CNN Investigative Report Exposes the Massive Fraud that Took Place Under Tim Walz in Minnesota

LAH (voice-over): “At the Minnesota State Fair, every spin the wheel at the Never Walz booth is a loser for the Democratic governor.”

SELL: “I never want to see that man in office.”

LAH (voice-over): “It’s not just partisan wedge issues driving Republican disdain for Tim Walz. Step around the corner to the Minnesota Republican Party booth.”

KORAN: “It’s all about national politics at the booth.

LAH (voice-over): “Republican state senator Mark Koran, like the rest of the country, is eyeing the presidential election, but with the Minnesota governor in his sights.”

KORAN: “I think Governor Walz, if you want to talk about accountability, has taken no accountability.”

LAH (voice-over): “Koran says, while national voters may just be learning about Coach Walz and his affection for football and home improvement, here in Minnesota the news has been more critical, especially around the way Walz’s administration handled financial scandals. At least 16 reports critical of specific state agencies for allowing alleged fraud, waste or mismanagement during Walz’s six years as governor had been published by Minnesota’s independent auditor.”

KORAN: “He is the executive body in charge, right? And can you blame him individually for each individual thing? No. But he took absolutely no action to change the outcome. There was nobody that was terminated because of the failures of those agencies.”

LAH (voice-over): “Lisa Demuth is a Republican minority leader in the Minnesota state legislature.”

DEMUTH: “We have an issue of fraud here in the state of Minnesota that we have half a billion dollars in known fraud under Governor Walz’s time in office.”
LAH: “And you’re talking about Feeding Our Future?”
DEMUTH: “That’s one of them, yeah.”

LAH (voice-over): “Feeding Our Future, a program overseen by Minnesota’s Department of Education, was the single largest Covid-19 fraud scheme in the nation, according to the Department of Justice. Nearly $250 million in federal tax dollars was supposed to go to feeding children in need. Instead, dozens of people involved in the scheme stole the money, buying houses, luxury cars, and a suburban bar and restaurant, according to a federal indictment. At the time, Governor Walz defended his administration.”

WALZ: “We caught this fraud, we caught it very early. We alerted the right people.”

LAH (voice-over): “This past June, the state legislative auditors’ investigation found that the Minnesota Department of Education’s actions and inactions created opportunities for fraud, failed to act on warning signs, and did not effectively exercise its authority to hold Feeding Our Future accountable.”

LAH: “Is that fraud the governor’s fault?”
DEMUTH: “When he is not holding any commissioners responsible, then, yes, Governor Walz is responsible for the fraud that has been ongoing in the state of Minnesota. By not making any changes within his administration, then yes, it falls squarely on his shoulders.”