Minnesota Gov. Walz, Ellison to testify in front of House on fraud

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison are set to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee on March 4 for its investigation into the fraud scandal that involved some of the state’s Somali immigrants.

The Democratic officials will appear before the Republican-led committee for part two of the panel’s hearing on “Oversight of Fraud and Misuse of Federal Funds in Minnesota.”

“Americans deserve answers about the rampant misuse of taxpayer dollars in Minnesota’s social services programs that occurred on Governor Walz’s and Attorney General Ellison’s watch,” Oversight Chair James Comer, Kentucky Republican, said in a statement.

“The House Oversight Committee recently heard sworn testimony from Minnesota state lawmakers who stated that Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison failed to act to stop this widespread fraud and retaliated against whistleblowers who raised concerns,” he said.

Mr. Comer said the questioning will “ensure transparency and accountability” and “advance solutions to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse and impose stronger penalties on those who defraud taxpayers.”

The investigation was launched last month after it was revealed that hundreds of millions in taxpayer money was used fraudulently from pandemic programs for low-income children. Prosecutors allege that it could be up to $9 billion stolen from Medicaid programs in total.

Mr. Comer called on Mr. Walz and Mr. Ellison to provide all documents, communications and records pertaining to the widespread fraud, and the first hearing was held earlier this month, where the committee heard from Minnesota state lawmakers.

The two Minnesota officials were first asked to testify by Mr. Comer late last month. 

At the time, Mr. Walz’s office said in a statement, “We’re always happy to work with Congress, though this committee has a track record of holding circus hearings that have nothing to do with the issue at hand. While the Governor has been working to ensure fraudsters go to prison, the President [Trump] has been selling pardons to let them out.”

Mr. Walz, the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president, has since dropped his reelection bid for the governor’s race after receiving backlash for his handling of the fraud scheme.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has claimed that 85 of the 98 people charged in connection to the fraud schemes are of Somali descent.