Oversight Chair James Comer Says Minnesota Officials Will Answer for Massive Somali Fraud: ‘Hopefully, We’ll Have Some Criminal Referrals’

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced that federal investigators are closing in on massive, systemic fraud tied to state-administered welfare and social service programs, fraud that state whistleblowers say was ignored for years by top officials, including Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Speaking with Fox News correspondent Aishah Hasnie, Comer made clear that the era of Minnesota Democrats sweeping corruption under the rug is over.

According to Comer, state employees courageously came forward after years of being stonewalled by Democrat leadership, alleging that enormous sums of taxpayer money were siphoned off through fraudulent claims tied to Minnesota’s bloated welfare system.

In addition to whistleblowers, Comer confirmed that Minnesota lawmakers and mayors will also be called to testify, as federal investigators begin following the money trail, right down to the banks that processed the transactions.

When asked whether Walz should resign, Comer said the governor will receive due process, but emphasized that no one is buying Walz’s claim that he can “handle it” himself.

Aishah Hasnie:
Now the federal government is getting involved here. The House Oversight Committee is widening its probe, inviting state lawmakers to testify and other federal departments to investigate. Let’s bring in now Chairman James Comer.

Tell us about who you’re bringing in, who you want to see on Capitol Hill, and what questions you want to ask them.

James Comer:
Well, the most important people are the state whistleblowers—the state employees who put out that tweet that we’re all familiar with a few weeks ago that alerted America to the massive fraud. These state employees also alleged that they had warned both Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison for years that this fraud was occurring, and yet nothing was taking place.

So we’re going to bring the state employees in. We’re going to get their sworn testimony. We appreciate their bravery in coming forward. We’re also going to bring in state lawmakers and Minnesota mayors because the walls are caving in on Tim Walz.

This massive amount of fraud is affecting and impacting every citizen of Minnesota because they’re having to cut services since so much of the money for social programs was wasted and defrauded by this Somali population. So these are the people we’re going to bring in.

We’re going to try to identify who was responsible for this. We’re going to try to identify banks that we can subpoena for their bank records so we can follow the money—see how much was taken, who took it, and then who we need to hold accountable. And hopefully, we’ll have some criminal referrals at the end of the investigation.

Aishah Hasnie:
What is so fascinating about this, Chairman Comer, is how no one knew—or did they know? This is an op-ed from The Wall Street Journal asking, I think, a pretty fair question: When nearly a quarter-billion dollars can vanish from one state program before anyone truly notices, taxpayers are justified in asking, “Who was supposed to be minding the store?”

The uncomfortable answer is that no one elected by the people held that responsibility or had the mandate and clout to stop the scheme. You know, your whip, Tom Emmer, says there’s no way that Governor Tim Walz—or somebody in his administration—didn’t know or didn’t have an inkling that something was going on. Do you agree with that, and how do you prove that?

James Comer:
I agree completely. Look, Tom Emmer was a state legislator in Minnesota before he came here. He has the pulse of Minnesota. He communicates regularly with Minnesota state legislators and Minnesota state employees. They’ve been talking about this for years.

There was a congressman who came in from Minnesota when I came to Congress nine years ago named Jason Lewis. He was talking about the massive fraud involving the Somali population nine years ago. This is something that’s been discussed in Minnesota for a long time.

The Minnesota media is very liberal, so they’re never going to write anything bad about a beloved Democrat like Tim Walz or Keith Ellison. Finally, state employees have stepped forward publicly and talked about this massive amount of fraud. I can tell you from our preliminary discussions with these state employees, it is a significant amount of money.

Remember, Minnesota isn’t a big state. When you’re talking about billions of dollars for a small state, that is a significant percentage of the budget for welfare in that state.

Aishah Hasnie:
Should the governor resign? Are you calling on him to resign?

James Comer:
Well, not yet. He deserves due process, and we’re going to give him due process. One of the things he said in the last 48 hours was that the Oversight Committee didn’t need to worry about this investigation—that he would take care of it. I mean, no one in America believes that. That is a joke.

We are going to investigate this. The key to a good congressional investigation is having whistleblowers, and fortunately for us, we have some state employees who have bravely stepped forward. We’re going to get them under oath, and they’re going to tell us everything they know, and we’re going to go from there.

Wherever the investigation leads us, we will go. We’re going to try to do it as rapidly as possible. But I think, at the end of the day, the American taxpayers—and especially the taxpayers in Minnesota—are going to be sick to their stomachs, and Tim Walz is going to have a lot of explaining to do.

WATCH:

BREAKING: Rep. James Comer is going to draft CRIMINAL REFERRALS in the Minnesota Somali fraud scandal

He’s inviting credible Minnesota whistleblowers to testify UNDER OATH before Congress. Subpoenas will also go out to banks.

Criminal prosecution can follow when… pic.twitter.com/6UMozcdysE

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 29, 2025

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