The Trump administration’s big anti-fraud announcement in Minnesota didn’t go as planned Friday.
First of all, Vice President JD Vance canceled his appearance at the event in St. Cloud without giving a reason—leaving other Trump officials to stand in front of a giant banner reading “The Vice President’s Fraud Task Force,” with the vice president nowhere in sight.
But things only went south from there. Shortly after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a federal crackdown in the state, with coordinated searches and a $25 million whistleblower incentive program, a reporter pointed out that the Trump administration has an issue of its own: The Department of Homeland Security paid $495 million for a prison in Appleton, Minnesota, in August, despite its owner, CoreCivic, Inc., offering it to the state for just $75 million last year. Bessent didn’t want to answer that question.
“Uh, yeah, I don’t know anything about that, what we are here to do is prosecute criminal fraud and any question like that that deflects away from it I think is a waste of our time, thanks,” Bessent said.
Q: If the administration has declared on waste and fraud, could you explain the $420 million overpayment for a prison in Appleton, MN, when they company offered it to the state for $75m?BESSENT: I don't know anything about that. That's a waste of our time. pic.twitter.com/AnJ9bedDDd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 30, 2026Minnesota TV station KARE 11 reported on the massive overpayment Thursday, citing records filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission confirming the $420 million price difference. It’s the largest real estate purchase in Minnesota history, and it’s a 34-year-old vacant prison that’s been closed for 16 years.
“It’s unexplainable!” Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell told KARE 11 when he was asked about the sale.
“Obviously, I was stunned given the reality of the offer that had been made to us just a little over a year prior to that,” Schnell said. “I still can’t figure it out.”
That purchase price doesn’t include any necessary improvements the government will have to make on the facility, which will likely be numerous considering it has been defunct for 16 years and is located in a small town about a three hour drive from Minneapolis and St. Paul. The company in question, CoreCivic, has profited immensely from Trump’s mass deportation policies, and donated $500,000 to President Trump and Vance’s inauguration. But don’t expect that to be the subject of a big federal fraud investigation.
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