Trump's week in review: Clergy Act signed; $42M in SNAP fraud uncovered

4. $42M in SNAP fraud uncovered

At a Fraud Task Force press conference Wednesday, Attorney General Todd Blanche discussed the Trump administration’s crackdown on “SNAP fraud,” or fraud involving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps low-income Americans buy food. He said that since Sept. 1, the task force has “uncovered $42 million in fraud.”

Blanche’s examples included stealing money “off the cards that are used to purchase food” by Americans in need and “just outright theft and taking money” from the program’s intended beneficiaries.

To put the scale in perspective, he said, “220,000 Americans could have eaten for the entire month of October if it were not for this $42 million in fraud.”

“We’ve indicted men and women in 13 different districts just in the past seven weeks and that effort will continue for as long as it takes,” Blanche vowed.

Task Force Chairman Andrew Ferguson highlighted the arrest of rapper Shawty Dred, who is accused of using money intended for SNAP recipients to buy “watches and cars and real estate.” Ferguson said, “The American people did not sign up to pay for Shawty Dred to get a fancy watch and a flight on a private [plane].”

Vice President JD Vance described the allegations against Dred at the end of the press conference.

“He called almost 9,000 times and would take benefits that were spread across 350 accounts, collect them [for] himself and then enrich himself in the process,” he said.