Minnesota fraud committee chair claims Walz ignored crisis for years

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Minnesota lawmaker says Gov. Tim Walz bears responsibility for fraud allegations

Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Minn., accuses Gov. Tim Walz of leadership failures tied to fraud allegations and calls for accountability on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

Minnesota state representative Kristin Robbins, R., claimed during a Monday interview that Gov. Tim Walz, D., has consistently ignored signs of the massive, alleged fraud putting Minnesota in the national spotlight.

From daycares to nonprofits, immigrant communities in Minnesota have faced multiple accusations of fraud in recent weeks, where they allegedly used state policies to take what some estimate to be about $9 billion in taxpayer dollars.

While Walz and his office have touted his work to address these scandals, state lawmakers argue that he has had years to do so and deliberately ignored whistleblowers. Robbins, the chair of Minnesota’s Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, was one of many lawmakers who called on Walz to resign amid his latest run for reelection. She spoke about this during her Monday appearance on "The Will Cain Show."

Fox News guest host Lawrence Jones noted to the lawmaker, "It’s one thing to call on him to resign. He’s clearly not going to do that. But if he doesn’t, shouldn’t you guys just impeach him just based on not just the fraud and corruption here, but going after those whistleblowers who sounded the alarm?"

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State Rep. Kristen Robbins is running for Minnesota's Republican gubernatorial nomination (Kristin Robbins campaign)

"Absolutely. I called for the governor to resign several weeks ago. I just think his dereliction of duty is unconscionable," Robbins, who is running for governor, said. 

"These whistle-blowers have been sounding the alarm for years," she continued. "We’ve had hearing for almost a year now holding his agencies accountable. He’s not fired anyone. He’s not taken steps to stop the fraud on the front end, and he continues to make excuses. So I would absolutely want him to resign as I said weeks ago, or I know others are looking at articles of impeachment. But he is responsible. He’s turned a blind eye for seven years, and we need to clean house in the executive branch."

Jones noted that Walz would have become Vice President of the United States if former Vice President Kamala Harris had won, asking Robbins what she thinks that outcome would have looked like.

"Oh, it would be terrible. I’m so grateful that President Trump led the DOGE effort to clean up the federal government, and we need to continue to work to clean up the state government here in Minnesota," she replied. "And I’ve heard from other places around the country, they’re dealing with not the scale of fraud we have, but similar fraud. So we have to get a handle on this. These are taxpayer dollars that have been stolen from our taxpayers and that should be helping vulnerable citizens, not fake students, not fake recipients and getting sent overseas."

Lawrence noted his wonder that even as this scandal enters the national public discourse, the fraud appears to continue, asking whether people will actually face consequences.

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Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., is at the center of a widening scandal as federal investigators look into alleged fraud from multiple businesses in Minnesota. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Robbins agreed, noting her shock that payments are still being sent out, "This just shows their complete lack of due diligence and internal controls. So we need to clean it up. We need to stop it and everyone should get prosecuted. I know the U.S. attorney here is doing a phenomenal job. We are grateful additional resources are being put in the state by the federal government, but everyone should get prosecuted, from the governor to every criminal that has stolen taxpayer money."

Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Walz’s office, they sent an article from the Minnesota Star Tribune headlined, "GOP governor candidate faces criticism for withholding fraud whistleblower tips from DHS." The article states Robbins faced criticism from Democrats for taking info about the fraud to the federal U.S. Attorney’s Office rather than local state authorities. Robbins is one of multiple lawmakers who claimed that the local state government has retaliated against whistleblowers.

Walz’s office also shared a link to Minnesota Governor candidate Scott Jensen, who argued in a post that Robbins’ fraud committee "has not advanced one substantive bill to prevent fraud and according to several members of the committee, its main focus has been political grandstanding."

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Former Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz walk out on stage together during a campaign event on Aug. 6, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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Jensen did praise independent journalist Nick Shirley’s video investigation exposing allegedly fraudulent businesses, however, saying, "Over the last 48 hours, Nick Shirley’s X Post regarding MN fraud has had 100 million views. He did exactly what the fraud committee and the Speaker of the House should’ve done-TAKE ACTION and stop running undeserved victory laps!"

Walz’s office also included a link to an op-ed where he addressed how "our state’s generosity has been taken advantage of by an organized group of fraudsters," declaring the state will reframe its mindset towards skepticism and crack down on bad faith actors.