GOP Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio laid into Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz during a House hearing Wednesday, accusing him of lying about his involvement in the Somali fraud scandal that came to light last year.
During a House Oversight Committee hearing, Jordan said that either Walz or a state judge had to be lying about why certain payments were restarted following concerns raised by whistleblowers and auditors.
“Why didn’t you just tell the truth about the ‘Feeding Our Future’ program?” Jordan asked. “This program, in my understanding, received $3 million the first year, [and] within a couple years was getting $200 million of taxpayer money. Whistleblowers raised concerns, as the chairman said. Auditors raised concerns. Everybody raised concerns.
“March 30, 2021, the payments are stopped, and a little over a month later, the payments are restarted,” he continued. “Why didn’t you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?”
Walz attempted to filibuster by citing the COVID-19 pandemic, but was quickly interrupted by Jordan, who asked the same question again.
The Minnesota Democrat finally replied, “My understanding was the agency believed that the court had required them to make those payments.”
Jordan said Walz was lying, and began reading a statement from the state’s judicial branch website concerning the court case Feeding Our Future v. The Minnesota Department of Education.
It was titled, “Correcting Media Reports and Statements by Governor Tim Walz Concerning Orders Issued by the Court,” and said that the courts “never ordered the Department of Education to resume payments to FOF in April 2021, or at any other time.”
“So you said something that wasn’t true,” Jordan declared. “So I want to know why didn’t you tell the truth?”
Walz replied that “the attorneys at the Department of Education interpreted that differently.”
Jordan asked, “So the court’s lying?”
Walz shook his head and began to stammer, saying, “I can’t tell you, Congressman.”
“Well, somebody’s lying!” Jordan shot back. “Somebody’s lying. Because you can’t say the court ordered you to restart the payments, and then the court says, ‘We didn’t order you to restart the payments.’ So either you’re lying, or the court’s lying. And I’m just asking you, which one is it?”
WATCH: GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio confronts Dem Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota Over Somali Fraud Scandal: “Well somebody’s lying!”https://t.co/B78CWwpYqE
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Walz claimed it “simply” came down to a “misinterpretation,” but Jordan begged to differ.
The Ohio Republican also asked whether the governor turned a blind eye to billions of dollars in fraud because he feared “political backlash” from the Somali community in Minnesota.
Somalians presently make up a powerful voting bloc in the state, supporting people like Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia.
The pressure on Walz, and on Minnesota’s Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, comes after massive fraud was uncovered related to Somali immigrants and others who were abusing taxpayer funded social services programs designed to provide food, child care, and medical assistance to low-income families.
President Donald Trump tasked Vice President J.D. Vance with leading a nationwide probe into such fraudulent activity, and said during a speech last month that $19 billion had already been stolen in Minnesota alone.
“There’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. We have all the information and, in actuality, the number is much higher than that,” the president said.
“So, tonight, although [it] started four months ago, I am officially announcing the war on fraud to be led by our great Vice President, J.D. Vance.”
The commander in chief has also set his sights on states like California, Massachusetts, Maine, “and many other states” that are “even worse” when it comes to taxpayer fraud.
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