Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and AG Keith Ellison have been testifying in Congress recently about the massive fraud that has been uncovered in their state. Some 98 people have been indicted for the Feed Our Future fraud. As it turns out 85 of those have been Somalis.
Congressman Jim Jordan led questioning that exposed the Governor as lying about why certain actions were taken over the years while this fraud was going on. If this was a high school basketball game, it would have resulted in invoking the mercy rule.
Rep. Jim Jordan tore into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Wednesday during a House Oversight Committee hearing. Jordan caught Walz lying multiple times as Walz attempted to deflect blame for his involvement in one of the Somali fraud schemes in Minnesota.
The specific scheme that Jordan pressed Walz on was the Feeding Our Future fraud. This is another $250 million COVID fraud scheme, which the DOJ described as the largest “in the country.”
There is at least the whisper that Walz and Ellison allowed this fraud to operate in their state while they may have received kickbacks. Walz claims he had no idea this was going on.
But Walz got caught lying after Walz claimed a judge had ordered the state of Minnesota to resume payments to the program that had been suspended due to “serious deficiencies.” Walz said that payments were ordered to be resumed by Ramsey County District Court Judge John H. Guthmann. This prompted the court to issue an unprecedented press release debunking this lie.
The Minnesota court:
“As the public court record and Judge Guthmann’s orders make plain, Judge Guthmann never issued an order requiring the MN Department of Education to resume food reimbursement payments to FOF. The Department of Education voluntarily resumed payments and informed the court that FOF resolved the “serious deficiencies” that prompted it to suspend payments temporarily.”
Transcript:
Jordan: Governor, why didn’t you tell the truth? Why didn’t you just tell the truth about the feeding Our Future program? This program, to my understanding, received $3 million the first year. Within a couple years, it was getting $200 million of taxpayer money. Whistleblowers raised concerns, as the Chairman said, auditors raised concerns, everybody raised concerns. March 30, 2021, the payments are stopped., and a little over a month later, the payments are restarted. Why didn’t you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?
Walz: Well, Chairman, we did tell you, and Feeding Our Future grew because of the pandemic, and—
Jordan: I didn’t ask that question. I said, why didn’t you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments? The payments stopped because there were concerns, obviously, or you wouldn’t stop the payments, then they restarted a month later. What was the reason for restarting the payments?
Walz: My understanding was the agency believed that the court had required them to make those payments.
Jordan: And that was false, wasn’t it? You repeated that. You said that, didn’t you? You said the reason you restarted is because the court ordered you to do so. Is that right?
Walz: I don’t believe that is settled yet, to the best of my knowledge.
Jordan: Well, I think it is because the court did something that I just don’t— I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it. They issued a statement, saying you were wrong in what you were saying. This is from the court. It says, Feeding Our Future versus Minnesota Department of Education, correcting reports and statements by Governor Tim Walz, concerning orders issued by the court. Here’s what the judge says: Governor Tim Walz told the media that the Minnesota Department of Education attempted to end payments to FOF because of possible fraud, but that Judge Guthmann ordered payments to continue in April 2021. Next sentence: That is false. So, you said something that wasn’t true. He further states this– Judge Guthmann, the court says this: Judge Guthmann never ordered the Department of Education to resume payments to Feeding Our Future in April 2021 or at any other time. So, I want to know, why didn’t you tell the truth?
Walz: Congressman, the attorneys at the Department of Education interpreted that differently. Both of those judges are no longer on the bench, and—
Walz: I can’t tell you, Congressman, but the interpretation–
Jordan: Somebody’s lying, somebody’s lying, because you can’t say the court ordered you to restart the payments, and then the court says we didn’t order you to restart the payments. So, either you’re lying or the court’s lying. And I’m just asking you, which one is it?
Walz: I just simply know what the attorneys at the agency believed that It is a misinterpretation, and I would note–
Jordan: Could it be you were trying to hide behind the court, Governor? Could that maybe be the reason why you issued the statements you did, and why the court had to do something you never see done before? They issued of press statement saying you’re wrong, the governor is wrong. His statement is, their words not mine, false. Could that be the reason?
Walz: That was not the interpretation of the attorneys and you know how court orders work. You can appeal those, congressmen, as you well know. I’m sure–
Jordan: Was it all about politics, Governor?
Walz: No, it’s cert– it’s about taking care of our people.
Jordan: Yet, these programs go from 3 million– the Behavior Intervention program went from $3 million to $400 million in five years. The housing stabilization went from $2.6 million to $104 million. The integrated community supports went from $4.6 million to $170 million in three years. This is unbelievable what’s happening, and you’re trying to hide behind some pretend court order, some court order that didn’t exist.
How much of these funds that were fraudulently received “visited Somalia?” Was this a money laundering operation that resulted in some monies returning to Democratic campaign coffers via the notorious Act Blue route? Just where did all the money come from that was “smurfed” to Democrats? Was the American taxpayer funding Democratic campaigns? Is this why Walz was selected by Harris to be her running mate?
Lots of arrests and ongoing indictments in these efforts at fraud. When will the people at the top of the food chain see the same thing?