Minnesota’s unfolding fraud crisis intensified this week as governor Tim Walz faced renewed scrutiny for falsely claiming he “put people in jail” over the massive Feeding Our Future scandal. The fraud crisis remains a central issue for voters as questions grow about state oversight, prosecutorial inaction, and conflicting statements from top officials.
A local reporter pressed Walz on his comments from Meet the Press, noting that “all the fraud so far has been federal prosecutions.” Walz responded, “I didn’t erroneously say that. We’re the ones that our agencies are bringing it up. We’re referring them over. This is how this works.” He added that “these are Minnesota folks who work in state government who are the ones helping build the case, turn it over to the federal authorities.” When asked why no state prosecutions existed, Walz said, “They’re federal laws. They’re choosing to do federal prosecutions. We will prosecute on every single thing we can.”
Much of the credit Walz implied for himself appears tied to Minnesota Department of Education official Emily Honer. She alerted the FBI after noting “concerning” and “alarming” growth in Feeding Our Future’s site applications and an “astronomical” increase in reimbursement claims. “It was concerning in that these were brand new sites popping up, and the global pandemic did not seem to be a reasonable time to open up new sites,” she testified.
Federal prosecutors have secured 59 convictions in a fraud scheme totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, yet the state has filed no charges. Attorney general Keith Ellison admitted he was unaware of the federal probe when he met with participants in December 2021, despite his office later claiming the investigation “would not have happened” without his involvement. During that meeting, Ellison told them he was “here to help.”
State officials later said they feared accusations of racism if they pursued the Somali-led fraud claims. Walz acknowledged his administration’s rushed pandemic spending, saying there was “a tendency to…err on the side of, ‘We want to help.’”
GOP House speaker Lisa Demuth said responsibility “falls squarely on his shoulders.”
