Comer to Walz: "You do nothing about fraud"

I'll take that as a yes. Those warnings were communicated to senior officials in your administration, including yourself, correct? I can't speak if it was directly.

I think the correct answer to that would also be yes. Despite those warnings, you did not order a broad stop payment or suspension of payment in any program at that time, correct? We're not going to stop payments that feed children until we have the proof that things happened. In 2019, we did start taking action. I went to the legislature, that--

OK, Governor Walz, when fraud concerns were raised early in your tenure in the Child Care Assistance Program, did your administration stop payments at that time? The Child Care Assistance Program and--

The answer is no. When fraud concerns--

Would you like me to answer or not, Chairman? Well, it's yes or no. I want you to--

You've already answered the question. You said you didn't ever stop payments. And that's what the problem is. And that's what the Democrats are complaining about. Oh, my gosh, Trump stopped payments. Well, my god, you lost billions to fraud in Minnesota. That's what this hearing is about.

Mr. Chairman-- You didn't stop payments because you didn't want to rock the boat. And when--

That's not correct, Chairman. When fraud concerns were raised in Medicaid, home and community-based services, did your administration stop payments? No, you did not. When fraud concerns were raised in nonemergency medical transportation, did your administration stop payments?

Chairman, if I could mention what a stop payment meant by what the administration did last week is 400,000 children without health care. Are you stopping payment of one person?

We believe that's your fault and the attorney general's fault because you do nothing about fraud, even though everyone in America sees--

Our Medicare error rate is lower than your state. --fraud. You have been defrauded. You have not been good stewards of the taxpayer dollars. And the Democrat position is, well, keep the money flowing. The American taxpayers have had enough.

I think that's a unfair characterization. --their taxpayer dollars spent wisely. We all support social programs--

That's not a fair characterization. But if you're going to waste the money to fraudsters, then we have to stop and recalculate.

We're not. We're putting them in jail when we can, Chairman. And some of these programs are crafted in such a way that there's a procedure to follow. And I'm with you. $1 is too much. I don't think there's a lot of difference here if you want to help us get at this. The question is, is it a sledgehammer, or is it a scalpel? I understand there's no political upside--

Let's get into what we've talked. You eventually did pause payments in certain programs, but that wasn't until late 2025 after the Federal government stepped in. Is that correct? I don't think that's a fair characterization of stepped in. We've been partners in this and working on them.

All right, let's move on. And that decision occurred only after large-scale fraud had already taken place for years. Now, Governor Walz, employees inside state agencies raised concerns about fraud and improper payments for years. Is that correct? Inside agencies, we've been prosecuting them for years. Yes.

They have raised concern? Agencies have raised concern about fraud in Minnesota, correct? Each of those-- yes. When they do, then they're prosecuted, yes. Some of those employees faced retaliation after raising those concerns. Is that correct? That is not correct, Chairman.

OK-- Minnesota has strong whistleblower protections. Attorney General Ellison, you are the chief legal officer of the state of Minnesota, correct?

Yes. Your office advises agencies on compliance with federal and state law, correct? Yes. Retaliation against whistleblowers reporting fraud is unlawful, correct? That is right. At any point during your tenure, did you tell state agencies to stop payments due to credible fraud allegations, yes or no? Sir, we prosecuted over 300 people in the Medicaid fraud area--

300, I would predict, is a drop in the bucket. But you've never said to stop payments. That's what--

It's one of the highest rates in the country, sir. Well, you have one of the highest fraud rates in the country in Minnesota. That's not true. And my office doesn't have the authority to do a stop payment. We prosecute criminals when they're presented to us by the agencies. So the answer is no, unfortunately. No one's ever, from your office, said to stop payments until we can get the fraud under control. So to summarize, you both knew about fraud risk, and payments continued. Our investigation has shown that whistleblowers who alerted about the widespread fraud were ignored, sidelined, and even retaliated against. Only after federal authorities ultimately stepped in did you take any action. It's not this committee's responsibility to decide guilt or dole out punishment. But it's clear there was a massive failure of oversight, and quite frankly, a failure of leadership. One wonders whether either of you should bear some personal responsibility for the billions of dollars siphoned off by fraudsters under your noses in the state that you led. Again, this isn't for the committee to decide. But based on your answers today and apparent failure to take any responsibility, still, the answer to that question has become abundantly clear. And now, I--

Mr. Chair, I seek unanimous consent to enter items into the record. All right. Before I recognize Mr. Lynch, Ms. Randall, you have a UC.

Thank you. I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a November 12th, 2025, article from ProPublica entitled "How Trump has exploited pardons and clemency to reward allies and supporters," which shows President Trump rewards those in his good graces. I also seek recognition to insert into the record a Washington Postarticle from December 19, 2025, entitled "Trump's pardons wipe out payments to defrauded victims," which shows that President Trump lets criminals and fraudsters walk free. And I also seek unanimous consent to enter into the record an article from May 29, 2025, from ABC News titled "Trump's flurry of pardons include some campaign contributors."