When you're a conservative, or even just a normie, in a blue state, it's easy to get really fatalistic. To wind up like the character in Springsteen's "Born in the USA", the "dog that's been beat too much" - to see the madness around you and figure there's just no hope.
Not without reason.
Here in Minnesota, we've had a bit of a fraud problem - and a bit of a two-tier justice problem. And given that the power to conduct criminal investigations and prosecute state-level crimes resides in the executive branch, which has been controlled by the DFL for the better part of two decades, it's not a big stretch to assume nothing - or nothing meaningful, beyond a few token whitewash prosecutions. There've been outbreaks of reporting on fraud in Minnesota for much of the past eight years - but at the state level, we're told that the conviction and throwing of the book at one mid-level bureaucrat / "mastermind" is the end of the story.
Move along, citizen. Nothing to see here.
And with the party in charge doing the investigating, that's about all people in Minnesota, or any blue state, can expect.
But the Feds are another matter. They got on the case late last year and have been investigating things in Minnesota lately.
And call me a Pollyanna, but things just might be starting to tick in the right direction. The US House Oversight Committee just turned a hose on the Minnesota government:
BREAKING: We just released a BOMBSHELL report exposing how Governor Tim Walz and AG Keith Ellison fueled Minnesota's fraud explosion.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) June 8, 2026
$9 billion in Medicaid lost. $300 million in federal child nutrition funds were placed at serious risk.
Read the report and key takeaways 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/Srh819XTDh
The report is here. and it names names - namely, Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison:
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a staff report today titled, “The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota’s Fraud Explosion.” The report exposes how senior Minnesota state officials, including Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison, were aware of widespread taxpayer fraud in federally funded social programs for years, possessed the authority to stop payments and ban fraudulent providers from participating in these programs, but repeatedly failed to act. As a result, billions of American taxpayer dollars were potentially paid to fraudulent actors. The report includes testimony and documents obtained by the Committee showing that Minnesota state leaders consistently failed to address known fraud concerns and retaliated against state employees who sought to protect taxpayer funds, allowing criminal schemes to flourish and diverting critical resources from vulnerable Americans.
“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are responsible for one of the most stunning oversight failures this Committee has ever examined. Today’s report is the culmination of months of investigative work and reveals hard evidence showing how the Walz Administration failed to stop widespread fraud, allowing criminals to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers. Billions of dollars were stolen because Minnesota state leaders turned a blind eye to rampant fraud and retaliated against state employees who dared to raise concerns. It is now clear the Walz Administration chose to protect the system rather than protect the taxpayer. Americans are fed up with fraud and expect action from the government entrusted with their hard-earned money. The House Oversight Committee has now passed over a dozen bills aimed at protecting taxpayer funds and strengthening oversight of federal programs ripe for fraud. This Committee will continue to work alongside President Trump’s anti-fraud task force to have the backs of hardworking Americans
Now, if you're a normie or normie-adjacent, it's easy to think it's just more of the same:
So a VERY strongly worded letter this time.
— Redhead Ranting™ (@redheadranting) June 8, 2026
Wake me up when you start holding them accountable.
It's not hard to find Minnesota conservatives on social media frumping that it's just going to be more of the same. Some of them are confused and think that Minnesota's House Fraud Prevention Committee should have ended two years of hearings with a wave of arrests, forgetting that if the legislative branch wants someone arrested, they have to depend on Keith Ellison to do it. And, well...
VP Vance's “referral” is nothing but a political stunt.
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) June 10, 2026
Since day one, my office has investigated, prosecuted, and won convictions against people who steal from Medicaid. We've followed the evidence, enforced the law, and held wrongdoers accountable—340 of them—without fear or…
Others are just worn out from almost two decades of "managed decline".
Maybe nothing will change.
But for the first time, a body of government with actual interest in attacking the problem - the Feds, the Department of Justice, and a Congressional committee - is on the case. Yes, there've been eight years of frustration - but the clock started over when the Feds got involved. Fed cases take time.
VP Vance's “referral” is nothing but a political stunt.
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) June 10, 2026
Since day one, my office has investigated, prosecuted, and won convictions against people who steal from Medicaid. We've followed the evidence, enforced the law, and held wrongdoers accountable—340 of them—without fear or…
It's not the first time the Attorney General has tried to portray himself as a modern day Elliot Ness:
My statement on this morning's federal law enforcement activity. pic.twitter.com/aLmWjPmQPu
— Attorney General Keith Ellison (@AGEllison) April 28, 2026FBI Director Patel was having none of that:
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. https://t.co/HczInx5sZm
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) April 28, 2026
Seeing the Feds finally substantially sounding off about Minnesota's corruption, and Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison's tacit enabling of it, feels a little like it may have felt to be a Briton watching the British Expeditionary Force climbing off the boats from Dunkirk: the war is nowhere close to won, and it's not even the beginning of the end of it all.
But maybe it's the end of the beginning.
