“CNN NewsNight” host Abby Phillip attempted to defend Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Tuesday against criticism over a welfare fraud epidemic in the state.
State employees accused Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota of engaging in “systemic” retaliation against whistleblowers who warned of the fraud schemes Sunday as the Justice Department pursues three federal cases involving at least $1 billion in fraud. Phillip claimed that the probes were launched during the Biden administration after Republican strategist Brad Todd called attention to the scandals. (RELATED: Lawmaker Explains Why Somali Scammers Swiped Millions From State)
“The governor of Minnesota, who didn’t answer any of the whistleblowers or the warning signs on this scandal, who swept it under the rug, nearly became the vice president of the United States,” Todd said. “And everyone in the American news media ignored this. The New York Times is just now reporting on a scandal that’s been years in the making. Why? You didn’t — why didn’t they do a deep dive on Tim Walz in the campaign? How was this possible?”
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“Wait, hold on,” Phillip responded, “Wasn’t it Merrick Garland of the Biden Administration that brought many of these charges in the first place?”
Welfare fraud schemes in Minnesota have reportedly been used to fund the radical Islamic terrorist group al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia. President Donald Trump announced he would end “Temporary Protected Status” for Somalis in Minneapolis in response to the allegations.
“So are you really suggesting that Democrats, Democrats ignored it, even though a Democratic, the attorney general of a Democratic administration, prosecuted the case?” Phillip asked Todd, who responded, “It happened on Tim Walz’s watch. Tim Walz is an incompetent governor and yes, he ignored it.”
Walz admitted Sunday that the state “attracts criminals,” but demanded that Somali residents not be demonized during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“It’s a state program,” Todd told Phillip. “It’s a state — it’s fraud within a state program in Tim Walz‘s administration.”
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is surging agents to Minneapolis to target Somalis in the country illegally in response to the reports about the fraud scandal.
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