The Washington State Republican Party (WAGOP) and journalist Jonathan Choe have jointly filed for an injunction in Thurston County Superior Court seeking to bar Washington state agencies from deleting, altering, or restricting public access to records tied to childcare centers receiving taxpayer funding.
The lawsuit comes as allegations of fraud in Washington’s subsidized childcare system continue to grow, particularly involving home-based daycare providers, after independent journalists began comparing Washington’s apparent warning signs to the daycare fraud scandal in Minnesota that prompted prosecutions and convictions.
🚨 SOMALI DAYCARE INFO DELETED FROM DCYF WEBSITE:
DCYF website previously reflected that Dhagash Family Daycare ($200k+ tax dollars) had 3 children enrolled. 6 slots available for a license capacity of 9.
Now available slots is blank. WHAT HAPPENED HERE?! pic.twitter.com/ATi1f9JGek
— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) January 3, 2026
The State Auditor’s Office is now finalizing an audit of a $770 million child care subsidy program run by the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), an audit that began before the recent fraud allegations went viral, which reportedly shows millions of dollars in overpayments. Records show 1,372 overpayments totaling $2,092,513 between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Another $500 million had improper controls, leaving the funds open for abuse.
🚨 MORE SOMALI DAYCARE RECORDS CHANGE:
This daycare, Hilowle Safia, which has reportedly taken in $863k tax dollars since 2023 used to have 6 available slots ( a few days ago) meaning it served only 3 kids.
Now the DCYF says 0 slots available, and the address has been purged. pic.twitter.com/6upKbnPSf0
— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) January 3, 2026
In the filing, WAGOP and Choe argue that state agencies in Olympia have begun scrubbing and modifying public documents that were previously posted on government websites, undermining transparency as the public attempts to track where state and federal childcare dollars are going.
“Today’s action is unfortunate but urgent and necessary,” the complaint states. “State bureaucratic agencies in Olympia are deleting and altering public documents, posted on government websites, that are related to the unfolding childcare fraud scandal in this state. This must stop immediately.”
Choe describes the records at issue as crucial for verifying whether subsidized providers are operating within their licensed limits. In the complaint, he recounts requesting a month of attendance records from 31 licensed in-home providers “to determine if they operated within the limits of their authorized capacity.” Of those 31, Choe says nine providers did not respond, and another nine did not provide records for between two and 15 children for whom they received subsidy payments for the selected month.
Choe told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI in a statement, “If DCYF investigators were doing their jobs, I wouldn’t have to be on the fraud beat.” He added, “The legitimate Somali daycares should be holding a press conference with the Council on American Islamic Relations and denouncing the fraudsters in their community. Instead, they’re circling the wagons and blaming citizen journalists for harassment and racism. Regardless, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
WAGOP Chairman Rep. Jim Walsh said the public has a right to see the records, especially when taxpayer funds are involved.
“Journalists and ordinary Washingtonians have been using these publicly posted documents to investigate credible allegations of corruption in how state and federal tax dollars are being paid to childcare centers here in Washington,” Walsh said in the original statement. “State bureaucrats hiding this public information from the people is illegal and unconstitutional.”
Walsh echoed that argument on The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, alleging “credible evidence” that state agencies—“primarily the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, DCYF, but others too”—have been “involved in fraudulent payments… to either nonexistent or no longer existent childcare centers in the state.” He argued state leaders should be driving an investigation rather than dismissing the issue: “They could be taking leading positions in calling for investigation… [but] instead, they’re running and hiding.”
The filing also aims to address what it calls “politically partisan hysterics” from Attorney General Nick Brown and other officials, who have accused independent journalists of “harassment,” urged targets to contact law enforcement and the state Hate Crimes and Bias Incident Hotline, and warned that showing up at homes or filming minors is “unsafe and potentially dangerous.” The complaint argues Brown and others are mischaracterizing public-interest scrutiny and using that framing to distract from government accountability.
Walsh rejected the idea that the effort targets providers as a community. “They’re gonna say that this is an attack on the childcare providers. It’s not,” he told KVI. “What we’re looking into are the bureaucratic agencies that have made the allegedly fraudulent payments… making the grants, making the direct payments. That’s where we’re looking.”
In an interview with KOMO News, Seattle Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson refused to investigate or even acknowledge the possibility of fraud and also demonized the journalists, after previously calling them “extremist influencers.”
During Congressional hearings on the Minnesota fraud earlier this week, Rep Emily Randall (D-WA) said Washingtonians should ignore the data alleging fraud and instead focus on investigating US citizens, especially “white men.”
