The House Education and Workforce Committee has just issued subpoenas to Minnesota’s top officials and federal leaders. This is all about a huge fraud scheme that happened during the pandemic.
Here’s what’s going down: The committee wants documents from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the state’s Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They’re investigating how these officials handled a massive fraud case involving a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future.
Feeding Our Future was supposed to use federal funds to provide free meals for kids during the pandemic. But, according to federal prosecutors, the nonprofit misused millions of dollars. They even created fake lists of kids to pocket the money meant for real meals.
Governor Walz, who’s been in the spotlight since Vice President Kamala Harris picked him as a potential running mate, is now facing even more scrutiny. The Republican-led committee is digging into this scandal to find out how much Walz and other officials were responsible for the fraud.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, who leads the committee, wrote to Walz saying they want to uncover the full story behind the fraud and how taxpayer money was misused. Walz’s team has called the fraud “an appalling abuse” and said they worked hard to stop it. They’re thankful the FBI is involved in the investigation.
A recent state audit revealed that the Minnesota Department of Education didn’t do a good job overseeing Feeding Our Future. It said the department’s lack of proper oversight allowed the fraud to happen. The top education official, Willie Jett, has blamed the people behind the scheme but said the department didn’t have any employees involved in illegal activities.
Walz has denied any wrongdoing at the state level and mentioned that the department could have done more due diligence. He even added a new inspector general role to improve oversight of federal funds.
Feeding Our Future set up over 250 sites across Minnesota and submitted fake attendance lists claiming they were feeding more children than they actually were. This scam led to charges against 70 people, with 18 pleading guilty and five convicted.
The state education department had flagged concerns about Feeding Our Future to the FBI in April 2021. The FBI started looking into it the next month. Before that, the department had notified the USDA inspector general about the nonprofit’s rapid growth, but no action was taken.
In 2022, Republicans requested documents from the USDA about the case. Once they gained control of the House in 2023, they followed up with more requests. They claim the USDA and Minnesota Education Department haven’t been fully cooperative.
Critics, including Rep. Bobby Scott, argue that the timing of these subpoenas seems suspicious, suggesting it’s a political move. Walz and the other officials have until September 18 to turn over the requested documents. However, they’re not required to testify.
Stay tuned as this scandal continues to unfold!
