Democrats NO-SHOW Senate hearing on taxpayer fraud as Nick Shirley urges Congress to 'put Americans first'

Every Democratic seat sat empty during a Senate hearing on taxpayer fraud on Wednesday as independent journalist Nick Shirley and activist James O'Keefe testified before lawmakers, prompting sharp criticism from Republicans over the absence.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who chaired the hearing, pointed to the vacant seats, saying Democrats had been invited but did not attend.

"You've got some testimony from the person I kind of call as a fraud-busting hero, Nick Shirley is there, and you've got political activist James O'Keefe there, and a lot of Republicans in the room, and I think we have a shot of the empty seats... empty seats where Democrats would be sitting," Paul said.

He questioned why no Democratic members were present: "I mean, how does this play out? Dems don't care about defrauding the American people? They don't want to know the truth about this."

During his testimony, Shirley described himself as "a 100% independent journalist who seeks each day to serve we the people of the United States with the mission to show the world the reality of things as they really are."

"When we talk about fraud, we are talking about money that is being stolen from hard-working, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens," Shirley said. "This issue has nothing to do with political parties. No dollar says Republican or Democrat on it. When a fraudster commits fraud, he or she steals from all of us."

Shirley told lawmakers that his investigations have exposed "billions of dollars of fraud" and "helped save America hundreds of billions for years to come."

He said a video he published last December documenting alleged fraud in Minnesota "became one of the most viewed videos in Internet history" and led to "over 30 bills" being introduced in Congress as well as the creation of a new fraud task force.

"The fraud was so obvious that the fraudsters weren't even trying to hide it," Shirley said.

"By exposing the fraud, I actually also exposed the politicians and media who worked for years to cover it up," Shirley said. "Governor Tim Walz labeled my work as white supremacy and called me a far-right delusional conspiracy theorist."

Discussing California, Shirley said that "Politicians often use immigrant communities to commit fraud" and criticized the state's Medicaid program, saying, "The system is filled with bad actors and fraudsters."

He also said that in New York City, "government-funded adult daycares pay for elderly Koreans and Chinese to play ping-pong and do Tai Chi at the taxpayers expense," adding that "over $2 billion has gone to these fraudsters at the taxpayers expense."

"My wish while sitting in front of you guys today, that you take action and help Americans by cracking down on all the fraud," he said. "And to simply put, Americans first."