Washington AG warns citizen journalists amid daycare fraud investigations; DOJ pushes back

By SUZANNE DOWNING

The Washington State Attorney General issued a warning this week aimed at citizen journalists investigating alleged fraud among home-based daycare providers in the state. Democrat AG Nick Brown’s warning to investigative journalists prompted a sharp rebuke from the US Department of Justice, escalating a national debate over press freedom and government oversight.

In a post on X, Brown said the office had “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.” The statement said the attorney general’s office was coordinating with the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding claims circulating online and reports of harassment.

The post cautioned that “showing up on someone’s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn’t an investigation,” and warned that filming minors in a home is “unsafe and potentially dangerous behavior.”

The attorney general encouraged individuals experiencing threats or harassment to contact local law enforcement or the state’s Hate Crimes and Bias Incident Hotline, and directed those who suspect fraud to report it through DCYF’s official channels.

Within hours, the post drew a response from Harmeet Dhillon, the US Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, who publicly warned state officials against actions that could infringe on constitutional protections for journalists.

“ANY state official who chills or threatens to chill a journalist’s 1A rights will have some ‘splainin to do,” Dhillon wrote on X Wednesday morning. She added that the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division “takes potential violations of 18 USC § 242 seriously.”

That statute, known as Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law, makes it a federal crime for anyone acting under authority of law to willfully deprive another person of rights protected by the US Constitution, including freedom of the press.

The clash between state and federal officials comes after daycare fraud was discovered by YouTuber Nick Shirley. In late December, Shirley published a 42-minute video alleging widespread fraud involving Somali-owned, state-funded childcare facilities in Minneapolis, Minn. The video, which has been viewed more than 131 million times on X since Dec. 26, showed multiple licensed daycare locations that appeared to be closed or deserted. Shirley alleged that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz knew about the fraud and failed to report it.

Following that video, citizen journalists in several states with large Somali populations began conducting their own investigations into publicly funded childcare providers. To our knowledge, no such probe has taken place in Anchorage, although there appear to be a number of so-called home daycare operations that are conducted out of tiny apartments in Fairview, Mountain View, and Muldoon.

This is how the scam works… pic.twitter.com/jQxqJUmlxv

— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) January 1, 2026

In the Kent, Washington area on Tuesday, YouTuber Chris Sims, who describes himself as a “gonzo journalist,” visited seven Somali-linked childcare locations listed in state records.

Sims reported that the individuals at the locations were hostile to his presence. In one video, Sims approached a private residence listed as a childcare facility and said there were no visible signs of daycare operations.

“There was no sign of kids or being a Daycare facility,” Sims wrote in an accompanying post. “I was told by a few they weren’t Daycares despite receiving tax payer dollars. One yelled ‘Call the police’ behind the door.”

Journalists Jonathan Choe and Cam Higby visited a childcare facility in Seattle that receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds. According to Higby, the person who answered the door said no daycare had ever operated at the address. Higby reported that “Dhagash Childcare” had received more than $210,000 in public funding in 2025 alone.

Higby also identified another listed childcare home in Kent that allegedly received more than $863,000 since 2023. In a video posted online, Higby said residents told him there was no daycare operating at the location.

On Dec. 29, another independent reporter investigating alleged childcare fraud in Seattle’s Rainier Vista neighborhood reported being confronted by Somali residents who called police in response to his presence.

Minnesota daycare scandal serves as warning to Anchorage’s LaFrance daycare sales tax