House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is drastically widening the federal probe into Minnesota’s massive fraud scandal, announcing plans to subpoena bank records and hauling in state whistleblowers who claim Governor Tim Walz was warned years ago about the misuse of taxpayer funds.
The investigation centers on allegations that billions of dollars intended for social programs were siphoned off in what Comer describes as a scheme impacting every citizen of the state.
The move comes as nearly 100 Minnesota mayors penned a letter to Governor Walz, blasting “unchecked spending” and “inconsistent fiscal management” that they say is forcing local municipalities to cut services and raise taxes on families and businesses.
During a Tuesday Fox News interview, Comer detailed the committee’s next steps, emphasizing the critical role of state employees who have recently come forward. According to Comer, these whistleblowers allege they explicitly alerted both Governor Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison about the fraud for years, yet saw no intervention.
“The walls are caving in on Tim Walz,” Comer said, signaling a shift from general inquiry to a forensic financial investigation. “We’re going to try to identify banks that we can subpoena their bank records so we can follow the money to see how much was taken, who took it, and then who do we need to hold accountable.”
The scope of the alleged mismanagement was highlighted by a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed cited during the discussion, which questioned how nearly $4 billion could vanish from a state program without immediate detection. Comer agreed with the sentiment that it was “impossible” for the administration to be unaware, citing conversations with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a former Minnesota state legislator.
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“Minnesota isn’t a big state,” Comer noted. “When you’re talking about billions of dollars for a small state, that is a significant percentage of the budget.”
While stopping short of immediately calling for Walz’s resignation, stating the governor “deserves due process,” Comer dismissed Walz’s recent comments that the state could handle the investigation internally as a “joke.” The Chairman made it clear that the federal oversight body intends to bypass the state’s own review processes, relying instead on sworn testimony from the whistleblowers and subpoenaed financial documents to build their case.
The committee plans to move rapidly, with Comer predicting that the findings will leave American taxpayers “sick at their stomach” regarding the scale of the waste.
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