美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特周五在明尼苏达州的一次新闻发布会上指责由民主党执政的州欺诈预防机制不力。今年大半时间里，该州一直是一起医疗欺诈丑闻的中心，此前司法部起诉了十几人，指控他们欺诈纳税人、不当开具账单和实施托儿欺诈等。虽然明尼苏达州并非特朗普政府以欺诈调查为由瞄准的唯一州份，但它已成为该政府反欺诈议程的焦点。
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Democratic-led states Friday of having poor fraud prevention mechanisms while at a Minnesota press conference. The state has been at the center of a healthcare fraud scandal for much of this year after the Justice Department indicted more than a dozen people on accusations of defrauding taxpayers, using funds for improper billing and childcare fraud, among other allegations. And while Minnesota is not the only state the Trump administration targeted with fraud investigations, it has become a focal point of its anti-fraud agenda.
财政部金融犯罪执法网络（FinCEN）的一份声明称：“在美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特与其他美国高级官员一道，今天在明尼苏达州宣布了若干举措，以打击浪费明尼苏达州数十亿美元的猖獗欺诈行为。”贝森特指责民主党人任由欺诈在他们执政的州发生，尽管他承认此类犯罪在红州也会发生。“民主党人[任由]这种事在他们执政期间发生，”贝森特说。
“In Minnesota, alongside other senior U.S. officials, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent today announced several initiatives to combat the rampant fraud that has wasted billions of dollars in Minnesota,” a release from the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reads. Bessent accused Democrats of letting fraud happen in states they govern, though he acknowledged such crimes also occur in red states. “The Democrats [have] let this happen on their watch,” Bessent said.
“这到处都在发生，我们将追查到底。但我可以告诉你们，民主党执政的州往往护栏最松。”2023年发布的一项国会研究发现，红州得克萨斯州2022年的医疗补助欺诈金额最多，达2.199亿美元，其次是加利福尼亚州、佛罗里达州和路易斯安那州。针对为何单独点名明尼苏达州的提问，贝森特回应称，按人均计算，该州在欺诈监管方面一直是最差的州之一。
“It’s going on everywhere, and we’re going to track them down. But I can tell you that the guardrails tend to be loosest in the Democratic states.”A congressional study published in 2023 found that Texas, a red state, had the most Medicaid fraud dollars in 2022 with $219.9 million, followed by California, Florida and Louisiana. Bessent responded to a question about why they were singling out Minnesota, saying that per capita, the state has been one of the worst at fraud oversight.
他将这种“缺乏监管”归咎于州长蒂姆·沃尔兹（民主党籍）及其政府。“这种行为的极其恶劣性质，以及州检察长办公室和沃尔兹政府缺乏监管，令人震惊，”贝森特说。
He placed the blame for this "lack of oversight" on Gov. Tim Walz (D) and his administration. “The kind of egregious nature of this and the lack of oversight from the AG’s office and from the Walz administration is shocking,” Bessent said.
“明尼苏达州，遗憾的是，由于缺乏监管，其欺诈金额占总资金的比例很可能是全美最大的之一。” 沃尔兹的发言人没有立即回应《国会山报》的置评请求。 特朗普政府因欺诈指控惩罚蓝州，今夏冻结了明尼苏达州和加利福尼亚州超过 10 亿美元的医疗补助资金。 今年早些时候，副总统万斯开始主持白宫反欺诈工作组，旨在协调全国力量应对地方和州一级的欺诈行为。
“Minnesota, unfortunately, because of the lack of oversight, likely has as a percent of the dollars one of the largest in the country.”A Walz spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. The Trump administration has punished blue states over fraud accusations, freezing over $1 billion in Medicaid funds for Minnesota and California this summer. Earlier this year, Vice President Vance began chairing the White House’s anti-fraud task force, aiming to coordinate a national response to fraud at the local and state level.
特朗普表示，万斯在“反欺诈沙皇”的角色中将主要关注蓝州。 “他的关注点将是‘到处’，但主要在那些蓝州，那里的‘腐败民主党政客’，如加利福尼亚州、伊利诺伊州、明尼苏达州（索马里当心！）、缅因州、纽约州以及许多其他州的政客，在纳税人资金的空前盗窃中享受了‘随心所欲’，” 特朗普 4 月在 Truth Social 上写道。
Trump said Vance would focus primarily on blue states in his role as “fraud czar.”“His focus will be ‘EVERYWHERE,’ but primarily in those Blue States where CROOKED DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS, like those in California, Illinois, Minnesota (Somalia beware!), Maine, New York, and many others, have had a ‘free for all’ in the unprecedented theft of Taxpayer Money,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in April.
上周，特朗普宣布了一项 2500 万美元的举报人计划，承诺向那些线索导致欺诈者被定罪的人支付现金奖励。
Last week, Trump announced a $25 million whistleblower program promising cash payments to those whose tips about fraudsters lead to convictions.