House Republicans have called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to testify at a congressional hearing about his state’s infamous social services program fraud allegations.
Beginning next week, two House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearings will look into the misuse of federal funds with “Minnesota state officials who have sounded the alarm on and investigated fraud.”
The first, scheduled for Jan. 7, will feature testimonies with Republican state Reps. Kristin Robbins, Walter Hudson and Marion Rarick.
“Next week, we will hear from Minnesota state lawmakers who sounded the alarm on this fraud—and whose warnings were ignored by the Walz administration,” Chair James Comer, Kentucky Republican, said in a statement. “This misconduct cannot be swept aside, and Congress will not stop until taxpayers get the answers and accountability they deserve.”
On Feb. 10, Mr. Walz, a Democrat, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison are slated to testify before the committee.
“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison have either been asleep at the wheel or complicit in a massive fraud involving taxpayer dollars in Minnesota’s social services programs. American taxpayers demand and deserve accountability for the theft of their hard-earned money,” Mr. Comer said.
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The money laundering and fraud allegations in Minnesota’s social services programs, uncovered by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, have gripped the state and Washington.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged dozens of individuals with stealing more than $240 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future. This group is one of several that allegedly defrauded Minnesota programs in a scheme dating back to 2014.
The Department of Justice is investigating, prosecuting and charging alleged fraudsters, and Congress “has a duty to conduct rigorous oversight of this heist and enact stronger safeguards to prevent fraud in taxpayer-funded programs, as well as strong sanctions to hold offenders accountable,” Mr. Comer said.
The hearings are in addition to conducting transcribed interviews with Minnesota state officials, he said, as well as requesting that the Treasury Department provide all relevant Suspicious Activity Reports to support the committee’s investigation.
The investigation, launched in early December, included calling on Mr. Walz and Mr. Ellison to provide documents, communications and records about the fraud allegations. Whistleblowers have indicated that the state Department of Human Services employees are destroying evidence, Mr. Comer said.
The committee has serious concerns that Mr. Walz and his administration were fully aware of this fraud and chose not to act for fear of political retaliation, he said.
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Mr. Comer also expressed worries about Mr. Ellison accepting campaign contributions from Somali community leaders. Many fraud allegations include Somali individuals.
“We will expose failures and identify solutions so we can legislate so this DOES NOT happen again,” the GOP committee members said on social media.
The Washington Times has reached out to ranking committee Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia of California, Mr. Walz and Mr. Ellison’s offices.
