Walz 'welcomes' federal probe into fraud allegations: 'You commit fraud, you're going to prison'

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says he welcomes the federal investigation into state fraud allegations, adding, "you commit fraud in Minnesota, you're going to prison."

Investigating fraud allegations

The backstory:

The investigation was announced on Monday by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who stated that the probe aims to uncover whether Minnesotans' tax dollars have been diverted to a terrorist organization.

The post on X reads, "At my direction, U.S. Treasury is investigating allegations that under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans’ tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab. Thanks to the leadership of [President Donald Trump], we are acting fast to ensure Americans’ taxes are not funding acts of global terror. We will share our findings as our investigation continues." 

The probe comes after reports, including a story by The New York Times, that estimated $1 billion in fraud occurred under Gov. Walz's watch. A social media post on X, amplifying accusations against Walz, garnered more than 37 million views.

The popular post came from an anonymous X account claiming to represent about 480 Minnesota Department of Human Services employees. The account frequently targets the governor and Minnesota Democrats. X suspended the account Monday, but it returned with a new name and did not respond to FOX 9's messages.

What they're saying:

Gov. Walz responded to the news Tuesday saying he welcomes the investigation, but added, "it's not a coincidence that they're targeting Minnesota" following Trump's posts on social media. 

"My message is simple on this. You commit fraud in Minnesota, you're going to prison. I don't care what color you are, what religion you are. Anybody who wants to help us in that, we welcome that," Walz said. "But sitting on the sidelines and throwing out accusations, and let's be very clear, demonizing an entire population and lying to people about the safety and security of this state, is beneath that."

Sens. Jordan Rasmussen (R-Fergus Falls) and Paul Utke (R-Park Rapids) have expressed support for the federal investigation, saying in part, "Whether fraud was being used for personal enrichment, or being siphoned by terrorist organizations overseas, the reality is that no other state has seen these brazen fraud schemes stealing more than a billion dollars from public funds. Minnesotans deserve to know exactly where these fraudulent dollars were going and what they were being used for."

Walz response to ‘illegal’ CDL licenses 

Dig deeper:

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy released a statement on Monday saying that an audit found one-third non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued in Minnesota were illegal. The state has 30 days to come into compliance and revoke the illegally issued licenses, or risk losing up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding.

Walz criticized the federal actions, stating, "Once again, nothing they did there improves the lives of Minnesotans, but potentially makes our highways less safe, puts our folks at risk."

"And coincidentally, today they decided to keep piling these things on," Walz added. "My expectation is today we will probably see an increased presence of immigration folks in our city. We will probably see the president threaten to use the National Guard again. This is a president in spiral doing nothing to make life cheaper for Minnesotans or Americans. And, we understand who he's targeting."

Walz said the state has been following the law, will continue to implement the law as written, and put the safety, security and well-being of Minnesotans first.