In 1961, an Oscar-nominated film, “The Hustler,” starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, told the story of two pool hustlers out to beat the system and each other.

At one point in the film, “Fast” Edie Felson (Newman) and Minnesota Fats (Gleason) engage in a marathon game of “straight pool lasting 25 hours, ultimately won by Minnesota Fats.

Enter Rudolf Wanderone. Following the critical and financial success of “The Hustler,” Wanderone, himself a notorious pool hustler, changed his name from “New York Fats” to “Minnesota Fats” and for the rest of his life, claimed Gleason’s character in the film was based on him.

Using the film’s success, Wanderone parlayed his notoriety as “Minnesota Fats” into several lucrative book deals, jobs, television appearances, and pool shooting exhibitions. In 1966, he wrote his autobiography, “The Bank Shot and Other Great Robberies,” and hosted a TV show entitled: Minnesota Fats Hustles the Pros, which featured “Fats” playing against other pro players.

Wanderone went to his grave on January 15, 1993—four days shy of his 83^rd birthday, insisting he was the inspiration for “Minnesota Fats” in the film.

My father, who was a decent pool hustler in his youth, always maintained that Minnesota Fats was a first-rate pool player, but that he was no match for world champion Willie Mosconi. Indeed, in several head-to-head matches, Mosconi consistently beat the Minnesota fat man.

That didn’t seem to bother Minnesota Fats, who considered himself the “uncrowned king” of billiards because he never entered officially sanctioned tournaments. Asked why he eschewed them, Minnesota Fats said he preferred to hustle instead.

“You judge a king by the size of his wallet and his palace. You can leave the crown in the toilet,” he quipped.

But that (and my father’s pool hall experiences) are stories for another time. This post is about perhaps the biggest hustle in American history.

Were he alive today, there is little doubt that Minnesota Fats would be amazed and perhaps a bit envious of the $9 billion hustle currently in progress in his namesake, Minnesota—especially given the fact that the mainstream media seems content to ignore it entirely.

During his six or seven decades of hustling, Minnesota Fats never came close to the billions of dollars that members of the Somali community have hustled from Uncle Sam and the incompetent (or complicit?) political bosses of Minnesota.

Nevertheless, Minnesota Fats was a media darling, famous for his ostentation, fast talk, tall tales, and banter. The media loved him and shielded him from any harsh scrutiny.

The media seem to be taking the same tack with the thieves in Minnesota’s Somali community who investigators say have committed large-scale fraud via phony social services programs, including childcare subsidies, Medicaid billing, welfare benefits (such as nutrition and SNAP), pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, and federal aid funneled through nonprofits.

Yet media reports have ignored the fraud by Somalis, preferring instead to insist that the Trump administration is assaulting the Somali community with little or no proof of wrongdoing, even though authorities have announced prosecutions are coming.

The New York Times and other mainstream media say the DOJ is scapegoating the Somali community. However, the facts refute media claims. Federal investigations, led by the DOJ and involving HSI/ICE, have charged 98 individuals—85 of Somali descent—in schemes allegedly defrauding up to $1 billion from state-administered programs. Prosecutors estimate that half of Minnesota’s $18 billion in Medicaid spending since 2018 may be fraudulent.

Childcare fraud is focused on Minneapolis facilities receiving millions in subsidies despite appearing inactive or vacant, as shown in a viral video by 23-year-old independent journalist Nick Shirley.

As a result of Shirley’s investigative journalism, HHS froze $185 million of 2025 payments pending verification. Federal agents and whistleblowers in Minnesota say corrupt nonprofits with Somali ties allegedly siphoned funds for personal luxury (homes, clothes, automobiles, vacations, etc.) while denying services, including flagged PPP loans totaling $430 million across 13,600 approvals.

And what of our corrupt legacy media? The dishonest talking heads on the networks and Democrat-controlled outlets like CNN, Politico, CBS, and MS NOW have not only ignored Shirley’s work, but they have attacked him as a “right-wing so-called journalist.”

Shirley may have no legacy media connections or affiliations. Still, he is more of a journalist than the deceitful fraudsters whose cable news shows have morphed into nothing more than propaganda broadcasts on behalf of the Democrat Party.

Beyond Shirley’s 42-minute video fraud investigation, additional accusations involve welfare scams denying families nutrition, education, and healthcare aid during the pandemic, with some funds reportedly reaching al-Shabaab terrorists. The USDA has now demanded SNAP (food stamp) recertification for recipients.

Shirley’s surveillance footage shows parents and providers allegedly gaming the system by falsifying and faking the attendance of children in daycare centers. Employees of some bogus centers are on video handing out what appears to be kick-back cash to complicit Somali adults with nary a child in sight.

Critics, including former SBA head Kelly Loeffler, have highlighted lax oversight under Gov. Tim Walz, enabling “industrial scale” abuse in Minnesota’s welfare system, now the state’s most significant expenditure.

Others question the role Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar may have played in the widespread fraud. They point out that two years ago, Omar’s net worth was about $50,000. Today, that number has ballooned to about $30 million. So far, there have been crickets from Omar or her office.

Omar is facing scrutiny for supporting the MEALS Act, which critics say weakened oversight and was exploited in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme that has so far resulted in 78 indictments. Will Omar be next? Don’t hold your breath. She’s as weaselly as they come—ask her brother, who she once married so he could enter the country.

State policies under Walz, such as the 2023 “Driver’s Licenses for All,” are used by illegal migrants to register to vote. Another Walz policy allows voter “vouching,” in which a registered voter can vouch for up to 8 unregistered voters. That has drawn fire from critics who say the scheme was established to allow illegal Somali migrants, and others in the country illegally, to register and vote Democrat.

So far, no Minnesota politicians or government officials have been convicted of a crime or for allowing widespread fraud in the Somali community. Nevertheless, critics on both sides of the political aisle say failures to act despite warnings fall directly on the shoulders of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and his administration.

As a result, Minnesota GOP senators have called for Walz’s resignation, citing his failure to perform his constitutional duties. Once again, don’t hold your breath.

Republican lawmakers and federal agencies criticize Walz for ignoring whistleblower alerts about alleged $9 billion in fraud across programs like Child Care Assistance (CCAP) and Feeding Our Future, with over 400 state employees reporting retaliation against those who raised issues.

Sen. Jim Banks urged an HHS investigation, citing Walz’s failure on federal benchmarks and fake Somali daycare centers. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) demanded deportations, even of naturalized citizens, and pressed Walz on specific cases, such as a misspelled daycare center that billed the state $4 million.

 

Walz, meanwhile, has taken to the airwaves to blame Donald Trump for launching a political attack on Minnesota and its Somali community. Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels would be proud of Walz’s pathetic attempt at deflection—even if it is falling flat.

It’s a scheme that once again brings hustler Rudolf Wanderone, AKA Minnesota Fats, to mind.

Minnesota Fats was notorious for nonstop chatter about subjects he knew little about, or apocryphal stories about himself. At the beginning of his first television match against Willie Mosconi, Fats claimed: “I’ve never lost a game for money in my life; beat everyone that ever lived.”

Yet, as Wanderone’s biographer, R.A. Dyer, once conceded, “Pool hustlers are, by nature, liars. And by this measure, Minnesota Fats was just a very, very good hustler.”

You could say the same thing about some Minnesota politicians, part of the state’s Somali community, and most of the legacy media.

–30–

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