Tim Walz Is Elbows-Deep in Minnesota’s Fraud Scandal

Minnesota has a major problem with Somali immigrants defrauding state taxpayers for billions. This includes the Feeding Our Future program, housing programs, and the state’s Medicaid program, too. On October 31, Minnesota announced it was pausing payments to 14 Medicaid-funded programs due to fraud concerns. Over the weekend, The Minnesota Star Tribune noted the state is keeping information about those Medicaid programs under wraps. 

Could it be because they’re trying to protect Somalis? Possibly. A Hennepin County judge just threw out a jury’s guilty verdict in a $7.2 million fraud case, for reasons that raised a lot of legal eyebrows. On top of this, the Medicaid fraud has led to the death of at least one vulnerable man, and Minnesota taxpayers are now the largest funders of the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab.

President Harry S. Truman once said, “The buck stops here,” a reminder that he was the president and that, ultimately, responsibility rested with him.

Tim Walz would do well to remember that, because the buck is about to drop on him like a ton of bricks. He’s the governor of Minnesota, after all, and under his watch, the state’s taxpayers have been robbed of billions of dollars.

It’s so bad that even The New York Times can’t run cover for Walz anymore.

Here’s more:

Over the last five years, law enforcement officials say, fraud took root in pockets of Minnesota’s Somali diaspora as scores of individuals made small fortunes by setting up companies that billed state agencies for millions of dollars’ worth of social services that were never provided.

Federal prosecutors say that 59 people have been convicted in those schemes so far, and that more than $1 billion in taxpayers’ money has been stolen in three plots they are investigating. That is more than Minnesota spends annually to run its Department of Corrections. Minnesota’s fraud scandal stood out even in the context of rampant theft during the pandemic, when Americans stole tens of billions through unemployment benefits, business loans and other forms of aid, according to federal auditors.

Outrage has swelled among Minnesotans, and fraud has turned into a potent political issue in a competitive campaign season. Gov. Tim Walz and fellow Democrats are being asked to explain how so much money was stolen on their watch, providing Republicans, who hope to take back the governor’s office in 2026, with a powerful line of attack.

…

Debate over the fraud has opened new rifts between the state’s Somali community and other Minnesotans, and has left some Somali Americans saying they are unfairly facing a new layer of suspicion against all of them, rather than the small group accused of fraud. Critics of the Walz administration say that the fraud persisted partly because state officials were fearful of alienating the Somali community in Minnesota. Governor Walz, who has instituted new fraud-prevention safeguards, defended his administration’s actions.

According to The New York Times, Walz has shuttered the fraud-ridden housing program, and created a task force to better address fraud. In an interview, Walz said, “The message here in Minnesota is if you commit a crime, if you commit fraud against public dollars, you are going to go to prison.”

But it seems the Democrats were more concerned about accusations of racism than about stopping fraud. The New York Times reported that Feeding Our Future sent the Minnesota Department of Education an email threatening a lawsuit, “featuring accusations of racism that would be ‘sprawled across the news'” if applications weren’t “promptly approved.” That threat seemed to work.

Kayseh Magan, a Somali-American who worked as a fraud investigator for Minnesota’s Attorney General’s office, said, “There is a perception that forcefully tackling this issue [of fraud] might cause political backlash among the Somali community, which is a core voting bloc” for the Democratic Party.

And now, almost 500 current staff of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) are calling out Tim Walz, and they said he knew about all of this.

The post is long, and damning. Not only did Walz know about the fraud, he “systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, [and] repression.”

“Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz, certain DFL members, and an indifferent mainstream media,” Minnesota DHS writes. “It’s scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to.”

“In addition to retaliating against whistleblower (sic), Tim Walz disempowered the Office of the Legislative Auditor, allowing agencies to disregard their audit findings and guidance. Media and politicians supporting Tim Walz or the DFL-agenda attacked whistleblowers who were trying to raise red flags on fraudulent activities,” the post continues.

“This is a cascade of systemic failures leading up to Tim Walz. Agency leaders appointed by Tim Walz willfully disregarded rules and laws to keep fraud reports quiet — even to the extent of threatening the families of whistleblowers,” the post reads.

“As staff, we firsthand witnessed and observed fraud happening yet we were shut down, reassigned, and told to keep quiet. Sometimes more. Leadership did not want to appear to discriminate against certain communities and were unwilling to take action such as stopping fraud, that would have an adverse impact on their image,” the group wrote.

This tracks with The New York Times report that Minnesota Democrats were more concerned about garnering Somali votes and not being labeled racist than combating fraud.

“To date, no single agency leader has been held responsible for their role in fraud, whether it’s Shireen Gandhi, Jess Geil, Jodi Harpstead, Natasha Merz, Eric Grumdahl, or others,” Minnesota DHS writes. “It is a structure created and maintained by Tim Walz who has created an environment of inter-related agencies and institutions including the media — that help foster fraud through retaliation and turning a blind eye in exchange for political gain.”

