In the five stages of fraud, Democrats never get past denial. From the Duluth (MN) News Tribune,
Gov. Tim Walz, DHS say they don’t have evidence to suggest fraud could reach $9 billion.
Did they look? In this context, “DHS” refers to the state Dept. of Human Services, a/k/a Fraud Central. Apparently, the governor had some sort of press availability today (watch here on YouTube) that touched on the fraud issue.
KARE-11 TV (NBC, Minneapolis) captured some highlights, quoting a DHS official,
We’ve seen evidence of tens of millions of dollars in fraud to this point. We don’t have evidence in hand to suggest that we have $9 billion in fraud in these benefits over the last seven years.
“Evidence in hand”? Indictments handed down in DHS fraud cases already total in the tens of millions of dollars. Are federal indictments the only thing that count as evidence for DHS?
Walz accuses the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota of “sensationalizing” the fraud. KARE-11 quotes Walz,
But to extrapolate what that number is for sensationalism, or to make statements about it, it doesn’t really help us.
Mum’s the word, then. Speaking of statements, the U.S. Attorney’s office issued this statement in response to the Walz presser, quoting lead fraud prosecutor Joe Thompson,
This investigation has been underway for more than four years and is being handled by career prosecutors and law enforcement agents here in Minnesota. We will continue to follow the evidence wherever its leads and will remain transparent with the public about the magnitude of the problem. We welcome and appreciate the support of everyone committed to the fight against fraud.
That’s billions, with a “b.” The headline from that KARE-11 story linked above?
‘I am the one that will fix it’
Gov. Tim Walz addresses fraud in Minnesota programs
The problem that Walz and his appointees never noticed for seven years until the federal convictions reached the six-dozen mark is suddenly well under control, he claims. To date, Walz has provided no evidence that the fraud has even slowed down, much less stopped.
How may providers have been suspended? How many invoices have been rejected for payment? How does spending in November 2025 compare to program spending in 2024? How many providers are under investigation? They must have all of that data, available without revealing any identities of suspects.
Walz and his team spent less than half the time at the podium today addressing fraud this afternoon that Thompson did yesterday.
By all available data, Walz and the clowns in his employ are incapable of organizing a two-car parade.
