Harassment? State AG earns warning after statement appearing to threaten journalists
As the Somali social services fraud schemes, already documented as having cost taxpayers billions of dollars in Minnesota, are located in other states, one state official has issued a statement that appears to threaten the journalists who are investigating.
And he’s being warned that he might have some “‘splainin” to do.
The warning comes from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who said, “ANY state official who chills or threatens to chill a journalist’s 1A rights will have some ‘splainin to do. @CivilRights takes potential violations of 18 USC § 242 seriously! Govern yourselves accordingly!”
ANY state official who chills or threatens to chill a journalist’s 1A rights will have some ‘splainin to do. @CivilRights takes potential violations of 18 USC § 242 seriously!
Govern yourselves accordingly! #1A https://t.co/6H50NkaqwW
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) December 31, 2025
Her promise was a response to a lengthy social media statement from Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown.
His lengthy diatribe on social media said, “My office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking.
“We are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims being pushed online and the harassment reported by daycare providers.
“Showing up on someone’s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn’t an investigation. Neither is filming minors who may be in the home. This is unsafe and potentially dangerous behavior. I encourage anyone experiencing threats or harassment to either contact local law enforcement or our office’s Hate Crimes & Bias Incident Hotline at 1-855-225-1010 or http://atg.wa.gov/report-hate.
“If you think fraud is happening, there are appropriate measures to report and investigate. Go to DCYF’s website to learn more. And where fraud is substantiated and verified by law enforcement and regulatory agencies, people should be held accountable.”
My office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking.
We are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims…— Attorney General Nick Brown (@AGOWA) December 31, 2025
The Gateway Pundit observed, “As allegations of fraud in the form of Somali daycare centers is exploding, now across the country and not just in Minnesota, people on the left are rushing to defend the fraudsters. In Washington State, Attorney General Nick Brown, put out a statement on Twitter/X that sounds like a threat to any independent journalists who might look into it.”
Journalism Andy Ngo responded that it is the “duty of journalists to visit taxpayer-funded nonprofits and businesses to investigate where you have failed.”
He accused Brown, “You are trying to threaten journalists by telling people to call police with false allegations of a hate crime.”
It is the duty of journalists to visit taxpayer-funded nonprofits and businesses to investigate where you have failed. The journalists have documented their visits on camera and there is no harassing or threatening behavior. You are trying to threaten journalists by telling…
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) December 31, 2025
And reporter Cam Higby documented the evidence that already has been uncovered suggesting fraud:
SOMALI FRAUD IN WASHINGTON: @choeshow and I spent yesterday investigating Somali daycares in WA.
“Dhagash Childcare” has received over $210,000 just this year. People living at the address claim there has never been a daycare there.
We lay out the facts in this teaser pic.twitter.com/KNkmJfV2Ss
— Cam Higby (@camhigby) December 30, 2025
And the Center Square already has documented “Daycare centers that receive hundreds of thousands in taxpayer subsidies [that] did not appear to have any children when The Center Square visited the facilities this week and were either openly hostile or told journalists that they were hoping to have children in their care, but did not have an application available or anyone to talk with about enrolling a child.”
The report noted, “The focus on Washington’s taxpayer subsidized daycares comes at the time federal authorities are conducting what they call a ‘massive’ investigation into fraud in Somali-run facilities in Minnesota.”
The report said, “According to fiscal.wa.gov, a home-based daycare on 6th Avenue SW called Eyow Childcare Inc., received $158,931 in taxpayer subsidies and grants from July to November of 2025. When The Center Square returned to that home for a second time on Tuesday, the homeowner immediately called police, and was videotaped as she refused to respond to questions posed by independent journalist Jonathan Choe. Three Federal Way Police officers arrived within seconds but told the woman reporters were allowed to be on the sidewalk and urged her ‘to calm down.’ An officer did enter the home and indicated there were three children in the home but did not verify if those children were daycare attendants.”
As similar situations are appearing in several other states, too, the report said, “Of the 25 home-based daycare providers within a one-mile radius in Federal Way, 12 of the providers listed on Child Care Aware of Washington are identified as Somali and accept multiple state subsidies.”
‘Calm down’: Journalists probe potential daycare center fraud in another state