The Trump administration is taking an "all hands on deck" approach to pursuing alleged government fraud in Minnesota, California, and elsewhere, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
Leavitt's remarks came during a press briefing in which a reporter asked if Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz may have dropped out of a reelection race because he could be facing a criminal investigation.
Leavitt said she was unaware of any such probe and noted she would not be able to comment even if one existed. However, she suggested Walz's political collapse is tied to a loss of support at home.
"I think Tim Walz probably dropped out of the race because he realizes he no longer has the support of the people of his own state, which is a remarkable downfall considering he was the number two on the Democrat Party's ticket just about a year ago," Leavitt said.
But the larger focus, she said, is the scale of alleged fraud uncovered in Minnesota, a state now under intense federal scrutiny after multiple scandals involving Medicaid and other public programs meant to help children and vulnerable citizens.
"When it comes to Minnesota, the fraud that we have seen, the wide scale of fraud is really remarkable. It's egregious," Leavitt said, urging reporters to travel to Minnesota and cover the issue firsthand.
Leavitt then outlined a sweeping multi-agency crackdown, describing near-daily federal presence on the ground.
She said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Minnesota on Tuesday, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to travel there later this week for a meeting focused on fraud.
Leavitt said the Justice Department has charged 98 defendants in several Medicaid fraud and related cases, with 64 convictions so far. She noted that 85 of the 98 charged were of Somali descent.
Federal investigators, she added, have issued more than 1,700 subpoenas, executed over 130 search warrants, and added more prosecutors to handle the growing volume of cases.
Leavitt said the Department of Homeland Security is "going door to door" and has deployed roughly 2,000 agents to Minneapolis to assist with both law enforcement and immigration enforcement.
The administration also has tightened oversight across federal spending programs.
Leavitt said the Department of Health and Human Services is now requiring justification and photo evidence for all child care-related payments nationwide and has demanded Minnesota conduct a full audit of child care centers.
She said the administration froze $185 million in child care funding to Minnesota.
Leavitt added that CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz has notified Walz the federal government will begin auditing Medicaid recipients and defer payments tied to suspected waste, fraud, and abuse.
Other agencies, she said, are reviewing Minnesota's unemployment program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recertification, public housing, and Small Business Administration (SBA) lending, including suspending nearly 7,000 borrowers amid suspected fraud.
Asked about California, Leavitt said the president has directed agencies to investigate spending programs nationwide.
"This is going to be an all-hands-on-deck, government-wide effort," she said. "Not just Minnesota, but also in the state of California, to identify fraud and to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all those who have committed it."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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