been accused of stealing more than $21 million from the American taxpayer,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in an exclusive statement to The Daily Wire. “Their Medicaid fraud scheme started during the COVID pandemic and lasted for four years.” “HSI continues to zero in on the rampant fraud in Minnesota,” Bis added. “Under Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin, we will end the defrauding of the American people.” According to prosecutors, Hassan was a beneficial owner of Smart Therapy Center LLC and Star Autism Center LLC, both of which were enrolled in Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program, commonly known as EIDBI. Federal authorities say the two women carried out the fraud scheme between May 2020 and December 2024 by submitting Medicaid claims for autism treatment services that were never provided. The indictment claims that Hassan and her co-conspirators recruited parents to enroll children in the autism programs regardless of medical necessity and paid families monthly kickbacks ranging from roughly $300 to $1,500. Between 2020 and 2024, prosecutors say Hassan billed Minnesota Medicaid for approximately $46.6 million and ultimately received around $21.1 million in taxpayer funds. Authorities allege portions of the money were used to purchase property, while additional funds were transferred overseas. Hassan pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to charges of health care fraud and money laundering. She was not taken into custody following her court appearance, according to local reporting. Neither Hassan nor her attorney answered questions while leaving the courthouse. The case stems from a broader federal investigation into Minnesota fraud networks that intensified following the infamous Feeding Our Future scandal, the $250 million pandemic food-aid fraud scheme that drew national attention. Federal agents previously raided Smart Therapy Center’s Minneapolis office and Star Autism Center’s St. Cloud location in December 2024. One of Smart Therapy Center’s other owners later pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges. The arrests also come days after federal prosecutors announced charges against 15 additional defendants accused of stealing more than $90 million through multiple Minnesota Medicaid and social service programs. During a press conference in Minneapolis earlier this month, Trump administration officials described Minnesota as ground zero for large-scale fraud involving taxpayer-funded programs intended to serve vulnerable populations, including disabled individuals, homeless residents, and children with autism. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald called the fraud uncovered in Minnesota “shocking,” warning that state-managed benefit systems had become targets for organized criminal schemes. Autism-related Medicaid programs became a central focus of the press conference, with prosecutors noting that one such program reportedly ballooned from roughly $600,000 annually six years ago to nearly $400 million today. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously described the Minnesota autism fraud operations as “the largest autism fraud bust in American history.” “This was organized theft that exploited the most vulnerable children in America,” Kennedy said. Federal officials have tied the Minnesota investigations to the Trump administration’s broader anti-fraud initiative spearheaded by Vice President JD Vance, which has focused heavily on rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse in public assistance programs. “Fraud is going to bleed our social programs dry,” White House Anti-Fraud Task Force Vice Chair Andrew Ferguson warned during the Minneapolis press conference. “Stopping fraud is how we save these programs.” The investigation is being led by the FBI with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations. Both suspects are expected to remain in federal custody pending further judicial proceedings.

Former first lady Jill Biden said she feared President Joe Biden was “having a stroke” during his disastrous 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump. “I was frightened,” she told CBS News. “I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since. When I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.” CBS released a 30-second preview clip on Wednesday ahead of the full interview, which will be broadcast on Sunday. Former first lady @DrBiden said she was “frightened” by her husband Joe Biden’s performance at the 2024 presidential debate. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death,” Biden told CBS News Sunday Morning’s Rita Braver in an… pic.twitter.com/1wS5oGDYyX — CBS Sunday Morning

