FTC chief accuses Democrats of 'trying to protect the fraudsters' by withholding data from Trump admin

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson accused Democratic governors Thursday of "trying to protect the fraudsters" by refusing to provide the Trump administration with SNAP recipient data, arguing their resistance is hindering efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse in federally funded benefit programs.

"A lot of the red states are cooperating. The blue states are not," Ferguson told "America's Newsroom."

"I don't know what else to infer from the fact that they're not cooperating other than trying to protect the fraudsters, and I don't know what to infer from that other than the Democrats are in on this, and I think it's a huge problem."

STOLEN IDS SOLD FOR ‘HAPPY MEAL’ PRICES FUEL BILLIONS IN US BENEFIT FRAUD

Ferguson, who is helping lead the charge in the Trump administration's broader effort to unmask and eliminate systemic fraud in government-funded programs, called out blue-state governors for their refusal to hand over the requested information, including information identifying benefit recipients.

Ferguson said programs like SNAP, which are administered by states but funded by the federal government, are particularly under the microscope.

"The federal government, at this point, doesn't have good insight into who actually receives this money, so we've been asking the states, ‘Work with us here, show us where the money is going so that we can ensure that federal taxpayer dollars are not going to the worst people in the world...’" he said.

TOP FEDERAL PROSECUTOR CALLS CALIFORNIA A 'FRAUDSTER'S PARADISE,' WARNS STATE OFFICIALS COULD FACE CHARGES

"You've got to ask why Democrat governors would want to prevent us from finding the fraudsters, and I think it raises a lot of suspicions about the Democrats themselves."

Vice President JD Vance is leading the administration's anti-fraud effort, publicly pressing for the same information to determine whether people who are in the country illegally are receiving SNAP benefits in certain states. The vice president specifically called out Wisconsin on Wednesday.

Ferguson touted the success of the mission to uncover fraud on Thursday, telling guest host Sandra Smith that the probes have yielded indictments and potential prison time for perpetrators as well as uncovered "tens of billions of dollars of fraud" that would have otherwise gone to fraudsters.

"That's why Vice President Vance's leadership is so important. And the stats speak for themselves," he said.