Lame-duck Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made a stunning about-face after the federal raids on Minnesota day care centers Tuesday — after previously denouncing fraud investigations as “white supremacy.”
FBI Director Kash Patel, however, quickly hit back after the failed 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee appeared to take credit for the federal operation.
In a thread on X, Walz said he was putting criminals “on notice” and said the FBI was working with state officials.
“Come again? This FBI and DOJ with our DHS partners drafted and executed every search warrant today. But go ahead and take credit for our work while we smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under your governorship,” Patel fired back.
Walz continued the thread, acting as if he was in favor of the investigations all along.
“If you commit fraud in Minnesota you’re going to get caught — and that’s exactly what we saw today. We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information. Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it,” he wrote.
“Today’s raids by state and federal law enforcement happened because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it. That’s how the system is supposed to work, and our agencies will keep at it as long as there are fraudsters around to put behind bars,” he said in uncharacteristically full-throated support for the law enforcement action.
However, he also added a call to investigate the killing of two Minnesotans by federal immigration agents earlier this year.
“Now let’s work on a joint investigation into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good — instead of cherry-picking when we seek justice and when we turn a blind eye,” he said.
Newly appointed DHS chief Markwayne Mullin also took a shot at Walz’s tough talk in a scathing X post.
“You have *zero* credibility on this issue,” he wrote.
“@GovTimWalz, you have willingly ignored and downplayed the rampant fraud and abuse in Minnesota. This crackdown on fraud has come thanks to the leadership of President Trump. We will hold those who steal from Americans accountable.”
Here’s the latest on the Minnesota fraud scheme:
In January, Walz announced he would not seek a third term as governor after being accused of allowing mass fraud — largely among Somali immigrants — to fester under his watch.
Despite the outgoing governor’s declaration of support for the raids, the City of Minneapolis’ official X account made a post minutes earlier that appears to contradict Walz.
“The City of Minneapolis is not involved in the federal operations being reported around Minnesota today, and as of 9:30 a.m., MPD has not been asked to assist with the execution of federal warrants,” the statement read.
The FBI on Tuesday raided the infamous “Quality Learing Center” and more than 20 other businesses across Minnesota as part of a massive investigation into an alleged multi-billion dollar social services fraud scheme.
Sources told The Post that the raids primarily focused on businesses tied to the Somali-American community.
Some estimates peg the amount of federal funds stolen in the sprawling fraud scheme as high as $19 billion, significantly higher than Somalia’s entire $12 billion gross domestic product, according to World Bank figures.