WASHINGTON — The State Department is gathering European partners in an aggressive push to combat spikes in far-left terrorism around the world, The Daily Wire can first report. American representatives will attend a law enforcement workshop in Europe this week focused on far-left terrorism, State Department officials told The Daily Wire, engaging other countries that are also grappling with the issue. The technical workshop will bring together officials from multiple European countries that have also seen increases in politically motivated violence tied to anarchist and far-left groups. “We’re going to talk about what this threat stream looks like,” explained a State Department official, “what kind of targets that it’s engaging in, what kind of recent acts they’ve engaged in, what the tools are that we have to address this.” A higher-level conference on the issue will be held in Washington, D.C. later this summer and will include officials from Europe, East Asia, and the Western Hemisphere. The move comes as officials acknowledge a sharp increase in far-left terrorist incidents in the United States and Europe since 2016, particularly in France, Germany, Greece, and Italy. Officials pointed to multiple recent incidents across Europe, including far-left anarchists sabotaging a high-speed rail in France in 2024 before the opening of the Olympic Games. In 2026, far-left activists in France beat a 23-year-old man, Quentin Deranque, to death for his political beliefs. Italy faced 18 terrorist attacks from far-left militants in 2024, and in 2026, two such left-wing anarchists blew themselves up on the outskirts of Rome while making a bomb. In Germany, the number of far-left actors grew from 10,300 in 2021 to 36,500 in 2022 — and a January 2026 Berlin power grid attack by left-wing activists caused a five-day outage for more than 100,000 residents. In Greece, more than 80% of violent events by radical organizations involved far-left and anarchist groups, according to the ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data), and more than 20 far-left individuals were arrested in 2024 for attacks, including targeting police. Notably, since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, officials have noticed an “increased convergence” between these far-left groups and those participating in antisemitic violence, a State Department official shared. While they are very concerned about groups like Salafi jihadist terrorist groups, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS, they are also aware of the “new and emerging threats” presented by far-left groups and actors — and how all these groups cross over. “A lot of these pro-Hamas, very violent groups that are operating in all of our respective countries, that these different groups are starting to converge with what you could call your far-left terrorist groups or anarchist groups, right, that engage in these kinds of terrorist violent acts.” The State Department’s Counterterrorism operating system needs updates to address the reality of these threats, officials said, noting that the Department risks creating blind spots by ignoring these emerging trends. “America First means protecting our country, people, and way of life—we are leveraging counterterrorism tools and global partnerships to deter this threat before it metastasizes,” the State Department official said. On the home front, the State has already taken steps to dismantle both transnational far-left and anarchist terrorism by using visa restrictions to target individuals and designations against the Antifa aligned groups, Antifa Ost (Germany), Informal Anarchist Federation (Italy), Armed Proletarian Justice (Greece), and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense (Greece). All of this is specifically targeting violent activity that meets the definition of terrorism, including assassinations, kidnappings, violent threats against U.S. facilities and law enforcement, attacks on critical infrastructure, military personnel, and civilians. “Because our focus is international, we’ve been meeting with a lot of our partners to build a body of knowledge, so that we can better understand what this problem set looks like in their backyards, where there are transnational links, and then we’re also able to explore some best practices and other types of concerns,” explained the State Department official. This specific workshop will be tailored towards far-left terrorism as a phenomenon, whether they engage in violent, terrorist, and criminal acts, particularly given that this area has become a blind spot for some law enforcement. As they take note of the rise in attacks, particularly those targeting critical infrastructure, U.S. partners are noticing that they lack the tools to address them properly.

Two senators reached a bipartisan agreement Wednesday morning on legislation aimed at preventing college athletics from turning into a professional sports model. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) finalized the proposed “Protect College Sports Act.” The bill would give the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) greater authority to regulate player movement, eligibility, and compensation as programs continue adapting to the name, image, and likeness (NIL) era. The bill contains major reforms, including limits on multiple transfer portal entries, a five-year eligibility cap, restrictions on athletes returning to college after turning professional, rules prohibiting schools from hiring another program’s coach during an active season, and a salary cap.  “College sports are at a breaking point,” Cruz said in his press release. “Fans can see their favorite teams being hollowed out by transfer chaos, fake NIL bidding wars, eligibility lawsuits, and a system that allows the richest programs to keep pulling away.” “Student athletes can profit their name, image, and likeness,” he added, “but college sports still need real rules, competitive balances, rivalries, and a true connection to education.” The legislation comes amid growing frustration across college sports following the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision that accelerated the expansion of NIL compensation. Since then, schools and boosters have poured millions into recruiting and retaining athletes, while transfer portal activity has surged.  Lawmakers backing the bill argue the current system has created an unstable environment similar to professional free agency. “College sports bring people from every corner of our country together, but because of unlimited transfers, out-of-control eligibility and rising costs, college sports are on the brink of collapse,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), a member of the committee creating the bill, stated in a press release. Under the proposed bill, athletes would lose remaining NCAA eligibility once they sign professional contracts. It would also impose penalties on athletes who enter the transfer portal multiple times, discouraging constant movement between programs. Another provision, referred to as the “Lane Kiffin Rule,” would prohibit schools from hiring another program’s coach before that team’s season is complete.  The bill now heads to Congress. Supporters argue it would restore stability to collegiate sports, though it remains to be seen whether lawmakers want to regulate NIL, athlete movement, and compensation at the federal level.   

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul tried to dunk on President Donald Trump but threw up an airball instead. After Trump described himself as “a lifelong Knicks fan,” Hochul said he should prove it by naming the starting lineup from the Knicks’ “1993 championship team,” a team that never existed. The Knicks neither won nor appeared in the 1993 NBA Finals, which featured Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls against the Phoenix Suns. The Knicks’ last NBA championship came in 1973, while the franchise’s most recent Finals appearance was in 1999 — until this year.