It's become a truism of Minnesota politics; it takes a very big scandal indeed to shame the mainstream media into covering DFL (Minnesotan for "Democrat") perfidy. When they do, it's because they've essentially been shamed into action.
Minnesota's conservative media has been covering the outbreak for literally years; the Center of the American Experiment has been keeping a running tally of the most current reliable estimates of the fraud; Alpha News and Ed and my former radio colleague Scott Johnson of Power Line - have been covering Minnesota's epidemic of fraud since the late 2010s - including attorney general Keith Ellison being caught on tape appearing to tell representatives of a program soon to be embroiled in the "Feeding our Future" fracas, the largest single episode of Covid aid fraud in the United states, in absolute to say nothing of per capita terms, that he would help defend them, rather than the state whose attorney general he is:
It is very simple. Attorney General Keith Ellison meets with Feeding Our Future fraudsters saying he will do whatever it takes to "help" them...2 weeks later they hold a fundraiser for Keith Ellison's reelection campaign. pic.twitter.com/c3dtyTibxL
— American Experiment (@MNThinkTank) November 9, 2025
But until very recently, this outbreak of reporting facts has been confined to conservative media.
So it may be a sign that the big wheels in mainstream media have, at long last, been shamed into doing, y'know, their job.
The New York Times is on the case, more or less:
A damning quote on Tim Walz’s failure to stop the fraud consuming Minnesota.
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) November 29, 2025
"No one was doing anything about the red flags," he said. "It was like someone was stealing money from the cookie jar and they kept refilling it."
WOW. pic.twitter.com/jRLvSZ9HVa
For an MSM report, it gets the basics - detailing the 86 federal charges and 59 convictions between the three major groups of cases that've gone to trial so far, noting state oversight failures (ignored whistleblowers, delayed or nonexistent audits) - but seems to find the most troubling part that it's giving Republicans material to use against the DFL in next years elections, when Republicans will be trying to win their first statewide races (Govenror, consitutiotnal officers and US Senators) in 20 years.
There's a sense that the worm may be turning, at least for Walz's administration:
More than 400 employees of MN's Department of Human Services blame Walz for the massive fraud in the state.
— David Joe May (@TheGrayRider) November 30, 2025
They say that he ignored warnings and punished whistle blowers.
We dodged a bullet by not electing the Harris/Walz ticket. pic.twitter.com/iwDrsMeZQv
Which is not to say the Governor is neglecting any outlets in his pursuit of an unprecedented third term as governor; Lisa Demuth, GOP Speaker of the House and candidate for govrernor next year, observes:
Gov. Walz allowed fraudsters to steal billions and can’t even accept basic responsibility, let alone give Minnesotans the apology they are owed for his failure to protect your tax dollars.
— Lisa Demuth (@LisaDemuthMN) November 30, 2025
pic.twitter.com/r34Yu08j2k
Walz, for his part, is doing two things: claiming (undeserved) credit for the prosecutions that have happened, and trying to set up an "inspector general" position to investigate fraud...
...somehow. Because while a bill to give the proposed IG actual police and investigative powers passed the State Senate (controlled by a one-vote DFL majority) with a whoppingly bipartisan 60-7 vote, the measure died in the MN House, which is ties 67-67, meaning nothing passes when both parties don't completely agree - and the message from Walz was clear, and so the job remained a figurehead with no power.
So - what's actually going on?
State Rep. Walter Hudson - rising conservative star in Minnesota politics, and a Hot Air contributor in his spare time - breaks things down: if you've got questions about the "why" of fraud in Minnesota state government, listening to this would be 20 well-spent minutes:
Here's the inside scoop on what's happening with fraud in Minnesota.
— Walter Hudson (@WalterHudson) September 18, 2025
It's not complicated.
But it does appear to be covered up.
This level of fraud doesn't happen by accident.@PamBondi ... listening to this and taking it seriously will make your career. pic.twitter.com/DlK7XSdGmY
Long short: even the legislative DFL doesn't know what's going on.
