>>24692425
Congressional report slams Minnesota's Walz, Ellison for turning ‘blind eye’ to mass welfare fraud
House oversight committee alleges that Minnesota Democrats in the state turned a blind eye to mass fraud because they feared "political retribution from the politically active Somali community." James Comer, R-Ky, and the committee chairman said "Americans are fed up with fraud and expect action from the government entrusted with their hard-earned money."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison knew about widespread taxpayer fraud in the state's welfare programs as early as spring 2019, but took no action and instead the state retaliated against workers who tried to expose the abuses, a bombshell congressional report released Monday concluded.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee referred its findings from a months-long probe into $9 billion-plus in fraud schemes in Minnesota to Vice President JD Vance, raising serious concerns Democrats in the state turned a blind eye to the taxpayer losses because they feared "political retribution from the politically active Somali community,"
"Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison knew about the fraud in federal programs administered by the State of Minnesota much earlier than they admitted," the committee wrote in its final report reviewed by Just the News.
"Instead of trying to stop this widespread fraud, Governor Walz’s Administration retaliated against employees who tried to raise concerns, going to great lengths to keep them quiet, including intimidation through regular check-ins with high-level agency officials and threats of military surveillance," it added.
The report said the federal government has determined that at least $300 million was stolen by Feeding Our Future and its affiliated vendors and providers from the USDA's federal child nutrition programs and an estimated $9 billion has been lost to fraud from the high-risk Medicaid programs in Minnesota since 2018.
"The Committee has found that Minnesota lacked adequate oversight controls and procedures to verify that federal taxpayer dollars were being used appropriately and the Minnesota government could have stopped the flow of money to fraudsters at any time but chose not to for fear of political retribution from the politically active Somali community, which also wields power within social services provider networks," the committee wrote.
State was enabling federal funds to flow to fraudsters
The report had several major conclusions, including that:
Minnesota state agencies had clear authority to suspend or stop payments to providers suspected of fraud without requiring independent direction from courts, law enforcement agencies, or the federal government but failed to act.
State officials continued directing taxpayer dollars to Feeding our Future and other high-risk entities despite identifying serious program deficiencies, enabling federal funds to flow to fraudsters.
Testimony and documents show that concerns about litigation and accusations of discrimination—not legal barriers or directives from law enforcement—were cited as reasons for continuing payments to suspected fraudsters.
The Walz administration retaliated against state employees who raised concerns about fraud, while senior state officials prioritized managing political and media fallout over addressing known fraud vulnerabilities.
Comer: "Americans are fed up with fraud"
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are responsible for one of the most stunning oversight failures this Committee has ever examined," committee chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said. "Today’s report is the culmination of months of investigative work and reveals hard evidence showing how the Walz Administration failed to stop widespread fraud, allowing criminals to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers.
"Billions of dollars were stolen because Minnesota state leaders turned a blind eye to rampant fraud and retaliated against state
employees who dared to raise concerns. It is now clear the Walz Administration chose to protect the system
rather than protect the taxpayer," he added. "Americans are fed up with fraud and expect action from the government
entrusted with their hard-earned money."
In addition to the Trump administration's new fraud task force securing large numbers of federal prosecutions, the House Oversight Committee has now passed more than a dozen bills aimed at protecting taxpayer funds and strengthening oversight of federal programs ripe for fraud.