KIRO NEWSRADIO OPINION

‘There is fraud in every state’: Gee and Ursula back fraud crackdown, but not attacks on Somali community

Jan 6, 2026, 5:30 PM

In light of the alleged daycare fraud in Minnesota, Somali daycare centers in the Puget Sound area have been subject to threats and harassment over the unsubstantiated claims of fraud. The Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations claimed dozens of providers have been either doxxed, harassed, or received death threats since the fraud claims arose.

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin, hosts of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, deemed the focus on the alleged fraud to be a specialized attack on specific communities, rather than an attempt to sniff out fraud entirely.

“I know that if you look, there is fraud in every state, but don’t attack and harass the Somali community and try to just think it’s all them. It’s other communities as well,” Gee said.

“If fraud exists, it needs to be rooted out. It is not only Somalis committing fraud, and this idea of now we’re going to have vigilantism, or have people going in there trying to make videos go viral,” Ursula responded. “People are getting so aggressive about trying to be that next viral superstar that’s going to uncover something. By the way, there has not been legally proven fraud, even in those Minnesota cases. I’m all in favor of rooting out the fraud, but don’t make it an excuse to attack a certain population.”

KIRO producer Andrew Lanier stated that the fraud concerns in Minnesota have already been looked into by local officials, and further agreed with Gee and Ursula on it being a targeted attack on the Somali community as a whole.

“This is a story where the facts almost don’t matter, because it has been spread so widely,” Lanier said. “The Office of Inspector General in Minnesota went to all nine child care centers in the video, and investigators confirmed that the centers were operating as expected, gathered evidence, and initiated further review. Children were present at all sites. The point being, there was fraud, and there is fraud in Minnesota that has been investigated for years. This new thing, where it’s all the Somalis, has not been corroborated at all.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio. 

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