A damning report from CNN this week found that there is widespread fraud throughout Minnesota’s government and that Governor Tim Walz demands little to no accountability for what has transpired under his watch.
The report highlighted numerous examples of fraud, ranging from pandemic funds intended to go to frontline workers that instead went to undeserving recipients to lax oversight of a government program that federal prosecutors said was the “nation’s largest” pandemic fraud scheme.
The report comes as Vice President Kamala Harris has faced significant criticism for her decision to pick Walz as her running mate after he has been found to be a serial liar on matters that span nearly every aspect of his life, both personal and career.
That criticism was again amplified after he was trounced in the vice presidential debate this week by Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) — Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
The state’s nonpartisan auditor, Judy Randall, told CNN that when Walz and his administration were confronted with dozens of examples of waste, fraud, and abuse, they minimized or dismissed the allegations.
The report said she was stunned that the state agencies under Walz’s control have become “defensive” and showed “signs of resentment” when confronted with the fraud, something that she has never seen over her nearly three decade career.
Randall said that she is not aware of a single person who has been removed from their job in the administration as a result of the fraud findings.
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“When he is not holding any commissioners responsible, then yes, Governor Walz is responsible for the fraud that has been ongoing in the state of Minnesota,” said Lisa Demuth, the state House GOP leader. “It falls squarely on his shoulders.”
Sen. Mark Koran, a Republican who serves as the vice chair of the state’s bipartisan legislative audit commission, said that the “hostility” that the state government has shown to investigators “is led by Governor Walz.”
“The governor’s appointees across the board at almost all agencies have been hostile and uncooperative when citizens are seeking transparency and oversight through the legislative auditor,” said Koran.
The chair of the committee, Democrat Rep. Rick Hansen, refused to respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The corruption under the Walz administration has attracted the attention of federal law enforcement officials who have conducted raids on various entities in connection with multiple criminal corruption investigations that are ongoing.
The report highlighted one of the examples of corruption that involved hundreds of millions of dollars of pandemic relief funds that were stolen through government programs in Minnesota.
Instead of helping those in need, “$250 million in federal tax dollars [were used] to purchase luxury cars, lavish overseas trips, gold jewelry and lakeside property.”
