Tim Walz's Pandemic Scandal: $250M in Misused Funds

Despite the fact that the Coronavirus pandemic occurred more than four years ago, it seems to be haunting Minnesota governor and Kamala Harris' running mate for the presidential election, Tim Walz. In recent days, more precisely after the announcement of the Harris-Walz ticket, his detractors began to recall some details that occurred during the pandemic in the North Star State. 

As for the first case occurred under his administration, the Department of Justice convicted five people for the fraud of $250 million, initially intended to feed children.

In mid-June, the DOJ confirmed the guilt of Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur.

According to the indictment, they allegedly defrauded the Federal Child Nutrition Program, embezzled and laundered millions of dollars in funds that were intended for reimbursements for the price of bringing meals to children during the pandemic. As reported by The Hill, they "provided false documents and exploited changes to the feeding program." The case had two people acquitted, Said Shafii Farah and Abdiwahab Maalim.

"Exploiting a program designed to feed neglected children during the COVID pandemic is reprehensible. Today's verdict is a clear warning to those who exploit the most vulnerable for personal gain. Justice will be swift and severe," celebrated Alvin M. Winston, special agent in charge of the FBI Minneapolis, at the time.

"One hundred percent of the fraud rests on Governor Walz's shoulders."

Recently, a state audit concluded that the Minnesota Department of Education missed repeated red flags that could have prevented the corruption case.

Although the audit was not necessarily the state governor's responsibility, Lisa Demuth, the ranking Republican in the local House of Representatives, took direct aim at Walz.

"One hundred percent of the fraud rests on the shoulders of Governor Walz. We have systematic fraud in the state of Minnesota and he has not taken it seriously," she asserted.

Along the same lines was Bill Glahn, a policy researcher at the Center for the American Experiment, a Minnesota think tank, who noted that "the buck stops somewhere." "The Department of Education is a cabinet-level agency. He appoints the commissioner and then various levels of bureaucrats below him. The buck stops with him," he added, referring to Gov. Walz.

As for the Federal Child Nutrition Program, it is administered by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and is intended to provide food to needy children. In Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) administers and oversees the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

Expenditures that drew attention 

As reported by Reason, "a quick review of the Treasury Department's State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) database reveals numerous line items that appear to have little or nothing to do with the pandemic." 

Prominent among them were $4.3 million to cover parking expenses at state facilities, either for government workers or visitors. In turn, they found half a million dollars spent to fund "a study on the feasibility of paid family leave" and another half a million to "fund a statewide gun safety advertising campaign."

Other eye-catching expenditures were $929,866 for "small business development" to teach minority- and women-owned businesses how to qualify for state contracts, as well as$1.2 million a statewide initiative to help recruit teachers and other school employees.

Finally, the Girl Scouts got $957,794 for an outreach program in low-income communities.

"All of those may be useful and noble projects, but it's unclear why any of them were funded with dollars earmarked for pandemic recovery," they sentenced from Reason.