State Representative Kristin Robbins of Minnesota stated that millions, and potentially far more, could have been saved had state officials acted earlier on fraud warnings. She accused leadership of ignoring red flags and now attempting to take credit for the crackdown.
Robbins sharply criticized Governor Tim Walz, calling it “unbelievable” that he is acting as if he has a role in the criminal indictments, arrests, and charges brought by federal partners. She added that Walz’s administration “has consistently turned a blind eye to multiple whistleblower reports” and “consistently avoided responsibility before… trying to take credit when our federal partners come in and clean up his mess.”
Responding to Walz’s recent remarks that “the buck stops with me” and that officials are “fighting fraud,” Robbins dismissed the claims, stating: “taking credit is like trying to have the arsonist claim credit for the work of the fire—this is insane.”
Robbins pointed to testimony from whistleblower and former state trooper Jay Swanson, who described how scammers learned about Minnesota’s vulnerabilities while in a refugee camp in Kenya. Swanson characterized the state as “easiest” for fraud and where “you could make the most money.”
Robbins called the situation “unconscionable,” emphasizing that Swanson raised these concerns in 2018 but was “basically told to shut up.” She said that after those warnings reached state officials, instead of pursuing criminal prosecutions, they closed Jay’s criminal investigative unit and shifted focus to administrative overpayments rather than criminal enforcement.
“Criminal investigations were done,” Robbins argued. “The decision led to an explosion in child care fraud and the broader ‘Feeding Our Future’ scandal. If they would have shut it down right away, it would have saved billions of dollars in our state.”
Robbins stated that accountability remains critical: “If we can have accountability in Minnesota, then we can actually restore an equilibrium across this nation.”
