High Country Times

Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued a subpoena to Governor Tim Walz’s administration, seeking accountability in what has been termed the “largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the nation.” Subpoenas were also directed to the Biden-Harris administration’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Office of Inspector General (OIG).

In 2022, a U.S. attorney charged 70 individuals associated with Minnesota-based Feeding Our Future (FOF) for allegedly defrauding the USDA of over $250 million in taxpayer funds meant to feed hungry children. Five individuals have been convicted of fraud, which an assistant U.S. attorney described as “not just criminal, [but] depraved and brazen.” The charges include federal programs bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. While many await trial, questions persist about the role of the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) administration of Federal Child Nutrition Programs and its oversight of FOF.

After MDE under Governor Walz did not respond to previous attempts by the Committee to gather necessary information on how such fraud occurred, the Committee is now proceeding with a subpoena.

Chairwoman Foxx wrote in her subpoena cover letter to Governor Walz: “As the chief executive and the highest-ranking official in the state of Minnesota, you are responsible for the MDE and its administration of FCNPs…Statements in the press by you and your representatives indicate that you and other executive officers were involved or had knowledge of MDE’s administration of the FCNP and responsibilities and actions regarding the massive fraud.”

In her letter to Minnesota Commissioner of Education Willie Jett, Chairwoman Foxx stated: “On June 25, 2024, and August 9, 2024, the Committee received two additional productions of documents. Despite these productions, the documents and information provided to the Committee do not explain how your agency and USDA failed to identify what has been described as the largest pandemic fraud in the nation. The MDE’s production of information has been neither timely nor fully responsive. Accordingly, the Committee is invoking compulsory process.”

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), funded by USDA but administered by state agencies like MDE in Minnesota, provide reimbursement for meals served to eligible children. States contract with entities providing meals and then claim reimbursement from USDA funds while overseeing meal sites' operations.

FOF was approved by MDE as a sponsor for federal meals programs but faces allegations that it conspired to fraudulently claim $250 million intended for meal reimbursements but instead used it on luxury vehicles, real estate, among other unlawful purchases.

In June 2024, Chairwoman Foxx along with Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA), Nutrition Subcommittee Chairman Brad Finstad (R-MN), Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), and Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) requested details from Commissioner Jett regarding MDE's role in this matter.

###