Walz is in deep trouble. There’s no avoiding this.
And Tim Walz’s time is running short according to this top Republican.
The federal probe into Minnesota’s colossal fraud mess is ramping up, pulling in whistleblowers, local mayors, and state legislators as eyes turn sharply toward state leaders. House Oversight Chairman James Comer dropped this bombshell during his Tuesday spot on Fox News, painting a picture of accountability finally catching up.
“The walls are caving in on Tim Walz,” Comer, the Kentucky Republican, declared on “America’s Newsroom.”
Comer hammered home how this enormous fraud hits every single resident in the state. Services are getting slashed left and right because funds meant for social programs got squandered and stolen, largely by elements within the Somali community.
Republicans like Comer have sharpened their focus on this debacle, which kicked off around 2020. It centers on bogus claims for all sorts of government aid, with the Somali groups at the heart of much of it, though not exclusively.
Now, Comer’s committee is teaming up with federal outfits to dig deeper. They’re gearing up for subpoenas on documents and statements to track every dollar and nail down the culprits.
While Comer ripped into Walz’s mishandling of the whole affair during the interview, he held back from demanding the governor step down outright.
“He deserves due process, and we’re going to give him due process,” Comer stated.
Walz had boasted in the past couple of days that his team would sort it out, no need for congressional meddling. Comer shot that down hard: “One of the things he said in the last 48 hours was that the Oversight Committee didn’t need to worry about this investigation, that he would take care of it. No one in America believes that…. We are going to investigate this.”
Comer stressed the power of insider tips in unraveling these schemes. “The key to a good congressional investigation is having whistleblowers. And, fortunately for us, we have some state employees who have bravely stepped forward. We’re going to get them under oath, and they’re going to tell us everything they know. And we’re going to go from there,” he added.
The pressure isn’t just from Washington—it’s bubbling up from Minnesota’s own leaders. Close to 100 mayors, joined by state reps and senators, fired off a scathing letter to Walz on Monday.
In that missive, they laid it out plain: “Fraud, unchecked spending and inconsistent fiscal management in St. Paul have trickled down to our cities… Our state owes it to our citizens to practice responsible fiscal management and to stop taxing our families, seniors and businesses out of Minnesota.”
Walz, who’s gunning for another term as governor, tried to own up in front of reporters lately. He stepped up and said, “This is on my watch. I am accountable for this. And more importantly, I am the one that will fix it.”
Yet, he’s casting doubt on the feds’ estimates that the scam might have siphoned off billions. Walz suggested it’s all politics, questioning the motives behind those big numbers.
“You should be equally outraged about $1 or whatever that number is, but they’re using that number without the proof behind it,” Walz stated.
“But to extrapolate what that number is for sensationalism, or to make statements about it, it doesn’t really help us.”
A mouthpiece for Walz went on the offensive in a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune, calling the whole probe a setup.
“This is clearly a coordinated political attack to try to silence one of the President’s most effective critics. The Governor takes fraud seriously and wishes they would too.”
It’s the classic deflection when the heat turns up.
