Walz, feds clash over who should take credit for raids
ST. PAUL (KVRR/FOX9) — A major federal raid on 22 Minnesota child care and autism centers has sparked debate over who deserves credit for uncovering the alleged taxpayer fraud.
Gov. Tim Walz posted on X, “raids by state and federal law enforcement happened because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it.”
FBI Director Kash Patel responded, “Come again? This FBI and DOJ with our DHS partners drafted and executed every search warrant. But go ahead and take credit for our work while we smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under your governorship.”
It was brought up during a House committee hearing on fraud which featured accusations made against Department of Children, Youth, and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown and Inspector General Randall Keys.
Rep. Isaac Schultz, a Republican from Elmdale Township told them, “And it’s pretty consistent here that you are just straight up lying. You are lying to the people, you are not enforcing the law and that is your job to do.”
“To rely on FBI Director Kash Patel as a source of any truthful information I think is really concerning when you look at his track record,” said Rep. Dave Pinto, a Democrat from St. Paul.
That hearing also included testimony from a former Department of Human Services’ investigator who said his efforts to address fraud were aggressively shut down in 2019.
