Vance refers – Vice President JD Vance, leading the White House anti-fraud task force, has referred allegations of wrongdoing involving Minnesota social services—naming Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison—to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation
By Monday night, the fight over Minnesota’s social services fraud allegations had moved from hearings and accusations into the federal criminal arena.
Vice President JD Vance—who leads the White House anti-fraud task force—told the public on X that he had referred allegations involving Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation.
Vance’s referral points back to a House Oversight Committee report stemming from an ongoing investigation. The report alleges that “fraud warnings were elevated to senior levels of the Minnesota state government. meaningful corrective action was delayed or avoided. and payments continued long after credible red flags emerged.”.
In a letter to Vance dated Sunday. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer urged the vice president’s task force “to direct the appropriate executive branch agencies to conduct a thorough review of all of Minnesota’s social services program integrity measures. oversight processes. reimbursements. and enrollment from 2019 to the present.”.
Vance posted Monday night that he had passed the allegations to the Justice Department’s fraud division. which is run by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald. In the same post. he said. “Minnesota state officials are not above the law. and if they facilitated fraud. lied under oath about what they knew. or harassed and intimated whistleblowers. they must face justice.”.
Walz and Ellison have denied any wrongdoing tied to the allegations. Vance’s move still lands at a moment of political vulnerability for the governor. The fraud accusations have put intense pressure on Walz. a former Democratic vice presidential nominee who was running for a third term as governor. Although he denied Republican claims that his administration ignored financial abuse. Walz announced in January that he was dropping his reelection campaign.
The referral also carries echoes of how the Minnesota fraud story returned to national attention late last year—starting with a claim that quickly spread beyond the evidence originally offered. A 23-year-old conservative content creator alleged. with little evidence. on YouTube that Somali-run childcare centers in Minnesota were fraudulently taking funding intended to provide childcare for low-income families. The video drew millions of views and was boosted by Vice President JD Vance. FBI Director Kash Patel. and tech billionaire Elon Musk.
From there, the accusations fueled a surge of anger across the Trump administration and state GOP leadership. They demanded a crackdown on what they said was taxpayer money spent on social services that were not provided.
Vance had already signaled that criminal referrals could be on the table. In an interview with Fox News last month. he—who has been dubbed the administration’s “fraud czar”—hinted that referrals may come for top state officials. including in California. Minnesota and other states. “When I hear about a report that says to the governor. here’s all this fraud. and he doesn’t do anything about it. I ask myself, was anybody engaged in criminal wrongdoing?. Was anybody’s office engaged in criminal wrongdoing?. Again. I’m not going to say yes. but I am going to promise the American people we’re going to look into that stuff. we’re going to investigate it. and we’re going to take it seriously. because if there was criminal wrongdoing. then people ought to go to prison for it. ” Vance told Kaleigh McEnany.
The new step from referral to potential DOJ action raised the stakes for Minnesota’s top officials—especially given the House Oversight Committee’s focus on a specific pattern of delay and continued payments. That framing is at the center of what Vance is now asking federal prosecutors to examine.
Vance’s office move has also prompted immediate requests for response. CNN reached out to Walz and Ellison for comment on the criminal referral and for any response to the House Oversight Committee report.
JD Vance Department of Justice Colin McDonald Tim Walz Keith Ellison Minnesota fraud scandal House Oversight Committee James Comer anti-fraud task force X social services programs