Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and FBI Director Kash Patel engaged in a public dispute Tuesday after federal agents executed search warrants at multiple businesses across the Minneapolis area as part of an ongoing fraud investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the searches were part of an operation targeting “rampant fraud of U.S. taxpayers dollars” in the Twin Cities region. According to sources who spoke with Nexstar’s KARE 11, the raids hit 22 locations, with a focus on childcare and daycare providers that receive Medicaid funding.
Walz quickly moved to frame the operation as a success for state-federal cooperation, posting on X that “if you commit fraud in Minnesota you’re going to get caught.” He emphasized that state agencies flagged suspicious activity and shared it with federal partners, adding, “Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it.”
Patel fired back hours later, accusing Walz of trying to steal the spotlight. “Come again?” he wrote on X. “This FBI and DOJ with our DHS partners drafted and executed every search warrant today. But go ahead and take credit for our work while we smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under your governorship.”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin echoed Patel’s criticism, saying Walz had “zero credibility on the issue” and had “willingly ignored and downplayed” fraud in the state. Meanwhile, the City of Minneapolis distanced itself from the federal actions, stating that the Minneapolis Police Department was not involved and had not been asked to assist.
The Trump administration has long targeted Minnesota, sending roughly 3,000 federal agents to the state for immigration enforcement operations that sparked protests and resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. The latest raids come amid a broader federal push to combat fraud, waste, and abuse, including an executive order last month establishing a task force led by Vice President Vance.
Among the businesses raided was the Quality Learning Center, a Minneapolis daycare previously featured in a video by independent journalist Nick Shirley investigating the state’s “billion-dollar” fraud scheme. Dozens of people, mostly of Somali descent, have been charged in connection with the probe, which dates back to 2022.
President Trump has moved to end temporary legal protections for Somalians in the U.S., a decision blocked by a federal judge last month. The administration has also temporarily suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns, a move Walz decried as “political punishment.”
Related coverage on federal raids targeting Minnesota daycares in a major welfare fraud probe and efforts to curb hospice Medicare fraud highlight the ongoing scrutiny of government benefit programs.
