The Minnesota fraud scandal - which last week ballooned from somewhere either side of a billion dollars to potentially $9-18 billion dollars - has gotten too big for the Walz administration to ignore or deflect away from...
...most of the time. They just keep on trying (emphasis added by me).
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is under ever-increasing criticism for how his administration has handled rampant fraud in state-administered federal programs.
Walz on Friday said whether it’s his administration’s fault or not he takes responsibility for ending it, but that speculation that the fraud runs into the billions of dollars is unfounded.
And he's gone to a tactic that's been pretty tried-and-true for Minnesota DFLers, given the docility of local media - painting himself as the real victim - in this case because the (barely) Republican-controlled House Fraud Committee hasn't been coughing up the lists of whistleblowers to the administration:
This comes after a 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS report that the House Fraud Committee was withholding whistleblower tips from the Department of Human Services. Instead, Committee Chair Rep. Kristin Robbins said the tips are being sent to other investigators, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“This is outrageous,” Walz said. “I expect political attacks in an election year. What is unacceptable is actively withholding information about fraud and blocking investigations in order to advance a political agenda. If there is fraud, it needs to be investigated immediately — not sat on, redirected, or used for political theater.”
Leading Minnesota Democrats joined Walz’s call, accusing Robbins of withholding information for political gain.
It's a whitewash, of course - whistleblowers have tried to come forward to the Walz administration, and regretted it:
Hundreds of Minnesota Department of Human Services employees are allegedly accusing Gov. Tim Walz on social media of ignoring early warnings about massive fraud and retaliating against whistleblowers in a scandal that allegedly funneled over $1 billion in taxpayer funds to fraudulent operations.
Under an X account claiming to represent 480 DHS workers, they say they alerted Walz to fraudulent billing schemes but faced monitoring, threats and repression rather than support.
“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” the account said. “We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud, but no, we got the opposite response.”
Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response. Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression,… https://t.co/cEtbnuKmgn
— Minnesota Staff Fraud Reporting Commentary (@Minnesota_DHS) November 30, 2025
Rep. Kristin Robbins, the GOP chair of the Fraud Committee and a candidate for the GOP endorsement in next year's gubernatorial election, responded to Walz:
Committee Chair Rep Kristin Robbins responds to Tim Walz on the Minnesota fraud scandal
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) December 21, 2025
She says she can’t produce whistleblowers statements publicly because Tim Walz and his Administration retaliate so hard against whistleblowers, more would be terrified to come forward
“So we… pic.twitter.com/l8mu4FckpN
Money quote:
She says she can’t produce whistleblowers statements publicly because Tim Walz and his Administration retaliate so hard against whistleblowers, more would be terrified to come forward
“So we did receive your letter, Inspector General, asking us to share information with you on credible whistleblower reports. And to date, we have not because there is no trust, as you might understand. This fraud has been perpetuated on your watch and the whistleblowers who reach out to us within the department are terrified.
And they feel that they've been retaliated against already. They feel that they are very afraid, they're afraid to reach out to us.
It's hard to pick a "worst thing" about this scandal; there are so many options - the trampling of public trust in what was once considered a "good government" state, the realization that generations of hard work to create that image and, once, reality have been gutted by a non-profit/institutional complex that would make Al Capone blush, and of course $10 billion dollars of Minnesota and US taxpayer money pillaged from the public treasury with no meaningful accountability.
But my candidate for "the worst thing"? Had the Minnesota GOP not managed to eke out a tie in the state house in last year's elections, and had Trump not won the presidency and cleaned house in the US Department of Justice, none of this would be coming to light.
None of it.
And if the GOP loses its tie in the House next year, anything that the Feds don't get their hands on goes back undercover for the foreseeable future.
