A tense House hearing on Wednesday erupted as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) accused Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) of misleading the public about a judge’s role in a $250 million pandemic-era fraud scheme.
The clash unfolded during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing focused on Minnesota’s handling of the Feeding Our Future scandal, which federal prosecutors have said involved more than $250 million in taxpayer funds intended to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jordan accused Walz of trying to “hide behind” a court order to justify why the Minnesota Department of Education resumed payments to the nonprofit in April 2021 after initially halting them over suspected fraud.
“Why didn’t you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?” Jordan asked Walz.
Jordan cited a September 2022 court-authorized statement from then-Ramsey County District Court Judge John H. Guthmann disputing Walz’s prior public claim that a judge had ordered payments to continue.
The statement read, “As the public court record and Judge Guthmann’s orders make plain, Judge Guthmann never issued an order requiring the MN Department of Education to resume food reimbursement payments to FOF.”
“So either you’re lying, or the court’s lying … I’m just asking you which one is it?” Jordan pressed.
Walz responded that his understanding at the time was based on advice from agency attorneys.
“The agency believed that the court had required them to make those payments,” Walz replied, adding, “I just simply know what the attorneys at the agency believe that it was a misinterpretation.”
Jordan rejected that explanation, telling the governor, “You’re trying to hide behind some pretend court order. Some court order that didn’t exist.”
The exchange comes as the Justice Department has continued to bring charges in the case. In November, federal authorities announced charges against a 36-year-old Minnesota man for wire fraud and money laundering, marking the 78th defendant charged in the scheme at that time, according to prior reporting.
On January 7, the House Oversight Committee said that 98 defendants have been charged in Minnesota fraud-related cases. During the hearing, Walz said he did not have updated figures on the indictment.
“I don’t have those numbers with me,” Walz told lawmakers.
Walz added that “the people of Minnesota have been singled out and targeted for political retribution at an unparalleled scale,” including what he described as blocked Medicaid reimbursements, according to Politico.
The controversy builds on prior allegations reported in December by The Dallas Express, which said that a group claiming to represent more than 480 Minnesota Department of Human Services employees accused Walz of ignoring repeated fraud warnings and retaliating against whistleblowers.
The group alleges that Walz was “100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” and that his office did not respond immediately at the time, according to that reporting.
Separate reporting has noted that unnamed federal sources alleged some stolen funds may have been transferred overseas.
The Oversight Committee’s investigation remains ongoing.
