JUST IN: Oversight Committee Drops The Hammer On Tim Walz

The House Oversight Committee is ramping up its investigation into allegations of widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs, a scandal that prosecutors have suggested could amount to billions.

Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., sent letters Monday to seven current and former Minnesota officials, requesting transcribed interviews as his panel widens its probe.

Comer also fired off letters to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, asking for the federal government’s cooperation and requesting staff briefings by Jan. 9.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating reports of widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs. As the Director of Nutrition Program Services and in your previous roles as the Assistant Director of Nutrition Program Services and Supervisor of Business Operations and Support Services for the Minnesota Department of Education, you have information that will assist the Committee’s investigation,” Comer wrote in one letter to Emily Honer, director of Nutrition Program Services at the Minnesota Department of Education.

“Accordingly, we request your testimony at an in-person transcribed interview on January 26, 2026. If you do not voluntarily appear for the interview, we will be forced to evaluate the use of the compulsory process.”

Another current official, Minnesota Department of Education Assistant Commissioner Daron Korte, was asked to appear Jan. 28.

Similar letters were sent to former officials, with interview dates stretching from late January into early February. Those officials include former Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead; former Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker; former Minnesota Department of Human Services Chief Financial Officer David Greeman; former Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Tony Lourey; and Eric Grumdahl, the agency’s former assistant commissioner of Homelessness & Housing Supports.

“Whistleblowers have made it clear that American taxpayers were defrauded in Minnesota, raising serious questions about whether Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison failed to act or were complicit in the theft,” Comer told Fox News Digital. “Today, the Committee is requesting information from the Treasury Department and the Department of Justice, as well as transcribed interviews with Minnesota state officials.”

Oversight Committee chairman James Comer

The investigation has since expanded to multiple state-run programs now under scrutiny for potential fraud.

Investigators are increasingly focused on whether top officials in the Minnesota government were aware of warning signs and failed to take action to stop the alleged abuse.

Walz, who is seeking a third term, acknowledged responsibility during remarks to reporters Friday.

“This is on my watch. I am accountable for this. And more importantly, I am the one that will fix it,” Walz said.

But Walz pushed back on claims by federal prosecutors that the fraud could total billions of dollars.

“You should be equally outraged about $1 or whatever that number is, but they’re using that number, without the proof behind it,” he said. “But to extrapolate what that number is for sensationalism, or to make statements about it, it doesn’t really help us.”

Walz said Minnesota has been working with federal authorities to stop the fraud and claimed he halted payments to suspected programs in July after gaining the authority to do so.

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that the probe is expanding to examine 14 programs that distribute Medicaid funds.

Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said those programs have cost roughly $18 billion since 2018, adding that a “significant amount” of that money likely fell victim to fraud.

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