A widening federal investigation into Minnesota’s massive fraud scandal is drawing in whistleblowers, mayors and state lawmakers amid growing scrutiny of state officials, House Oversight Chairman James Comer told Fox News on Tuesday.
"The walls are caving in on Tim Walz," Comer, R-Ky., said on "America's Newsroom."
"This massive amount of fraud is affecting and impacting every citizen of Minnesota because they're having to cut services because so much of the money for social programs was wasted and defrauded by this Somali population."
Comer and other Republicans have recently zeroed in on the scandal, which dates back to at least 2020 and involves fraudulent billing for a wide range of government services, mostly involving, but not limited to, the state's Somali community
Comer said his committee is now coordinating with federal agencies and plans to subpoena records and testimony as it works to trace where the money went and who may be responsible.
Though Comer remained critical of Walz's handling of the situation throughout his appearance, he stopped short of calling for him to resign.
"He deserves due process, and we're going to give him due process," he said.
"One of the things he said in the last 48 hours was that the Oversight Committee didn't need to worry about this investigation, that he would take care of it. No one in America believes that…. We are going to investigate this."
"The key to a good congressional investigation is having whistleblowers. And, fortunately for us, we have some state employees who have bravely stepped forward. We're going to get them under oath, and they're going to tell us everything they know. And we're going to go from there," he continued.
Just shy of 100 Minnesota mayors, penned a letter to Walz and other state officials on Monday, writing in part that, "Fraud, unchecked spending and inconsistent fiscal management in St. Paul have trickled down to our cities… Our state owes it to our citizens to practice responsible fiscal management and to stop taxing our families, seniors and businesses out of Minnesota."
Walz, who is running for a third term, took accountability in recent remarks to reporters:"This is on my watch. I am accountable for this. And more importantly, I am the one that will fix it," he said.
But Walz questioned whether federal prosecutors' accusations that the fraud could have totaled in the billions were politically motivated.
"You should be equally outraged about $1 or whatever that number is, but they're using that number without the proof behind it," Walz said. "But to extrapolate what that number is for sensationalism, or to make statements about it, it doesn't really help us."
A spokesperson for Walz blasted the fraud investigation in a statement published in the Minnesota Star Tribune.
"This is clearly a coordinated political attack to try to silence one of the President’s most effective critics. The Governor takes fraud seriously and wishes they would too." .
