Vice President JD Vance immediately referred top Minnesota Democrats for criminal investigation after a Republican congressional committee released evidence that they had ignored massive scams.The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform report released on Monday documented testimony from officials who accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Attorney General Keith Ellison of knowing about the fraud and doing nothing to stop it.Stolen funds 'likely ended up in the hands of international terrorist networks and certainly funded the lavish lifestyles of criminal fraudsters.' "I've referred these allegations to DOJ's new Fraud Division for criminal investigation," Vance wrote in a social media post Monday evening. "Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and intimated whistleblowers, they must face justice."Gov. Walz, Vance's one-time vice presidential opponent, had been forced to drop his gubernatorial re-election campaign after being accused of collusion in the Minnesota fraud schemes, many of which were centered in the Somali community.He has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that his administration took many steps to curb the fraud.The committee claimed Walz and Ellison knew about the scams as far back at 2019. Even worse, Walz allegedly retaliated against whistleblowers speaking out to expose the fraud.The scams put $300 million of federal child nutrition funds and up to $9 billion of Medicare-related funding at risk.The committee also claimed that the stolen funds "likely ended up in the hands of international terrorist networks and certainly funded the lavish lifestyles of criminal fraudsters, while vulnerable populations were harmed." Vance called on the National Fraud Enforcement Division to investigate the allegations against Walz and Ellison.RELATED: FBI RAIDS 'Quality Learing Center' and nearly 2 dozen more in Minnesota FRAUD investigation A spokesperson for Walz called the Republican claims a "joke" in a statement to KSTP-TV."This committee has proven time and time again to be nothing more than a joke," the spokesperson said. "They continue to rehash COVID-era fraud to distract from endless wars, gas prices, ICE, and the president's insider trading. Governor Walz is glad to see fraudsters are going to prison. If the committee is concerned about corruption, they should investigate why President Trump continues to let fraudsters out of prison."Ellison also released a statement claiming the accusations are "riddled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations in an effort to politicize the issue of fraud, instead of actually helping Minnesota protect tax dollars and go after fraudsters."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
