Tim Walz's own state judge called out the governor of Minnesota for lying to the public about a $300 million fraud scheme.
Now Walz was under oath in front of Congress – and Jim Jordan had that statement in his hand.
What Jordan read next left Walz with nowhere to go.
Jim Jordan Confronts Walz Over Feeding Our Future Court Order Lie
The payments to Feeding Our Future stopped on March 30, 2021.
The state had identified serious fraud concerns – serious enough to cut the money off entirely.
Then, a little over a month later, the payments restarted – and billions more flowed to fraudsters stealing from a program meant to feed children.
When the indictments hit in 2022, Walz blamed a judge.
He told the media that Ramsey County District Court Judge John Guthmann had ordered the payments to continue.
The judge was so offended by that claim that he took the extraordinary step of issuing a public press release.
That press release begins: "Due to inaccurate statements by the Governor…"
Jordan read those first seven words out loud – then looked straight at Walz.
"So the court's lying?" Jordan asked.
Walz had no answer.
"The agency believed the court had required them to make those payments," he said.
Jordan cut through it: "But that was false."
He pressed harder: "Somebody's lying – because you can't say the court ordered you to restart the payments, and then the court says we didn't order you to restart the payments. So either you're lying or the court's lying. Which one is it?"
Walz: "I just know what the attorneys said."
Jordan: "Could it be you were trying to hide behind the court? Is it all about politics?"
Walz had no answer for that either.
House Oversight Report Reveals Walz Retaliated Against Minnesota Fraud Whistleblowers
The fraud didn't happen in a vacuum.
People inside Minnesota state government saw it coming – and they tried to warn someone.
Rep. Byron Donalds revealed that Walz's own chief of staff was notified about Feeding Our Future concerns as early as May 2020.
The program was pulling in $307,000 in 2018 – the year before Walz took office.
By 2021, it was collecting nearly $200 million.
That is not a rounding error.
Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas dug into what happened to the people who raised the alarm.
He asked Walz directly: "How come multiple whistleblowers have said your administration told them not to say anything about widespread fraud because doing so would be considered racist or Islamophobic?"
Walz said: "I can't speak to it because that's not anything I would say."
Gill wasn't having it: "That's what your administration said – and the buck stops with you."
The House Oversight Committee's report documented what those whistleblowers actually faced: vacations denied, promotions blocked, careers set back for speaking up – conditions that witnesses described as nearly unbearable retaliation.
The report concluded that Minnesota "could have stopped the flow of money to fraudsters at any time but chose not to for fear of political retribution from the politically active Somali community."
Jordan made the political calculation explicit.
"85 percent of the people indicted were Somali Americans – a key voting bloc," he told Walz. "And I think that's what drove this whole thing."
The Man Who Wanted to Be Vice President
Walz was Harris's pick.
He was supposed to be the competent Midwestern governor who balanced progressive values with common sense.
What Republicans exposed on Wednesday is a man who presided over one of the largest government fraud schemes in American history, lied about a court order to cover his tracks, and turned state government against the employees who tried to stop it.
When Rep. Nancy Mace asked him basic questions – how many children are in Minnesota, how much was spent on autism programs – he couldn't answer.
"Are you the governor of Minnesota or not?" she asked him repeatedly.
Walz announced weeks ago he won't seek reelection.
Now we know why.
FBI Director Kash Patel has stated that 78 people were indicted in the Feeding Our Future scheme and 57 convicted – and the FBI believes that case is "just the tip of a very large iceberg."
U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson called Minnesota "a national poster child for public corruption" – and the numbers back him up.
The behavioral intervention program alone went from $3 million to $400 million under Walz's watch.
Autism services ballooned from $24 million to $342 million over the same period.
That is the legacy Tim Walz is walking away from – while the people who tried to stop it had their careers destroyed for speaking up.
Sources:
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Hearing Wrap Up: Minnesota Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison Lied About Knowledge of Fraud and Silenced Whistleblowers," March 4, 2026.
- Townhall, "Jim Jordan Exposed Tim Walz's Dishonesty at Oversight Committee Hearing on Minnesota Fraud," March 4, 2026.
- Fox 9, "Minnesota Fraud Report: Walz Staffers Say State Voluntarily Resumed Feeding Our Future Funding," March 4, 2026.
- Washington Examiner, "Five Takeaways from Minnesota Fraud Hearing," March 4, 2026.
- PJ Media, "Gov. Tim Walz Is Getting Destroyed on Capitol Hill," March 4, 2026.
- Gateway Pundit, "Rep. Brandon Gill Forces Tim Walz to Admit He's Responsible for Fraud in Minnesota," March 4, 2026.
- American Greatness, "House Report: Walz and Ellison Knew About Massive Fraud Schemes in Minnesota, Retaliated Against Whistleblowers," March 4, 2026.
