WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance is calling on federal prosecutors to launch an investigation into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison regarding claims they allowed extensive social services fraud to persist, raising questions about whether the White House plans to use a newly created Justice Department unit to go after political opponents.
The vice president, who has been chosen to spearhead the Trump administration’s anti-fraud initiatives while building his political credentials for a possible 2028 presidential run, referenced a House Oversight Committee report in his letter to the Justice Department. The Republican-controlled committee’s findings suggest Walz and Ellison knew about widespread government program abuse for years and allowed it to continue unchecked.
Federal prosecutors have not yet responded to Tuesday inquiries about whether they will launch such an investigation. It remains uncertain what federal law violations, if any, might justify examining the Democratic Minnesota leaders, who have stood by their fraud-fighting record and called a separate Justice Department probe involving state officials politically driven.
The state has faced ongoing scrutiny for enormous amounts of fraud within children’s programs and other social services, resulting in charges against numerous defendants during both President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration and President Donald Trump’s Republican presidency. However, Vance’s call for investigating state leadership represents a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s declared ‘war on fraud,’ which officials claim will remain non-political and non-partisan.
The vice president wants the investigation handled by a newly formed Justice Department unit that has faced heavy criticism over potential political interference due to its tight connections with Trump’s White House. Officials announced the division’s creation in January, initially stating its director would report straight to the president rather than following standard Justice Department hierarchy.
Walz spokesperson Teddy Tschann criticized the House committee as ‘nothing more than a joke’ that keeps trying to ‘re-hash COVID-era fraud.’
‘Governor Walz is glad to see fraudsters are going to prison,’ Tschann stated in an email. ‘If the committee is concerned about corruption, they should investigate why President Trump continues to let fraudsters out of prison.’
Ellison rejected the accusations as baseless and characterized Vance’s request as ‘a political stunt from an administration that uses the machinery of government to target its perceived opponents while extending leniency to those aligned with its interests.’
‘It is deeply troubling to see official powers and public resources diverted away from serving the people and instead aimed at pursuing political adversaries,’ Ellison stated. ‘That is not what government is for, and it diminishes public trust in our institutions.’
The House committee claims that ‘fraud warnings were elevated to the most senior levels of the Minnesota state government’ while payments kept flowing ‘long after credible signs of fraud emerged.’ In his request, Vance stated that Minnesota officials or any other government leaders nationwide ‘must be held accountable’ if they enabled fraud, blocked efforts to stop it, or took revenge against whistleblowers attempting to expose it.
‘Minnesota state officials are not above the law,’ Vance posted on X.
The Trump administration has repeatedly confronted Minnesota officials not just over fraud issues but also regarding the extensive federal immigration enforcement operations that hit the Minneapolis-St. Paul region and other areas, sparking widespread demonstrations.
Federal prosecutors issued grand jury subpoenas to Minnesota officials in January as part of an investigation examining whether they interfered with or hindered federal law enforcement through their public comments. The current status of that probe remains unknown.
The Trump administration has promoted the establishment of the National Fraud Enforcement Division as an essential component of its campaign to stop taxpayer money misuse. The unit’s head, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, brings extensive prosecution experience and has promised to handle cases ‘without fear or favor.’
However, critics have raised questions about the administration’s true intentions behind the new unit, noting that fraud cases were already handled by the agency’s Criminal Division, which announced the Justice Department’s largest coordinated healthcare fraud takedown in history last year.
