Ballard Sound Freedom

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https://www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-influencers-find-a-medicare-fraudster-they-love-mccubbins

WITH DONALD TRUMP INCREASINGLY UNPOPULAR, and with fewer woke Democratic initiatives to bemoan, right-wing media figures have united around a cause seemingly every faction of their audiences can get behind: targeting minority communities for alleged fraud.

Twenty-four-year-old MAGA influencer Nick Shirley became a star doing this early this year when he posted videos of himself visiting Somali-American daycares in Minnesota. In January, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Oz visited Los Angeles to do his own fraud hunt. Vice President JD Vance has embraced the title of fraud czar even as the rest of his portfolio appears to have narrowed. And just this week, the Daily Wire published a multi-part investigation of home-care fraud.

Yet at the same time as this fraud focus has grown nearly monomaniacal, MAGA influencers have rallied behind a fraudster of their own. In what appears to be a coordinated effort on X, MAGA influencers as varied as a pro-Trump rapper and a Gateway Pundit editor are calling for leniency for Utah businessman Andrew McCubbins, arguing that his conviction for looting $89 million in Medicare money isn’t really that big of a deal, all things considered.

McCubbins is the former head of a Utah company that was found to have ordered unnecessary genetic testing, with nurses and doctors bribed to request the tests for patients.

There isn’t a question about his guilt. In September 2020, he pleaded guilty to three charges, including conspiracy to defraud Medicare. He agreed to hand over his multi-million-dollar Utah house as part of a forfeiture, and even testified about the details of the scheme in a co-conspirator’s trial.

But he also happens to have financially supported a couple of projects dear to MAGA’s heart. McCubbins was an executive producer of Sound of Freedom, the runaway 2023 hit conservative movie about human trafficking, and participated in the undercover operations carried out by the now-embattled group that movie was based on.

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bipartisan committee of Utah state legislators has unanimously voted to launch an audit of Republican Attorney General Sean Reyes' office as part of an investigation into his relationship with Tim Ballard.

Utah's Legislative Audit Subcommittee — which is made up entirely of senior legislative leaders — approved the audit of Reyes on Tuesday. That vote came in the wake of a report earlier this month in which Reyes was accused of witness intimidation in the ongoing civil case against Ballard, his longtime friend accused of grooming, sexual misconduct, spiritual manipulation, and sexual harassment. Ballard is the protagonist of the 2023 box office hit film "Sound of Freedom," which is based on his real-life experience as founder of the anti-human trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad.

"We have been concerned about the governance and oversight of the AG’s Office, well before any allegations came to light raising suspicion into the relationship of the AG with Tim Ballard (Ballard), Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), and the production of the Sound of Freedom (SOF) movie," lawmakers' letter to Fox 13 read. "Given the important role that the AG plays in upholding the constitutions of the United States and the State of Utah, enforcing the law, and protecting the interests of the State of Utah and its people, environment, and resources we believe that a Legislative Audit is warranted."

Ballard has been sued by five women, who accused him of engaging in a tactic known as the "couples' ruse" in which he and other women pretended to be a couple while on sting operations to catch pedophiles. Plaintiffs argued that Ballard prompted them to engage in "tantric yoga, couples massages with escorts, and lap dancing" as part of the "couples' ruse." AG Reyes was reportedly present at several of Ballard's trysts, and allegedly gave his blessing to the "couples' ruse" as "a legitimate law enforcement tactic."

As part of the audit, the committee announced it will investigate AG Reyes' judgment in making legal and administrative decisions, his office's travel policies, what state resources were spent in support of Ballard's organization, and the "culture" of the office. In a statement, Reyes' office responded that it "welcomes" the audit.

"We are confident [lawmakers] will see what we already know: the Office of the Utah AGO does great work," the statement read. "We are proud of our personnel, leadership, and the cases we file to protect the people of Utah."

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