Trump Administration Criticizes "60 Minutes" for Omitting Asylum Fraud Claim

The Trump administration has sharply criticized CBS News's "60 Minutes" program for what it describes as the omission of a significant detail in a recent profile of Moussa Diawara, a man from Mali who was deported to Ghana.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contends that the "60 Minutes" segment failed to mention a key element of Diawara's asylum application: his claim that he feared persecution in his home country due to his homosexuality. This claim was made despite Diawara being married to a woman and having two children.

According to DHS General Counsel James Percival, the asylum claim represented "absurd bit of fraud." Percival stated on X, formerly Twitter, that an examination of Diawara's immigration file revealed his stated reason for fearing return to Mali was that he is "gay."

DHS confirmed that Diawara had an order of removal issued by a judge in 2012. The department stated that Diawara was removed to a third country, Ghana, which provided diplomatic assurances for his safety. DHS accused "60 Minutes" of leaving out this "absurd bit of fraud" from its report, which characterized Diawara as a "Texas dad."

In his asylum application, which was reportedly obtained by Fox News, Diawara expressed that his time in the United States allowed him to "express my feelings to men without any embarrassment no reserve." He also wrote, "Although I was born as a boy, but things appeared differently for me as I was already having female behaviors and feelings. I was more comfortable being intimate with boys rather than with girls."

The "60 Minutes" segment reported that Diawara alleged he was forced onto a flight to Mali shortly after arriving in Ghana. The report stated that he was homeless and fearing for his safety in Mali before escaping to another country with the assistance of local truckers, though the specific country was not disclosed for his safety.