by John Solomon
Vance announced criminal referral in a social media post in which he raised concerns that Walz's administration tried to retaliate against whistleblowers.
Vice President JD Vance has referred evidence gathered by Congress that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison failed to act against mass welfare fraud in their state to the Justice Department for possible criminal investigate.
Vance announced the criminal referral in a social media post late Monday in which he raised concerns that Walz's administration also tried to retaliate against state workers who blew the whistle on the welfare fraud scams in Minnesota, estimated by the House Oversight Committee to have cost taxpayers more than $9 billion.
"I’ve referred these allegations to DOJ’s new Fraud Division for criminal investigation," Vance wrote on X. "Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and intimidated whistleblowers, they must face justice."
The vice president's action came hours after the Oversight Committee released a bombshell report concluding that Walz and Ellison knew about widespread taxpayer fraud in the state's welfare programs as early as spring 2019, but took no action and instead let the state retaliate against workers who tried to expose the abuses.
Committee Chairman James Comer told Just the News on Monday evening he believed lawmakers found evidence of criminality in the years-long cover-up of the fraud.
"I think that Governor Waltz and Attorney General Ellison should be held accountable. I think that they've violated the laws. I think they've, you know, violated the whistleblower protection laws," he said.
Walz and Ellison have denied wrongdoing even as the fraud allegations sunk Walz's re-election bid in 2026.
Comer said the DOJ could present the evidence his committee gathered to a grand jury. "I'm all for that," he said.
The House committee concluded that Democrats in the state turned a blind eye to the taxpayer losses because they feared "political retribution from the politically active Somali community," where much of the fraud was centered.
"Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison knew about the fraud in federal programs administered by the State of Minnesota much earlier than they admitted," the committee wrote in its final report.
"Instead of trying to stop this widespread fraud, Governor Walz’s Administration retaliated against employees who tried to raise concerns, going to great lengths to keep them quiet, including intimidation through regular check-ins with high-level agency officials and threats of military surveillance," it added.
The report said the federal government has determined that at least $300 million was stolen by Feeding Our Future and its affiliated vendors and providers from the USDA's federal child nutrition programs and an estimated $9 billion has been lost to fraud from the high-risk Medicaid programs in Minnesota since 2018.
"The Committee has found that Minnesota lacked adequate oversight controls and procedures to verify that federal taxpayer dollars were being used appropriately and the Minnesota government could have stopped the flow of money to fraudsters at any time but chose not to for fear of political retribution from the politically active Somali community, which also wields power within social services provider networks," the committee wrote.
The report had several major conclusions, including that:
- Minnesota state agencies had clear authority to suspend or stop payments to providers suspected of fraud without requiring independent direction from courts, law enforcement agencies, or the federal government but failed to act.
- State officials continued directing taxpayer dollars to Feeding our Future and other high-risk entities despite identifying serious program deficiencies, enabling federal funds to flow to fraudsters.
- Testimony and documents show that concerns about litigation and accusations of discrimination—not legal barriers or directives from law enforcement—were cited as reasons for continuing payments to suspected fraudsters.
- The Walz administration retaliated against state employees who raised concerns about fraud, while senior state officials prioritized managing political and media fallout over addressing known fraud vulnerabilities.
John Solomon
Source: https://justthenews.com/accountability/waste-fraud-and-abuse/jd-vance-refers-evidence-minnesota-fraud-walz-inaction-doj
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