The group pulls no punches when condemning Walz.

“Fundamentally, Tim Walz is dishonest, lacks ethics and integrity, has poor leadership abilities, and has never taken any accountability for his role in fraud. Instead, Tim Walz deflects by blaming national politics for his own failings and distracts the public with inveterate lying,” they write. “These lies include his reference of a budget surplus under his tenure. Fact is, Minnesota never had a surplus, we had been given federal ARPA funds that were conflated as surplus money otherwise, we’d be in a deficit. And those ARPA funds, which were meant to be temporary funds, were used to create more leadership positions for Tim Walz “buddies.”

“We need all the help we can get as Tim Walz’s agency leaders have upped their brazen approach in covering up their knowledge of fraud,” the post concludes.

And Tim Walz knew.

Of course, Democrats will pivot back to saying this is simply Somali culture.

The New York Times spoke to Dr. Samatar, a Somali-American professor. He told the outlet that Somali refugees who came to the United States after the Somalian civil war were “raised in a culture in which stealing from the country’s dysfunctional and corrupt government was widespread.”

This all leads back to Tim Walz, who was asked about The New York Times story on Meet the Press this weekend. According to Fox News, Walz didn’t take responsibility for the fraud, but attacked President Trump instead.

“Well, certainly I take responsibility for putting people in jail. Governors don’t get to just talk theoretically. We have to solve problems and I will note, it’s not just Somalis. Minnesota is a generous state, Minnesota is a prosperous state, a well-run state, we are AAA bond-rated, but that attracts criminals. Those people are going to jail, and we are doing everything we can, but to demonize an entire community on the actions of a few, it’s lazy,” Walz said.

Walz blamed Trump for federal funding cuts, claiming they made it harder for Minnesota to combat fraud.

“So we are, we’ll take it on and put folks in jail. I don’t care what your nationality is, I don’t care who your religion is, your color, if you’re committing crimes. These were programs meant to serve students with autism, housing, making sure people had enough to eat. There’s a reason Minnesota ranks as the top lowest childhood poverty, best place for children to live. That is disconnected with demonizing an entire group of people who came here fleeing civil war and created a vibrant community that makes Minnesota and this country better,” Walz added.

Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians like Tim Walz.

Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.

Minnesota has a major problem with Somali immigrants defrauding state taxpayers for billions. This includes the Feeding Our Future program, housing programs, and the state’s Medicaid program, too. On October 31, Minnesota announced it was pausing payments to 14 Medicaid-funded programs due to fraud concerns. Over the weekend, The Minnesota Star Tribune noted the state is keeping information about those Medicaid programs under wraps. 

Could it be because they’re trying to protect Somalis? Possibly. A Hennepin County judge just threw out a jury’s guilty verdict in a $7.2 million fraud case, for reasons that raised a lot of legal eyebrows. On top of this, the Medicaid fraud has led to the death of at least one vulnerable man, and Minnesota taxpayers are now the largest funders of the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab.

President Harry S. Truman once said, “The buck stops here,” a reminder that he was the president and that, ultimately, responsibility rested with him.

Tim Walz would do well to remember that, because the buck is about to drop on him like a ton of bricks. He’s the governor of Minnesota, after all, and under his watch, the state’s taxpayers have been robbed of billions of dollars.

It’s so bad that even The New York Times can’t run cover for Walz anymore.

Here’s more:

Over the last five years, law enforcement officials say, fraud took root in pockets of Minnesota’s Somali diaspora as scores of individuals made small fortunes by setting up companies that billed state agencies for millions of dollars’ worth of social services that were never provided.

Federal prosecutors say that 59 people have been convicted in those schemes so far, and that more than $1 billion in taxpayers’ money has been stolen in three plots they are investigating. That is more than Minnesota spends annually to run its Department of Corrections. Minnesota’s fraud scandal stood out even in the context of rampant theft during the pandemic, when Americans stole tens of billions through unemployment benefits, business loans and other forms of aid, according to federal auditors.

Outrage has swelled among Minnesotans, and fraud has turned into a potent political issue in a competitive campaign season. Gov. Tim Walz and fellow Democrats are being asked to explain how so much money was stolen on their watch, providing Republicans, who hope to take back the governor’s office in 2026, with a powerful line of attack.

…

Debate over the fraud has opened new rifts between the state’s Somali community and other Minnesotans, and has left some Somali Americans saying they are unfairly facing a new layer of suspicion against all of them, rather than the small group accused of fraud. Critics of the Walz administration say that the fraud persisted partly because state officials were fearful of alienating the Somali community in Minnesota. Governor Walz, who has instituted new fraud-prevention safeguards, defended his administration’s actions.

According to The New York Times, Walz has shuttered the fraud-ridden housing program, and created a task force to better address fraud. In an interview, Walz said, “The message here in Minnesota is if you commit a crime, if you commit fraud against public dollars, you are going to go to prison.”

But it seems the Democrats were more concerned about accusations of racism than about stopping fraud. The New York Times reported that Feeding Our Future sent the Minnesota Department of Education an email threatening a lawsuit, “featuring accusations of racism that would be ‘sprawled across the news'” if applications weren’t “promptly approved.” That threat seemed to work.

Kayseh Magan, a Somali-American who worked as a fraud investigator for Minnesota’s Attorney General’s office, said, “There is a perception that forcefully tackling this issue [of fraud] might cause political backlash among the Somali community, which is a core voting bloc” for the Democratic Party.

And now, almost 500 current staff of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) are calling out Tim Walz, and they said he knew about all of this.

The post is long, and damning. Not only did Walz know about the fraud, he “systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, [and] repression.”

“Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz, certain DFL members, and an indifferent mainstream media,” Minnesota DHS writes. “It’s scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to.”

“In addition to retaliating against whistleblower (sic), Tim Walz disempowered the Office of the Legislative Auditor, allowing agencies to disregard their audit findings and guidance. Media and politicians supporting Tim Walz or the DFL-agenda attacked whistleblowers who were trying to raise red flags on fraudulent activities,” the post continues.

“This is a cascade of systemic failures leading up to Tim Walz. Agency leaders appointed by Tim Walz willfully disregarded rules and laws to keep fraud reports quiet — even to the extent of threatening the families of whistleblowers,” the post reads.

“As staff, we firsthand witnessed and observed fraud happening yet we were shut down, reassigned, and told to keep quiet. Sometimes more. Leadership did not want to appear to discriminate against certain communities and were unwilling to take action such as stopping fraud, that would have an adverse impact on their image,” the group wrote.

This tracks with The New York Times report that Minnesota Democrats were more concerned about garnering Somali votes and not being labeled racist than combating fraud.

“To date, no single agency leader has been held responsible for their role in fraud, whether it’s Shireen Gandhi, Jess Geil, Jodi Harpstead, Natasha Merz, Eric Grumdahl, or others,” Minnesota DHS writes. “It is a structure created and maintained by Tim Walz who has created an environment of inter-related agencies and institutions including the media — that help foster fraud through retaliation and turning a blind eye in exchange for political gain.”

The group pulls no punches when condemning Walz.

“Fundamentally, Tim Walz is dishonest, lacks ethics and integrity, has poor leadership abilities, and has never taken any accountability for his role in fraud. Instead, Tim Walz deflects by blaming national politics for his own failings and distracts the public with inveterate lying,” they write. “These lies include his reference of a budget surplus under his tenure. Fact is, Minnesota never had a surplus, we had been given federal ARPA funds that were conflated as surplus money otherwise, we’d be in a deficit. And those ARPA funds, which were meant to be temporary funds, were used to create more leadership positions for Tim Walz “buddies.”

“We need all the help we can get as Tim Walz’s agency leaders have upped their brazen approach in covering up their knowledge of fraud,” the post concludes.

And Tim Walz knew.

Of course, Democrats will pivot back to saying this is simply Somali culture.

The New York Times spoke to Dr. Samatar, a Somali-American professor. He told the outlet that Somali refugees who came to the United States after the Somalian civil war were “raised in a culture in which stealing from the country’s dysfunctional and corrupt government was widespread.”

This all leads back to Tim Walz, who was asked about The New York Times story on Meet the Press this weekend. According to Fox News, Walz didn’t take responsibility for the fraud, but attacked President Trump instead.

“Well, certainly I take responsibility for putting people in jail. Governors don’t get to just talk theoretically. We have to solve problems and I will note, it’s not just Somalis. Minnesota is a generous state, Minnesota is a prosperous state, a well-run state, we are AAA bond-rated, but that attracts criminals. Those people are going to jail, and we are doing everything we can, but to demonize an entire community on the actions of a few, it’s lazy,” Walz said.

Walz blamed Trump for federal funding cuts, claiming they made it harder for Minnesota to combat fraud.

“So we are, we’ll take it on and put folks in jail. I don’t care what your nationality is, I don’t care who your religion is, your color, if you’re committing crimes. These were programs meant to serve students with autism, housing, making sure people had enough to eat. There’s a reason Minnesota ranks as the top lowest childhood poverty, best place for children to live. That is disconnected with demonizing an entire group of people who came here fleeing civil war and created a vibrant community that makes Minnesota and this country better,” Walz added.

Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians like Tim Walz.

Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.