- Minnesota’s social programs are under federal scrutiny after more than $1 billion in alleged fraud, much of it tied to several large schemes involving dozens of people.
- President Donald Trump and Minnesota DHS staff have blamed Gov. Tim Walz for failing to address the fraud, while Walz argued the criticism unfairly targets the state’s Somali community.
- Walz says his administration is prosecuting offenders and has launched a new statewide task force to combat fraud as he seeks a third term in 2026.
The Treasury Department is investigating fraud in Minnesota and Gov. Tim Walz’s oversight as perpetrators allegedly defrauded the state government of $1 billion in funds, with some possibly diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that his department was “acting fast to ensure Americans’ taxes are not funding acts of global terror. We will share our findings as our investigation continues.”
Minnesota’s social services departments are facing scrutiny after state residents allegedly stole the money through three schemes, prompting a Justice Department investigation.
Members of Minnesota’s Somali community were allegedly involved in the fraud and sent money back to Somalia, according to Bessent and reports of the plans. Charges have been filed against some of the alleged perpetrators.
President Donald Trump included the state’s fraud in his Thanksgiving post, last Thursday. Trump criticized the social program’s abuse and placed responsibility on Walz, who was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election.
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services staff blame Walz
On Saturday, an X account purportedly run by anonymous staff at Minnesota’s Department of Human Services said, “Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota.”
Staffers say they alerted their governor of the fraud “early on” and hoped he would step in to stop the fraud. “But no, we got the opposite response,” the Minnesota DHS wrote.
Walz “systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports,” they said.
When staff observed the fraud firsthand and approached leadership with concerns, they said they were reassigned to different projects and “told to keep quiet.” Higher-up “leadership did not want to appear to discriminate against certain communities and were unwilling to take action, such as stopping fraud, that would have an adverse impact on their image,” the post said.
The nearly 600-word post has accumulated more than 36 million views.
Walz responds to allegations of negligence on ‘Meet The Press’
NBC “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker asked Walz to respond to Trump’s Truth Social post and to allegations that he didn’t do enough to clamp down on fraud in his state.
“This is cruelness; this is meanness,” Walz said Sunday of Trump, adding that the president’s comments were made to “demonize our Somali community.”
Somalis “bring the diversity and the energy to a place like Minnesota, and for him (Trump) to do this, it makes no sense. Do your job. Get the criminals out, secure our border, but do it with dignity and respect to the American tradition of respecting immigrants and refugees as a beacon of hope,” Walz said.
Welker asked if Walz accepts responsibility for failing to address fraud in Minnesota, and the governor responded, “Well certainly I take responsibility for putting people in jail.”
“Governors don’t get to just talk theoretically; we have to solve problems. And I will note, it’s not just Somalis. Minnesota is a generous state ... but that attracts criminals. Those people are going to jail. We’re doing everything we can, but to demonize an entire community for the actions of a few — it’s lazy,” he said.
Walz is seeking a third term as governor of Minnesota in 2026, and he has created a new task force, aiming to “prevent, detect and combat fraud across Minnesota government programs.”
In the state press release, Walz said, “We have no tolerance for fraud in the State of Minnesota. Abuse of taxpayer dollars takes resources away from the people who need them most. If you commit fraud in Minnesota, you will be prosecuted and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”