Tim Walz’s GOP challenger blames gov in billion-dollar welfare fraud scandal, suggests ‘cover up’

Minneapolis is grappling with a $1 billion welfare scandal that has drawn the focus of Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial race.
Dr. Scott Jensen, the state’s Republican nominee, told Fox News Digital that Gov. Tim Walz is not only responsible for the controversy but is also allegedly involved in a “cover up” that he says is “worse than Watergate.”

The controversy centers on the so‑called Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, the nation’s biggest COVID‑19 reimbursement scam, in which the nonprofit and its associates siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from federal child‑nutrition programs. Prosecutors have described it as the largest fraud of its kind in American history. Senators, congressmen, and the national media have kept the case in the spotlight for weeks, turning it into a central issue in the campaign for governor.

Jensen explained that, in his view, “the buck stops at the governor’s desk.” He described Walz as the CEO of a state that should function like a business, and accused the governor of dereliction. “Tim Walz has been derelict in doing his duties, and he’s absolutely corrupted common sense,” Jensen said.

To back up his argument, Jensen pointed to a timeline he said makes it clear Walz was aware of the Fraud before he admitted it and then misled Minnesotans about how the issue was addressed. “Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Education knew in 2020 that there was a problem… but they didn’t get the FBI involved until 2021,” he said. He further noted that the state’s public statements have claimed the FBI was involved immediately, an error he says places the timeline a year off. Jensen’s perspective is that this delay was more than mismanagement—it reflects a broader pattern of deflection and “cover up.”

Illustrating this point, Jensen highlighted how Walz reacted after the first indictments were issued in 2022. The governor blamed District Court Judge John Guthman for “forcing the state to continue fraudulent payments.” Guthman responded with a public rebuke, accusing Walz of making “inaccurate statements.” Jensen saw this as evidence of the governor trying to shift responsibility onto others. “When Judge Guthman did that, then you saw Tim Walz and Keith Ellison try for someone else they could blame it on,” he said. “So they blamed it on the FBI and said, ‘Well, the FBI told us we had to keep paying because we’re not supposed to interfere with their investigation.’ And the FBI said, ‘We didn’t make you continue fraudulent payments to the Feeding Our Future agency.’”

Jensen expressed concern that there may be more sinister elements to the “cover up.” “The underlying question has to be: is there something more nefarious than this?” he asked. “Is there literally sequestration of funds that at some point could be paid back to people when things have calmed down? Is there a pay‑to‑play scheme that we haven’t yet been informed about?” He warned that if such schemes exist, criminal prosecution of Minnesota officials could become necessary.

The scandal has attracted federal scrutiny. The Small Business Administration announced it is probing a network of Somali groups in Minnesota, alleging ties to the fraud and highlighting systemic audit failures by Walz’s administration. Representative James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, accused Walz’s negligence of allowing criminals—including those affiliated with the Somali terrorist group al Shabaab—to steal nearly $1 billion from the program while children suffered. Comer is leading the federal investigation into the governor’s role.

President Trump has also called the state a “hub of money‑laundering activity.” His administration has launched several new investigations, including a Treasury Department probe into how taxpayer dollars may have been diverted to al Shabaab, and has used the scandal to justify ending deportation protections for Somali migrants.

When asked about Walz’s legacy after two terms, Jensen said it will be defined by fraud on an unprecedented scale. “He went from something people thought of as a moderate to a person who literally lived on the five‑yard line of the hard‑left part of the Democratic field,” he said, adding that his policies had moved him closer to figures like Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez and Bernie Sanders.

The governor’s office has not yet responded to the latest claims. Meanwhile, Minnesota residents continue to watch closely as the state’s federal and state leaders grapple with the fallout from this costly fraud scheme.

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