Senate Judiciary to hear Minnesota fraud allegations

By Andrew Rice and Emily Rodriguez
The Center Square

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hear new accusations regarding the Minnesota fraud scandal investigation.

The hearing, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday, will likely feature fierce partisan debate as senators on the Judiciary Committee grapple with allegations of fraud in Minnesota and beyond. Senators postponed the hearing but did not announce a new date at the time of publication.

The firestorm of fraud allegations first broke out in November when reports were released that claimed millions of taxpayer dollars were stolen from the Minnesota welfare system and used to fund Somali-based terror group Al-Shabaab. Chris Rufo and Ryan Thorpe originally published those reports in City Journal.

Investigations also were opened into taxpayer-funded daycares in Minnesota and across the United States. Funding for some has been paused until vetted.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz chose not to seek reelection amid the fraud allegations in the state. Republican leaders have called for further action, demanding Walz to resign immediately.

“Tim Walz is not some sort of freedom fighter, he’s a guy who has enabled fraud, and maybe participated in it,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on social media. “I don’t care what Tim Walz says, I care about getting to the bottom of this fraud for the American people.”

“Tim Walz should resign in disgrace for enabling the defrauding of millions of Minnesotans,” wrote U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Cornyn is also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

With allegations of fraud in Minnesota and across the country, U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., proposed a bill to revoke the citizenship of recently naturalized citizens.

“We cannot allow our welfare system to be defrauded by criminals who abused their citizenship,” Schmitt said on X. “If you swear an oath to be loyal to our laws, and then commit felony fraud or other serious crimes – you lied when you took that oath. If you lied in your oath, you never met the conditions for citizenship and should be denaturalized.”

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned the allegations of fraud in Minnesota and elsewhere. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called for investigators to produce “credible evidence” of fraud in the state.

“If you have no credible evidence of fraud, stop penalizing innocent, needy children. Picking on kids is not presidential,” Durbin said in comments referring to President Donald Trump.

Allegations of welfare fraud also have been made in California, Washington, New York and other states.