Patriot Brief
Minnesota Rep. Kristin Robbins says Gov. Tim Walz dropping his reelection bid was expected amid the fraud scandal.
Lawmakers estimate up to $9 billion in taxpayer funds were misused through state programs under Walz’s watch.
State and federal oversight hearings are moving forward, and Walz is expected to be called to testify.
Tim Walz may be done campaigning, but he’s nowhere near done answering questions.
Republican state Rep. Kristin Robbins didn’t mince words when reacting to Walz’s sudden decision to abandon his reelection bid. According to Robbins, this wasn’t a surprise — it was an escape attempt. As the scope of Minnesota’s fraud scandal keeps expanding, the governor’s political position became increasingly indefensible, and stepping aside was the cleanest way to stop the bleeding.
The numbers alone are damning. Lawmakers are now estimating that as much as $9 billion in taxpayer money may have been siphoned off through welfare and social service programs — money that was supposed to help recovering addicts, feed children, and support vulnerable families. Instead, investigators allege it funded luxury real estate, high-end vehicles, and international wire transfers.
Walz insists he’s stepping away to “focus on the work.” That line might have landed if the work hadn’t already collapsed into scandal. Robbins, who chairs Minnesota’s Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, made it clear that this isn’t going away just because Walz isn’t on the ballot. State hearings are ongoing. Federal investigations are ramping up. And Congress is now demanding answers.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer summed it up bluntly: Walz is either complicit or grossly incompetent. Either way, resignation from a future race doesn’t erase past responsibility.
Walz may have exited the campaign trail, but the accountability phase is just beginning — and there’s no dropping out of that.
From Fox News:
A Minnesota state representative said she was not surprised by Gov. Tim Walz ending his reelection campaign amid the rising fraud scandal under his watch, warning he cannot escape accountability in upcoming hearings.
"We were not surprised," State Rep. Kristin Robbins said Monday on "The Story." "It has become increasingly clear that Tim Walz is going to run from the accountability that he deserves for allowing this massive scale of fraud in our state. And so we heard rumors of this for quite a while, and I’m not surprised. The more we look into it, the increasing number of programs of fraud, the scale of it is staggering, and he just cannot defend his record, and neither will any of his handpicked successors."
Walz announced on Monday that he's dropping his bid for a third term as governor amid stinging criticism of his handling of his state's massive welfare assistance fraud scandal. Businesses ranging from daycares to nonprofits allegedly used state policies to take what some estimate to be about $9 billion in taxpayer dollars.
"I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all," he said in a public statement. "Every minute that I spend defending my own political interest would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota, against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who want to prey on our differences. So I’ve decided to step out of this race and I’ll let others worry about the election."
Robbins, who also serves as the chair of Minnesota’s Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, will be testifying before Congress on Wednesday.
"The Story" anchor Martha McCallum showed a set of charts contrasting what the alleged $9 billion was supposed to be spent on — ranging from assistance for recovering addicts to feeding children — to what it was instead allegedly spent on — wire transfers to China and East Africa, luxury real estate, and luxury vehicles.
...
Photo Credit: Kristin Robbins campaign