The Star Tribune has posted a correction to the fraudulent story that I have been writing about over the past two days. Seeking to impugn President Trump and, by necessity, chief Feeding Our Future prosecutor Joe Thompson, the Star Tribune has minimized the amount of money Somali perpetrators have stolen. The Star Tribune insisted that “[a] review of court records show[ed] the alleged fraud uncovered to date is closer to $152 million to date,” without ever showing their homework.
The Star Tribune now posits this “Correction: An earlier version of this story did not include two significant fraud cases involving a separate sponsor in the meals program. Federal prosecutors obtained convictions against five people involved with Empire Cuisine & Market and a guilty plea from the owner of Haji’s Kitchen. Prosecutors said those two entities defrauded the government of $66 million, bringing the total amount of alleged fraud involving state-run social services programs in Minnesota to $217.7 million to date. Partners in Nutrition, the nonprofit sponsor of those two entities, has not been charged.”
As I showed in “Operation Walz,”, drawing on the government exhibit received into evidence at the second Feeding Our Future trial, the number proved against convicted Feeding Our Future executive director Aimee Bock by herself is $240 million. It is the amount Bock will be sentenced on. The number proved in court to date in the two trials is $300 million.
The Star Tribune’s persistence in obvious error is astounding in its own way. It’s a sorry situation. They appear to be incapavble of embarrassment. Some explanation is required.
