Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of trying to "hide behind" a court order to explain why the state resumed payments to Feeding Our Future (FOF), a nonprofit at the center of a massive pandemic-era child nutrition fraud scheme.
"Why didn't you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?" Jordan asked during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Minnesota fraud on Wednesday.
The exchange centered on Walz's past public statements that a judge ordered the Minnesota Department of Education to continue reimbursements in April 2021 after the agency had halted payments over fraud concerns.
Jordan pointed to a 2022 court-authorized news release from then-Ramsey County District Court Judge John H. Guthmann that disputed the governor's characterization of the events.
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"On September 22, 2022, Governor Tim Walz told the media that the Minnesota Department of Education attempted to end payments to FOF because of possible fraud, but that Judge Guthmann ordered payments to continue in April 2021. That is also false," the release stated.
"As the public court record and Judge Guthmann's orders make plain, Judge Guthmann never issued an order requiring the MN Department of Education to resume food reimbursement payments to FOF."
During the hearing, Jordan read from the judge's statement and pressed Walz directly.
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"So either you're lying or the court's lying. And I'm just asking you which one is it?" Jordan said.
Walz responded that his understanding at the time was based on legal advice from within the agency.
"The agency believed that the court had required them to make those payments," Walz said, arguing the attorneys at the Department of Education interpreted it differently.
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"I just simply know what the attorneys at the agency believe that it was a misinterpretation," he added.
Jordan rejected that explanation, telling the governor: "You're trying to hide behind some pretend court order. Some court order that didn't exist."
The Justice Department announced in November that a 36-year-old Minnesota man was charged with wire fraud and money laundering, becoming the 78th defendant charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.
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Federal prosecutors have said the scheme involved more than $250 million in stolen taxpayer funds intended to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The House Oversight Committee said on Jan. 7 that the Justice Department has charged 98 defendants in Minnesota fraud-related cases, 85 of whom are of Somali descent.
Walz told Jordan during the hearing that he didn't know how many people were indicted in his state.
"I don't have those numbers with me," he said.
The governor, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election, acknowledged that Minnesota's programs are not immune from fraud.
"I'll be the first to acknowledge that," he told lawmakers. "But let me be clear. In Minnesota, if you defraud public programs, if you steal taxpayer money, we'll find you, we'll prosecute you, we'll convict you, and we'll throw you in jail."
