Tipsheet

House Committee Subpoenas Walz in COVID Fraud Scheme Investigation

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  September 06, 2024 2:00 PM

The GOP-led Committee on Education & The Workforce issued a subpoena to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday for records related to the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.

“As the chief executive and the highest ranking official in the state of Minnesota, you are responsible for the MDE [Minnesota Department of Education] and its administration of FCNPs [Federal Child Nutrition Programs],” Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) said to Walz in a cover letter accompanying the subpoena. “Statements in the press by you and your representatives indicate that you and other executive officers were involved, or had knowledge of, MDE’s administration of the FCNP and responsibilities and actions regarding the massive fraud.”

In 2022, a U.S. attorney charged 70 individuals associated with Minnesota-based Feeding Our Future (FOF) for their alleged roles in defrauding the USDA of over $250 million in taxpayer funds—money intended to feed hungry children. To date, five individuals have been convicted of fraud that the assistant U.S. attorney on the case called “not just criminal, [but] depraved and brazen.” Charges include federal programs bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. While dozens are still awaiting trial, questions remain regarding the role of the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) administration of the Federal Child Nutrition Programs and its oversight of FOF. 
 
After MDE, under Governor Walz, failed to respond to previous attempts by the Committee to garner information necessary to uncover how the Governor and the USDA allowed such fraud to occur, the Committee today is proceeding with a subpoena to compel responses. (Committee on Education and the Workforce)

The Committee said subpoenas were also sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Office of Inspector General.