Lying Liars Keep Lying

The Feeding Our Future scandal is the largest known covid-era fraud, coming in somewhere between $250 million and $500 million. It was extraordinarily brazen: various nonprofits pretended to feed many hundreds of thousands of nonexistent children, and billed Minnesota’s government. The money was federal, but the program was administered by Tim Walz’s Department of Education. Many criminal prosecutions have followed, but no heads have rolled at the Department of Education or anywhere else. And Governor Walz has never been held accountable.

Now, the House Education and Workforce Committee has issued a subpoena to Walz for documents relating to the scandal. My colleague Bill Glahn, who has driven the reporting on the Feeding Our Future story for more than two years, reports here:

The subpoena applies directly to Walz and demands that he produce the requested documents (specified in fourteen [14] separate categories) by noon on Wednesday, September 18.

Several of the document categories refer directly to the ever-shifting, contradictory, and implausible explanations that the Governor has offered in an effort to explain how at least $250 million was stolen on his watch.

As the rest of the country now knows, pretty much every word that comes out of Walz’s mouth is a lie.

At various times, Walz has blamed the scandal on (Category 2) the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), on (Cat. 4 and 5) state Judge John Guthmann, and on (Cat. 6) the FBI.

Maybe the most extraordinary of Walz’s lies was his claim that the Department of Education continued paying the fraudsters long after the scheme had been exposed because it was ordered to do so by Ramsey County Judge John Guthmann.

As for Judge Guthmann, he took the almost-unheard-of step in September 2022 to issue a press release to correct the record regarding the lies Gov. Walz and local media told about the judge’s work.

Having read Judge Guthmann’s order, I can attest that he told the truth and Tim Walz lied. About Walz’s other lies:

Also back in September 2022, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on Gov. Walz and his defense of the oversight. The PP reported on statements made regarding the FBI,

The state agency [MDE] contends its concerns weren’t taken seriously until it reached out to the FBI in April of 2021.
…
And he [Walz] said the FBI asked the state to continue the reimbursements while its investigation continued.

In her excellent and exhaustive June 2024 report on the affair, the state legislative auditor got to the bottom of who called whom first. She writes (p. 87) that it was the FBI that called MDE first, on February 22, 2021, proving that Walz again lied.

Finally, Walz tried to blame the US Department of Agriculture:

As for the USDA, the Pioneer Press quoted Walz in September 2022 as saying,

The governor said his administration spotted irregularities “very early” and alerted the USDA during President Donald Trump’s administration. Walz said he couldn’t recall precisely when he first learned of the suspicions.
…
Walz said there “needs to be a review” of why the USDA didn’t take the state’s concerns seriously when it first sounded the alarm. The state agency contends its concerns weren’t taken seriously until it reached out to the FBI in April of 2021.

False again. As the auditor documents on page 89 of her report, on April 1, 2021,

[The Minnesota Department of Education] and the USDA Midwest Regional Office met about the serious deficiency process and notice of proposed termination.

According to MDE, the USDA Midwest Regional Office supported its decision to stop paying Feeding Our Future’s claims for reimbursement and indicated that MDE had the authority for this decision.

The truth turns out that the USDA granted MDE all the power they sought before MDE responded to the FBI.

Asked about the House subpoena, Walz’s spokeswoman responded with a whopper that might fool someone who knew nothing about the scandal, and Tim Walz’s role in it:

In a statement, Walz spokesperson Claire Lancaster said the state “worked diligently to stop the fraud and we’re grateful to the FBI for working with the Department of Education to arrest and charge the individuals involved.”

The idea that Tim Walz or anyone in his administration “worked diligently to stop the fraud” that continued long after the state knew about it is absurd. That is why somewhere between $250 million and $500 million flew out the window on the most brazen of pretenses.

Will Tim Walz finally be held accountable for one of the most outrageous scandals in recent years? Ask me on November 6.