Minnesota State Employees Claim They Warned Harris, DNC About Walz as VP Choice

A group of Minnesota state government employees claims they repeatedly warned Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic National Committee about Governor Tim Walz’s alleged “incompetence, fraud scandals and retaliation” before she selected him as her running mate in August 2024.

The whistleblowers, representing more than 480 current staff members at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, expressed their concerns through a social media account on X. “We tried our best to keep the public informed as our tweets are public. Maybe Kamala Harris turned a blind eye to fraud like her running mate?” the group posted.

In September 2024, the group directly replied to Harris’s account on X, claiming Walz had “caused incredible harm to our state & agencies, [and] retaliated against whistleblowers against fraud.” Neither Harris’s team nor the DNC responded to requests for comment on these allegations.

The claims come as Minnesota faces scrutiny over widening fraud scandals, including one of the nation’s largest COVID-era fraud cases. Last week, the Justice Department announced charges against the 78th defendant in the Feeding Our Future scheme, which prosecutors allege involved more than $300 million in stolen funds from a federally funded child nutrition program. More than 50 convictions have already resulted from the investigation.

According to The New York Times, what many Minnesotans initially viewed as an isolated pandemic-era fraud has expanded into a more significant concern for state and federal officials. The newspaper reported that over the past five years, law enforcement authorities have identified several fraud schemes within parts of Minnesota’s Somali community, where individuals allegedly created companies that billed state agencies for millions in social services that were never provided.

The scope of the alleged fraud extends beyond the Feeding Our Future case. Investigators have uncovered what appears to be a pattern of systematic exploitation of government programs intended to assist vulnerable populations.

State Representative Marion Rarick, a Minnesota Republican, told Fox News Digital that she has been investigating fraud in the state since January, when she was appointed to the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee. Rarick said she reached out to the whistleblowers behind the Minnesota Department of Human Service Employees account earlier this year, asking if they would speak to the newly-formed committee. “They agreed,” Rarick stated, adding that she has maintained communication with them since, including in-person meetings.

Fellow Republican State Representative Kristin Robbins praised the whistleblowers on X, calling them “heroes” and noting, “We have been meeting with them for months and they are trying to clean up state gov’t after @Tim_Walz[‘s] utter failure to hold his agencies accountable.”

The controversy surrounding Walz’s leadership has gained additional attention following the 2024 presidential campaign, where he served as Harris’s vice-presidential candidate. Critics have questioned whether the Democratic ticket adequately vetted Walz’s record in Minnesota, particularly regarding oversight of state agencies and response to fraud allegations.

The fraud scandals have raised concerns about government accountability and oversight in Minnesota. Federal prosecutors continue to unravel the extensive networks behind these schemes, which allegedly diverted millions in taxpayer dollars intended for nutrition assistance and other social services.

As investigations continue, the whistleblowers maintain that their warnings about systemic issues under Walz’s administration went unheeded by Democratic leadership during the presidential campaign. Their ongoing public statements highlight tensions between government employees seeking accountability and political considerations that may have influenced the national ticket’s approach to these allegations.