A House panel has subpoenaed Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz over charges of hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID-relief fraud.
The House Education and Workforce Committee issued the subpoenas against the Minnesota governor and multiple state and federal departments on Wednesday, NBC News first reported.
Mr. Walz, Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong have been asked for documents about their oversight operations against the group Feeding Our Future.
Feeding Our Future is accused of having misused more than $250 million intended to feed children during the pandemic.
The papers are needed to show “the extent of your responsibilities and actions addressing the massive fraud that resulted in the abuse of taxpayer dollars intended for hungry children,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Republican and the panel chair, wrote in a letter to Mr. Walz.
According to federal prosecutors, Feeding Our Future opened more than 250 sites throughout Minnesota but submitted fake rosters of children getting free meals, getting “reimbursement” for food never served or purchased.
State education officials oversee federal programs that reimburse Feeding Our Future and other groups, but a June state audit called the Minnesota Education Department’s oversight “inadequate.”
Mr. Jett, the top education official, blamed the individuals involved in the scheme.
“What happened with Feeding Our Future was a travesty — a coordinated, brazen abuse of nutrition programs that exist to ensure access to healthy meals for low-income children,” he wrote. “The responsibility for this flagrant fraud lies with the indicted and convicted fraudsters.”
Mr. Walz and the state and federal officials must provide the requested documents by Sept. 18, NBC News reported, though their in-personal testimony is not yet sought.
There is also no claim of direct profiteering by Mr. Walz or the other officials overseeing Feeding Our Future.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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