House Oversight Committee to hold hearing on alleged fraud in Minnesota

Washington — The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee volition clasp a proceeding adjacent week connected alleged fraud successful Minnesota nationalist assistance programs, Chairman James Comer, announced Wednesday.

The proceeding is acceptable to instrumentality spot Jan. 7 and volition see grounds from Minnesota GOP authorities lawmakers who person investigated nationalist assistance fraud, Comer said. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, some Democrats, person besides been asked to attest astatine a 2nd proceeding connected Feb. 10, Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said.

"The U.S. Department of Justice is actively investigating, prosecuting, and charging fraudsters who person stolen billions from taxpayers, and Congress has a work to behaviour rigorous oversight of this heist and enact stronger safeguards to forestall fraud successful taxpayer-funded programs, arsenic good arsenic beardown sanctions to clasp offenders accountable," Comer said successful a statement.

The House Oversight Committee is investigating allegations of wealth laundering and fraud successful Minnesota's nationalist assistance programs. Comer earlier this period asked Walz and Ellison to crook implicit to House investigators documents and communications astir the state's programs and has sought transcribed interviews with authorities officials.

"Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison person either been dormant astatine the instrumentality oregon complicit successful a monolithic fraud involving payer dollars successful Minnesota's societal services programs," Comer said. "American taxpayers request and merit accountability for the theft of their hard-earned money."

More than 90 radical look national charges arsenic a effect of what a apical authoritative successful Minnesota said was "industrial-scale fraud." The prosecutor, Joe Thompson, said earlier this period that the total magnitude of fraud successful Minnesota could scope $9 cardinal billed crossed 14 Medicaid programs that have been deemed "high risk" for fraud. Walz and different authorities officials, however, have questioned that amount.

The ungraded began erstwhile the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which is based successful Minnesota, was accused of stealing from the Federal Child Nutrition Program by falsely claiming to administer meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 75 radical have been charged successful the COVID-era fraud scheme, and astatine slightest 56 person pleaded guilty.

Since then, national prosecutors person uncovered alleged fraud schemes involving a now-defunct lodging stabilization programme successful Minnesota and a Medicaid-backed authorities programme that provides services to children with autism. Homeland Security agents are besides conducting investigations into kid attraction centers successful the authorities aft a blimpish YouTuber named Nick Shirley posted a video online implicit the play alleging that astir a twelve centers that person nationalist dollars are not providing immoderate services.

A CBS News investigation of the time attraction centers mentioned by Shirley recovered that each but 2 person progressive licenses, according to authorities records, and authorities regulators visited the progressive locations wrong the past six months. While the centers were cited for safety, cleanliness and different issues, determination was nary recorded grounds of fraud.

Still, successful effect to the allegations, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that it has frozen national kid attraction payments for Minnesota.

President Trump has denounced Minnesota leaders for their handling of the programs and attacked Somali immigrants, claiming they person "ripped off" the state. Many, but not all, of the defendants charged successful the fraud schemes are of Somali descent.

In effect to the Trump administration's determination to withhold child-care backing to Minnesota, Walz accused the president of "politicizing the contented to defund programs that assistance Minnesotans."

"This is Trump's agelong game," helium wrote connected societal media. "We've spent years cracking down connected fraudsters. It's a superior contented — but this has been his program each along."

Joe Walsh contributed to this report.