January 1, Minnesota COVID Welfare Scandal Sparks Accusations

Wyatt’s Take

• GOP candidate Scott Jensen says Governor Tim Walz knew about massive COVID welfare fraud but hid it from Minnesotans.
• Federal leaders are investigating claims that hundreds of millions in child-nutrition aid were stolen during the pandemic.
• The scandal involves Somali-run nonprofits, fights between Minnesota officials, and calls for criminal charges.

The city of Minneapolis is caught up in a $1 billion welfare fraud scandal that’s making headlines. Republican candidate Dr. Scott Jensen is slamming Governor Tim Walz, saying he’s to blame and may have even tried to cover it all up.

“In Minnesota, I don’t think that there’s any way to cut it other than to say the buck has to stop somewhere,” Jensen said. “And it’s always been that the buck stops at the governor’s desk. Arguably, the governor is the CEO of the state of Minnesota and the business of the government. And Tim Walz has been derelict in doing his duties, and he’s absolutely corrupted common sense.”

Prosecutors say Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future and its partners stole hundreds of millions in federal COVID food aid meant for children. The drama centers around delayed action and public blame games.

Jensen claims Walz and his team heard about fraud in 2020 but took a year to bring the FBI in, despite saying otherwise. “Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Education knew in 2020 that there was a problem… but they didn’t get the FBI involved until 2021,” Jensen said. “And yet they’ve made claims that as soon as they learned about it, they got the FBI involved. That’s not true. Their timeline’s a year off.”

Jensen points to a pattern of Walz avoiding blame. “At the end of the day, he’s demonstrated a very skilled approach to deflecting, so that he’s not being honest,” Jensen added.

When the first arrests came, Walz said a judge forced continued payments, but that judge fought back, calling Walz’s statements “inaccurate.” Jensen says Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison next tried to blame the FBI, but the agency denied telling Minnesota to keep the payments flowing.

There is chatter about what else might be exposed. “The underlying question has to be: is there something more nefarious than this?” Jensen said. “Is there literally sequestration of funds that at some point in time could be paid back to people when things have calmed down? Is there some pay-to-play scheme that we haven’t yet been informed about? That’s what’s really frightening, because if that’s the case, then you have to, you have to ask yourself the question: will there be at some level a need for criminal prosecution to take place of some Minnesota elected officials?”

The Small Business Administration is investigating Somali groups tied to the fraud, and Congress is probing Governor Walz’s response. Kentucky’s James Comer said, “because of Governor Walz’s negligence, criminals — including Somali terrorists — stole nearly $1 billion from the program while children suffered.”

Former President Trump has announced new federal actions, calling Minnesota a “hub of money laundering activity,” and is pushing for an end to special protections for Somali migrants. The Treasury Department is now looking into whether some stolen money was funneled to the terrorist group al-Shabaab.

For many locals, the lack of accountability has echoes from another era. “With where it’s gone from the beginning to now, recognizing that there’s been an interest in covering this up, for many people it has some of the haunting reminders of Watergate,” Jensen noted.

Stay informed and make your voice heard—Middle America matters now more than ever.

Wyatt Matters

This scandal strikes at the heart of trust in government, accountability, and protecting resources for families and kids. Folks in the middle of the country deserve straight answers and fair leadership, not excuses or blame-shifting. Every hardworking American should expect their leaders to protect what matters most—not turn a blind eye when funds for children end up in the wrong hands.

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