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Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz boasted about his moves to crack down on fraud during his final State of the State address on Tuesday night, just hours after federal agents raided numerous daycares in the Minneapolis area as part of an investigation into government fraud that has plagued Minnesota for years.<\/p>\n
In his remarks<\/a> before state legislators, Walz highlighted steps he\u2019s taken to address the rampant fraud in recent months as his second term as governor nears its end. The Democratic governor has come under pressure from the Trump administration after federal prosecutors uncovered a massive fraud scheme that has seen tens of millions of taxpayer dollars stolen from state government programs.<\/p>\n \u201cIn February, I introduced a comprehensive anti-fraud package and began to implement a nine-part fraud prevention roadmap developed by Director of Program Integrity Tim O\u2019Malley,\u201d Walz said. \u201cWe\u2019ve created additional checks and balances. We have brought on more investigators, more auditors, and more law enforcement agencies, as well as an outside firm to take a look at high-risk programs. People who have ripped us off are getting caught, and they are going to jail just like today.\u201d<\/p>\n Walz then claimed that more fraud is taking place in Republican-led states.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said the buck stops with me. And I know some of you will take that as an open invitation to play politics with every incident of fraud that takes place here in Minnesota, even though I have to tell you the statistics show it\u2019s happening in red states more than here,\u201d Walz said. \u201cBut, so be it. But taking responsibility doesn\u2019t just mean taking the blame. It means taking it upon yourself to fix the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s remarks came around 12 hours after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security raided<\/a> 22 daycares and learning centers in the Minneapolis area as part of President Donald Trump\u2019s anti-fraud crackdown. Earlier on Tuesday, Walz took credit<\/a> for helping orchestrate the raids and was blasted by FBI Director Kash Patel.<\/p>\n \u201cCome again? This FBI and DOJ with our DHS partners drafted and executed every search warrant today,\u201d Patel fired back. \u201cBut go ahead and take credit for our work while we smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under your governorship.\u201d<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s raids focused on many Somali-owned daycares and learning centers around Minneapolis. Under Walz\u2019s watch, dozens of Somalis defrauded numerous Minnesota social programs for years before they were caught. The fraud scandal included the federally funded Feeding Our Future nonprofit, which claimed to hand out meals to children during the COVID pandemic, but greatly exaggerated its work.<\/p>\n Walz, along with Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, has been accused of attempting to cover up the state\u2019s fraud problem and silence government employees who raised concerns. Walz and Ellison have denied those accusations and claim that the state government\u00a0has been properly investigating and prosecuting fraud.<\/p>\n In January, Walz announced that he would not seek a third term for governor so he could focus on addressing the state\u2019s fraud problem. In his State of the State address, Walz called on the Minnesota state legislature to pass legislation to strengthen government oversight.<\/p>\n \u201cMy ask for you tonight is simple,\u201d Walz told state lawmakers. \u201cIf you\u2019re taking fraud seriously, take your responsibility to help me stop it seriously. If you talk about oversight, vote for that oversight in the bills that are working their way through the chamber.\u201d<\/p>\n Four months ago, Walz accused President Donald Trump of \u201cpoliticizing the issue\u201d of fraud as Trump deployed federal agents and immigration officers to the Minneapolis area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n