Top 5 wildest moments from Minnesota fraud hearing: Walz and Ellison under fire

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison faced an avalanche of tough questions from Republicans during a House hearing Wednesday on the state’s massive fraud scandal, with most of the questions centering on a key theme: What did they know and when did they know it?

Walz and Ellison were repeatedly questioned about when they first became aware of the fraud concerns and faced sharp rebukes from Republican members, including Rep. Virginia Foxx.

“You didn’t do your job, you didn’t do your job,” Foxx told Walz. “You failed to protect taxpayer dollars. You allowed massive fraud. You and Mr. Ellison allowed massive fraud to continue in the state of Minnesota. It is unfortunate, as someone said, that you cannot be held personally accountable at this point in the game.”

An exchange between GOP Rep. Jim Jordan and Walz sparked immediate backlash from conservatives on social media.

Gov. Tim Walz clashed repeatedly with Republicans during a heated House hearing Wednesday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Why didn’t you tell the truth about why you resumed payments?” Jordan asked Wednesday during a House Oversight Committee hearing on fraud in Minnesota.

The exchange centered on Walz’s past public statements that a judge ordered the Minnesota Department of Education to continue reimbursements in April 2021 after the agency halted payments due to fraud concerns.

Jordan pointed to a 2022 court-authorized press release from Ramsey County District Court Judge John H. Guthmann that challenged the governor’s characterization of events.

COMING TO SAY TIM WALZ “ACTIVATED FRAUD,” WHISTLEBLOWERS FAILED AT BOMBSHELL HEARING IN MINNESOTA

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol, March 4, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“So either you’re lying or the court is lying. And I’m just asking you which one is it?” » said Jordan.

One of the most contentious exchanges came during questioning from Republican Rep. Nancy Mace when she asked Walz for hard numbers on the number of children in his state, the massive increase in spending on autism care and why that happened without getting hard numbers from Walz.

“Okay, so your excuse before – that you didn’t know what the autism numbers were in 2017 – because you weren’t governor, and today you can’t answer the numbers for 2024 as governor, and you still said you were preparing for this hearing today. It’s amazing.”

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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced that he will not seek re-election on Monday, January 5, 2026, during a press conference at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Walz retorted that he wouldn’t be a “prop” to Mace, and she finally responded, “I hope you know that information. Thank goodness you’re not vice president of the United States.”

Republican Rep. Clay Higgins confronted Ellison in another heated moment, asking him to say he was “leading” the fight against rooting out corruption without getting the specific response he sought, prompting him to call for Ellison’s resignation.

“I’m not talking about Medicaid fraud, don’t hide behind that,” Higgins said, interrupting Ellison. “You have the authority to criminally prosecute anything the governor asks you to do, and this case is important. I’m giving you the opportunity, sir, will you lead the criminal investigation into this massive fraud at every level…or not?” Higgins insisted.

“We follow the law,” Ellison said before Higgins interrupted him again.

“You are not leading, I will say, Mr. President, that the attorney general of the state of Minnesota should resign,” Higgins said.

At the end of the hearing, things became tense again when Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy suggested that Walz, who is still governor despite abandoning his reelection bid due to the fraud scandal, should be impeached for “malfeasance,” citing Minnesota’s own state Constitution.

Ashley Carnahan of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.

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