Tim Walz Subpoenaed by US Workforce Committee, Charged with Massive COVID Pandemic Funds Fraud
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has been subpoenaed by the Republican-led House Education Committee for documents related to a fraud scheme that misused COVID pandemic relief money meant to feed children.
The House committee has alleged that “Feeding Our Future” created fictitious children’s names to obtain reimbursements under Walz’s watch.
US Workforce Committee Subpoenas Tim Walz
The subpoenas were issued on Wednesday by the House Education and Workforce Committee to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Minnesota Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Details were solicited regarding what has been dubbed by federal prosecutors as the largest pandemic fraud scheme in the country.
Tim Walz had conceded that state education officials did not do enough to prevent the fraud.
The subpoenas were first reported by NBC, and it reported that they were sent to Agriculture Inspector General Phyllis Fong, Minnesota’s Commissioner of Education Willie Jett, and US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, besides Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The US House Committee on Education and the Workforce wrote to the Democratic vice-presidential nominee that it had opened an investigation into the Minnesota Department of Education’s erroneous supervision of federal child nutrition programs and the Feeding Our Future scheme, which led to fraud to the tune of $250 million in COVID pandemic funds.
However, the subpoenas did not ask Tim Walz to make an in-person appearance before the committee, but they did set a deadline of 18 September to turn over all the documents.
Earlier this year, a trial was conducted, and five people who were involved in the scheme were convicted for their roles.
During the trial, an attempt was made to bribe a juror when a bag full of $120,000 in cash was left at her home.
Seventy people have been charged for their roles in the scheme.
Virginia Foxx, the Republican chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, stated in the subpoenaed letter that the Committee will elicit the production of documents which will reveal the actions taken by Tim Walz and his administration and will fix responsibility which led to the massive fraud and abuse of American taxpayers’ money.
A spokesperson for Tim Walz also condemned the fraud, labelling it as an abuse of a federal Covid-era program. He reiterated that the state Department of Education had done everything possible to prevent the fraud.
He also stated that the Democratic Party Vice Presidential candidate and his team are grateful to the FBI for cooperating and working with the Department of Education to arrest and charge the individuals involved in the fraud.
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