By Alan Wooten (The Middle Sq.)
Popularity related along with his navy file already shattered, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz now faces a reckoning tied to a signature schooling accomplishment – feeding schoolchildren – from a congressional committee chaired by a North Carolina congresswoman.
Known as the “largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the nation,” U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., on Wednesday despatched a letter and subpoena to Walz and his state administration related to the federal youngster diet applications and Feeding Our Future, and to the Biden administration’s U.S. Division of Agriculture and its Workplace of Inspector Common.
RELATED: Florida Sues Over Violent Overseas Nationals Being Launched from Jail into U.S.
Walz is Vice President Kamala Harris’s operating mate on the Democratic ticket.
Greater than 70 people had been charged in 2022 by a United States lawyer for “roles in defrauding the USDA of $250 million in taxpayer funds – money intended to feed hungry children,” a launch from the Committee on Training & The Workforce within the U.S. Home of Representatives says. 5 have been convicted, dozens await trial, with costs inclusive of however not restricted to bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and cash laundering.
“As the chief executive and the highest-ranking official in the state of Minnesota, you are responsible for the MDE and its administration of FCNPs,” the letter from Foxx reads. “Statements in the press by you and your representatives indicate that you and other executive officers were involved, or had knowledge of, MDE’s administration of the FCNP and responsibilities and actions regarding the massive fraud.”
On the official web site for the workplace of Minnesota governor, Walz touts an accomplishment in offering free breakfast and lunch in school for the state’s college students. This system names concerned within the costs will not be included.
Walz has been a lightning rod of criticism for the Harris marketing campaign since she picked him Aug. 6. He campaigned for years for Congress and governor falsely representing his Nationwide Guard rank and place of service, even wrongly labeling a problem coin; his file for actions in the course of the COVID-19 period have drawn condemnation; and his dealing with of riots following the dying of George Floyd drew criticism even from himself.
Foxx says letters dated Nov. 14, 2023, and June 14 requested info that exhibits Walz’ actions, and of different government officers “were insufficient to address the massive fraud.”
RELATED: ‘Diversity’ Doesn’t Embrace Disabled Veterans Like Me
The letter says to Walz, “When you were asked about your decision of not holding agencies accountable and if MDE employees would be disciplined, you replied, ‘This wasn’t malfeasance.’ You also stated, ‘There’s not a single state employee that was implicated in doing anything that was illegal.’”
Foxx stated her committee has been “unable to obtain substantive responsive materials in the many voluntary requests made in this matter.”
Within the letter to Minnesota Commissioner of Training Willie Jett, Foxx wrote, “On June 25, 2024, and August 9, 2024, the committee received two additional productions of documents. Despite these productions, the documents and information provided to the committee do not explain how your agency and the USDA failed to identify what has been described as the largest pandemic fraud in the nation. The MDE’s production of information has been neither timely nor fully responsive. Accordingly, the committee is invoking compulsory process.”
The USDA funds the Little one and Grownup Care Meals Program and the Summer time Meals Service Program beneath the state agency-administered Federal Little one Vitamin Program. States arrange contracts, after which request reimbursement.
The state of Minnesota – that means its Training Division – is the administrator within the course of, together with for funds and meal websites. Feeding Our Future is the nonprofit permitted by the Training Division.
The fees tied to the quarter-billion {dollars} relate to cash spent on luxurious automobiles, actual property and “other unlawful purchases,” a launch says.
Syndicated with permission from The Middle Sq..
