House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., warned Sunday that if Gov. Tim Walz refuses to show up to defend himself at an upcoming Minnesota fraud hearing, it would constitute an “admission to guilt.”
“I think it’s very likely [Walz will appear],” Comer told “The Sunday Briefing.”
“We’ve asked not only Gov. Walz, but also Attorney General Ellison, both of whom were in Congress, who I served with in Congress, so they know the rules of Congress. They know how serious this is. This has gotten the attention of the national public… so they will have to show up and defend themselves.”
Comer said the first committee hearing on the matter will occur Wednesday and will bring in more state officials with additional evidence.
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Presenting that evidence publicly, he said, enables the Department of Justice to obtain more warrants related to the alleged scheme.
“We’re getting reports that many of these daycares are changing their names, and they’re having break-ins and mysteriously losing their files and everything else,” he said, referencing the alleged daycare fraud scheme that has been under scrutiny since independent journalist Nick Shirley highlighted alleged fraud in a viral video last month.
In the video, many of the facilities appeared non-operational despite allegedly receiving millions of dollars in government aid, but critics of the video question whether the recordings occurred outside operational hours.
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“We’re going to stay on top of this, and Wednesday is going to be the first big day, and hopefully there’ll be more arrests coming soon,” Comer added.
Walz has publicly acknowledged the fraud and pledged to tackle it, saying the situation “is on my watch” and that he is “accountable” for fixing it, even as his administration has questioned some federal estimates regarding the scale of the fraud.
Walz also issued a third-party audit of Medicaid billing through Minnesota’s Department of Human Services and paused payments for some services while an audit is underway, according to FOX 9 in St. Paul.
A spokesperson for Walz recently released a statement addressing the swath of allegations plaguing the state, saying, “The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and asked the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight.”
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
