# Hilgers Attends White House Anti-Fraud Meeting as Democrats Protest Exclusion  
**Published:** 2026-05-27T11:05:54.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/27/repub/democratic-state-ags-say-their-staff-excluded-from-vance-anti-fraud-meeting/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/hilgers-attends-white-house-anti-fraud-meeting-as-democrats-protest-exclusion

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers was among the Republican state attorneys general who attended a White House anti-fraud roundtable hosted by Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday, an event that became the center of partisan tensions over access and advance notice.

[According to the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/27/repub/democratic-state-ags-say-their-staff-excluded-from-vance-anti-fraud-meeting/), Democratic state attorneys general and their staff encountered a sharply different experience. Twenty-four Democratic AGs declined invitations to the meeting, citing extremely short notice—they received invitations Friday with no agenda and a Saturday deadline to respond—while their Republican counterparts were invited days earlier. Those Democratic officials who did send staffers to Washington said their experts were barred from attending.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led a press conference Tuesday alongside attorneys general from New York, New Jersey, Hawaii and Wisconsin, criticized the exclusion. "We won't be used as props in Vance's political performance," Bonta said. New York's Letitia James noted that officials from Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland and Nevada were also turned away, despite having already confirmed their attendance.

[According to Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/25/vance-state-attorneys-general-fraud-task-force-00935539), the initial invitation was extended only to attorneys general themselves, with exceptions made for chiefs of staff and deputy attorneys general. Lower-ranking staff members from both parties did not participate, though an individual familiar with the event said these guidelines were made clear in advance.

Hilgers, who was elected Nebraska's attorney general in 2022, attended as part of the Trump administration's broader fraud-fighting initiative. [Vance announced that since the creation of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud in March](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/26/vance-fraud-democrats-attorney-general-white-house.html), the administration has referred more than $22 billion in allegedly fraudulent small business loans to the Treasury for collection and deferred over $1.3 billion in suspicious Medicaid reimbursements.

At the meeting, Vance said the fraud-fighting effort should not be partisan, though his administration has focused heavily on Democratic-led states. [The administration recently filed 15 indictments in Minnesota for alleged Medicaid fraud schemes](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/26/vance-fraud-democrats-attorney-general-white-house.html), drawing particular attention to that state's administration of federal benefit programs.

The Republican Attorneys General Association later issued a statement attacking Democratic attorneys general, claiming they "knowingly aid and abet scams and fraud in their states."

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/27/repub/democratic-state-ags-say-their-staff-excluded-from-vance-anti-fraud-meeting/)
- [Politico coverage of Democratic AGs' letter and meeting details](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/25/vance-state-attorneys-general-fraud-task-force-00935539)
- [CNBC report on Vance's fraud task force accomplishments and Minnesota indictments](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/26/vance-fraud-democrats-attorney-general-white-house.html)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/27/repub/democratic-state-ags-say-their-staff-excluded-from-vance-anti-fraud-meeting/.