House committee opens investigation into Minnesota welfare fraud

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(The Center Square) – Congress has begun an investigation into a large-scale fraud scheme that led to hundreds of millions of dollars being stolen from Minnesota’s social welfare programs under Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent letters to Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison Wednesday requesting copies of all of their communication concerning fraudulent activity in several programs since Walz took office in Jan. 2019. 

Programs that have shown the most significant signs of fraud include the Feeding Our Future program, the Housing Stability Services Program and the EIDBI Autism Program. The concern is not only the scale of the fraud but that nearly all of the more than 80 defendants who have been charged in connection with schemes to steal hundreds of millions in federal relief through these programs are Somali, according to original reporting from Chris Rufo and Ryan Thorpe that was published in City Journal. The article detailing the fraud was first published last month.

Thousands of Somali refugees have fled to the U.S. since the 1990s, and enough have landed in Minnesota to create a sizable voting bloc for Democrats. In some cases, government workers allegedly noticed signs of potential fraud years ago but little to nothing was ultimately done to combat it.

“The Committee has serious concerns about how you as the Governor, and the Democrat-controlled administration, allowed millions of dollars to be stolen. The Committee also has concerns that you and your administration were fully aware of this fraud and chose not to act for fear of political retaliation," wrote Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., in his letter to Walz.

The Feeding Our Future scheme found its way into the national spotlight just two months before the presidential election, when another Republican-led House committee subpoenaed Walz’s administration for records related to the scheme.