NEW YORK – Andrew Ferguson, co-chair of President Donald Trump’s federal anti-fraud committee with Vice President JD Vance, appeared Saturday on Fox News’ Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany and hinted that a major announcement is coming this week in the administration’s war on fraud.
Ferguson said next week would be a “big, big week on the anti-fraud front,” describing what appears to be a cross-agency, all-of-government approach to rooting out fraud across programs that have been bleeding taxpayer dollars.
For Maine, that should set off alarms in Augusta.
President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ferguson have already identified Maine as a problem state when it comes to fraud, especially in MaineCare and autism-related services.
The Maine Wire has been sounding that alarm for months.
Gateway Community Services is already under investigation by the House Oversight Committee. Maine Wire reporting has exposed millions of dollars in questionable payments, suspicious billing practices, and so-called “zombie offices” across the state, listed provider locations that appeared vacant, inactive, or incapable of supporting the level of taxpayer-funded services tied to them.
For too long, Maine taxpayers have been forced to bankroll a system where accountability comes last, excuses come first, and the people in charge pretend not to know how the money disappeared.
That may be about to change.
Ferguson’s comments suggest the Trump administration is preparing to move from warnings to action. If next week’s announcement targets the kind of abuse already exposed in Maine, it could mark a turning point in the fight to recover stolen taxpayer dollars and expose the networks that profited from broken oversight.
This is not just paperwork.
It is not just bureaucracy.
It is not just another government “mistake.”
If taxpayer money was taken through fraud, then it was theft, and the people who allowed it to happen should be forced to answer for it.
President Trump has vowed to combat fraud across the federal government, and Vance’s role signals that the White House intends to make the issue a major priority.
Now Maine may find itself directly in the spotlight.
After months of Maine Wire reporting, congressional scrutiny, and mounting evidence of abuse inside MaineCare-funded programs, accountability may finally be coming for those who treated taxpayer dollars like free money.
The Maine Wire will continue to follow this developing story.
Ayuh,….. Let’s see piles of federal Indictments,…..
I’d like to see an investigation of the DHHS caseworkers as well, particularly in the Bangor office, which has been corrupt for 40 years.
All these desk puppets who looked the other way for fear of being called racist need to be charged .
The Somalis didn’t do this alone . They had plenty of help from drones in Augusta , Portland ., Lewiston and Bangor .CHARGE THEM ALL .
Sadly, a number of Maine officials have sold out the Maine taxpayer for the ability to tap into a reliable voting block as long as the money kept flowing. They looked the other way while they knew fraud was being conducted. They allowed Maine taxpayers to keep footing an ever rising financial obligation to ensure their stranglehold on power. How morally bankrupt do you have to be to sell your soul and allow Maine seniors to pay ever higher property taxes while on a fixed income and be on the verge of being forced out of their homes? How empathy challenged do you have to be to recommend Maine seniors get a reverse mortgage instead of investigating how taxes can be reduced and fraud eliminated? This happened on Mills’ watch and under Democratic control, shameful doesn’t begin to describe it.
Thanks to the Maine Wire for having been the lead in New England’s press coverage of the theft being perpetrated against the State of Maine’s tax payers. I hope that a number of the crooked politicos and state, county and city functionaries that have allowed and benefitted from this scam are jailed: however, we need to be prepared for costs: Since a number of the thieves are state officers and employees, there may be defense lawyers for them paid by the state…and they will be the highest paid in Maine or New England. Once these crooks are locked up, their families may qualify for state assigned, taxpayer funded, welfare benefits. I have read that giving a prisoner in Maine three hots, a cot, and medical care runs about $100,000.00 a year. Unfortunately, prisoners do not pay this: Maine taxpayers cover the cost. Electing honest people would save us a lot of money as the Somalian and other scams would have been stopped before they could run up a billion dollar tab.
So long as it is viewed as “other people’s money,” democrats will never have fear of being held accountable.
These scams fleece Republicans more than democrats, and that’s a winning formula in Augusta for decades.
Wow!?
Never mind that Trump and his kids have profited billions of dollars since his second term.
How does team Trump go back into WH worth 2 billion but worth 200 billion a year and a half later???
Idiots.
hold feet to the fire, Maine taxpayers a waiting
It’s about damn time. Just waiting for the usual suspects to organize statewide protests beginning in Portland.
Has anyone looked at Phoenix, AZ and Santa Fe, NM yet? I’m thinking that may be where some of the fraudsters are fleeing already to set up shop.
I really hope the heat they fear is coming does actually arrive soon.
Maine’s failure to provide disability services for Mainers severely disabled by their autism and intellectual disability is now wrapped in an impenetrable armor of migrant providers – some of whom are likely hiring the “undocumented” – and cries of “That’s racist!” whenever you try to use established legal and regulatory channels to call the state on their utter failure and get them to provide the services they should be providing under Medicaid law.
I’m filing a grievance with CMS this week.
@Trump is a kike loving criminal, did they commit fraud? Steal from you and I the taxpayer? And do have proof?