House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has warned that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz must appear before Congress to answer questions about alleged large-scale fraud involving state-funded daycare and social programs, noting that failure to show up would effectively serve as an “admission to guilt.”
“I think it’s very likely [Walz will appear],” Comer told Fox News’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
“We’ve asked not only Gov. Walz, but also Attorney General Ellison, both of whom were in Congress, who I served with in Congress, so they know the rules of Congress.
“They know how serious this is.
“This has gotten the attention of the national public… so they will have to show up and defend themselves.”
Comer said the committee’s first public hearing on the Minnesota fraud allegations will take place on Wednesday and will feature additional state officials and new evidence.
Bringing the information into the open, he said, is helping federal authorities strengthen their criminal investigations.
“We’re getting reports that many of these daycares are changing their names, and they’re having break-ins and mysteriously losing their files and everything else,” Comer said, referring to the alleged daycare fraud scheme that drew renewed scrutiny after independent journalist Nick Shirley released a viral video last month.
Shirley’s footage appeared to show multiple daycare and learning centers that looked inactive despite reportedly receiving millions in taxpayer funding.
Critics of the video have suggested some footage may have been recorded outside operating hours.
However, no evidence has been produced to support these claims.
Comer said the committee intends to aggressively pursue the matter.
“We’re going to stay on top of this, and Wednesday is going to be the first big day, and hopefully there’ll be more arrests coming soon,” he said.
WATCH:
Walz has publicly acknowledged wrongdoing occurred under programs administered by the state, saying the fraud “is on my watch” and that he is “accountable” for addressing it, even as his administration has pushed back on some federal estimates regarding the alleged scale of abuse.
According to FOX 9 in St. Paul, Walz has ordered a third-party audit of Medicaid billing through Minnesota’s Department of Human Services and temporarily paused payments for certain services while the review proceeds.
A spokesperson for Walz defended his record, saying:
“The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and asked the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action.
“He has strengthened oversight.”
The Oversight Committee’s first hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, where Comer said lawmakers intend to lay out new testimony and documentation tied to the widening investigation.
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