Connect with us

Politics

Tim Walz Panned For ‘Pathetic’ Response To Sprawling Somali Fraud In His State

Published

7 hours ago

on

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is pushing back hard against mounting accusations that his administration failed to stop years of rampant fraud in taxpayer-funded social aid programs, even as federal agencies freeze payments and launch sweeping investigations into the state.

“We’ve spent years cracking down on fraud — referring cases to law enforcement, shutting down and auditing high-risk programs. Trump keeps letting fraudsters out of prison,” Walz wrote on social media. “To the national news just now paying attention, here’s what we’ve done to stop it.”

Walz’s post included screenshots from a Dec. 12 Minnesota Star Tribune op-ed in which he acknowledged the scope of the fraud and insisted the issue was his “responsibility to fix,” arguing it should not be treated as “a partisan issue.”

“We have created additional checks and balances. We have hired investigators, auditors and law enforcement … we have learned from this — as we would hope any administration would,” Walz wrote.

The governor’s defense came just hours before the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would pause all federal child care payments to Minnesota while investigators examine suspected fraud. Vice President JD Vance praised the move as “one of the most important steps we can take” to protect taxpayers.

Tim Walz responded by accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the probe to “defund programs that help Minnesotans.”

“This is Trump’s long game. We’ve spent years cracking down on fraudsters. It’s a serious issue, but this has been his plan all along,” Walz said.

The controversy intensified after a viral video posted by YouTuber Nick Shirley showed several licensed daycare facilities that appeared empty or inactive despite receiving millions in public funds. The video prompted widespread scrutiny and drew federal investigators into the state.

Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown acknowledged the video but questioned its approach.

“While we have questions about some of the methods that were used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously,” Brown said Monday.

State officials said every daycare facility mentioned in the video had been visited at least once in the past six months as part of the licensing process, with inspectors finding children present during prior unannounced visits. Brown said none of those inspections uncovered evidence of fraud.

The department confirmed that two centers featured in the video may have been closed at the time it was filmed. Mako Child Care has been closed since 2022. Quality Learning Center informed the state on Dec. 19 that it “had closed or were closing,” though owners later said they planned to keep the center operating.

“There’s no fraud going on whatsoever,” said Ibrahim Ali, manager of Quality Learning Center. “Kids come to us, clients come to us, their parents come to us, they’re here daily, they leave on time, they come on time.”

Despite those assurances, the fallout has expanded well beyond child care. Federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Small Business Administration have launched coordinated investigations into Minnesota’s broader fraud crisis.

The probes follow revelations tied to the Feeding Our Future scandal, which has already produced 86 indictments and more than $1 billion in alleged losses, making it one of the largest COVID-era fraud cases in U.S. history.

As scrutiny intensifies, Walz faces growing pressure over whether warning signs were ignored for years, and whether the full scale of Minnesota’s fraud problem is only now coming into focus.

Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST >>

Related Topics: