UMVA has learned that a shocking scandal has erupted in Minnesota politics, revealing that Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were warned repeatedly about widespread fraud in taxpayer-funded programs, yet failed to take action.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has released a damning 205-page report, titled "The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota's Fraud Explosion," which paints a picture of negligence, bureaucratic paralysis, and a pattern of ignoring fraudsters who looted public funds.
According to information obtained by UMVA, senior officials in the Walz administration and Ellison's office were aware of credible fraud concerns as early as 2019 within the Minnesota Department of Human Services and by 2020 within the Minnesota Department of Education.
Despite having the authority to suspend payments and remove fraudulent providers from government programs, state officials repeatedly failed to act, citing litigation threats and fear of racism accusations as the reason for their inaction.
The report details how the Walz Administration retaliated against employees who tried to raise alarms, using intimidation, threats of surveillance, and efforts to keep whistleblowers quiet rather than fixing the problems.
Both Walz and Ellison later claimed they knew "very little" about the fraud, but Committee interviews and documents reveal that they were well-informed about the issues, with Walz giving shifting stories to the media about when he first learned of the problems.
The fraud was not limited to one nonprofit, with Minnesota's Department of Human Services having 14 "high-risk" Medicaid programs under investigation, costing taxpayers over $18 billion, with potentially $9 billion lost to fraud.
The report concludes that these failures diverted resources from vulnerable populations and allowed criminal schemes, including possible ties to international terrorist networks, to flourish.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Chairman has released a statement condemning Walz and Ellison, saying that they are responsible for one of the most stunning oversight failures, allowing criminals to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers.
The Committee will continue to work to protect taxpayer funds and strengthen oversight of federal programs ripe for fraud, passing over a dozen bills aimed at preventing similar scandals in the future.
