Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty tore into current state leadership Wednesday morning on Newsmax, saying officials hesitated to aggressively pursue allegations of fraud involving the state's Somali immigrant community because they feared being branded racist.
Calling the situation "appalling," Pawlenty said Minnesota taxpayers were betrayed by repeated failures to monitor public programs and warned the situation could become "probably the largest fraud or theft of public funds in American history."
According to Pawlenty, the alleged scams included "child care centers," as well as "many programs that have now been exposed as being fraudulent."
"This is an example of world-class incompetence and world-class stupidity in state government," he said on "National Report," adding that the failures "go back years over many programs."
Minnesotans paid into programs "in good faith to the state to use for good purposes," Pawlenty said, only to learn "that money has been stolen under fraudulent circumstances."
A major factor, he contended, was a political culture that encouraged looking the other way when the accused belonged to a favored constituency group.
Pawlenty pointed to a local TV report about alleged fraud warnings as far back as 2018, saying state workers didn't cooperate with law enforcement.
He said employees "wouldn't give law enforcement relevant records because they didn't want to 'enable' law enforcement."
"Now, that's an unbelievable mindset," added Pawlenty.
When asked about the role of Somali immigrants in the alleged schemes, Pawlenty stressed that ethnicity should not shield misconduct from investigation.
"We don't want to stigmatize people because they belong to a particular ethnic group or religious group, but at the same time, we don't want to discount or overlook or look the other way regarding illegal behavior … because they're in such a group," he said.
Pawlenty said it's possible that Minnesota officials were "deterred from pursuing this earlier or more aggressively because they were afraid to be called racist."
As the investigation, and the political fallout, continues, Pawlenty said it could factor into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's reelection plans and, ultimately, his legacy.
"The magnitude of it is, I think, going to leave Gov. Walz with the legacy of being the 'Fraudfather' of Minnesota," he said.
Pawlenty said the problem with calls for Walz's resignation is "the person who would become governor."
"His current lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, is an even bigger train wreck, if you can believe that, so that would not be an upgrade," he said. "So, Minnesotans are stuck with Walz."
"I certainly don't think he should run for a third term," Pawlenty added.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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