Democratic lawmaker says focus should be on ‘White men’ at Minnesota fraud hearing
A progressive lawmaker called for greater scrutiny of crimes committed by “American citizens” and “White men” during a U.S. House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday on Minnesota’s ongoing fraud problems.
The remarks came as Democratic Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday that he would not seek re-election. His decision to drop out of that race comes as new revelations about fraud in Minnesota from prosecutors show the state could have lost as much as $9 billion under Walz’s leadership through abuse of its government assistance programs.
Rather than pressing witnesses on the alleged fraud, some Democrats used their allotted time to place attention on the Trump administration, January 6, and other topics.
During questioning of Republican Minnesota state Rep. Kristin Robbins, Rep. Emily Randall, D-Wash., said the committee should instead focus on crimes committed by White men and Jan. 6 defendants.
MINNESOTA FRAUD CASES, EXPLAINED: HOW HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS ALLEGEDLY SLIPPED THROUGH STATE PROGRAMS
“What percentage of sexual assaults in the United States are committed by White men?” she asked Robbins. “57%.”
Randall also cited data claiming that 33 individuals she described as “January 6 insurrectionists” who were pardoned, had been convicted of additional crimes. She further referenced data indicating that 41% of murder suspects in the United States in 2023 were White and that a database tracking domestic extremism found the majority of suspects were men.
“We can trot out all the data that we want to create the sense that there is a bad guy, there is a bad group of people, there are folks that are not among us, there are folks who are other, and I think we should spend a lot more time looking at ourselves,” Randall said.
NOEM UNLOADS ON WALZ OVER ICE RAID CRITICISM: ‘REALLY? YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT TAXPAYER DOLLARS?’
“Looking at American citizens. Looking at White men, who are committing violence at disproportionate rates in our country, who are committing crimes at disproportionate rates in our country, including the President of the United States, who is sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, as so many of my colleagues have pointed out,” she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Rep. Randall’s office and the White House for comment.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
In recent months, investigators have uncovered large-scale fraud schemes in Minnesota involving entities posing as daycare centers, medical providers and food assistance organizations. Authorities allege the groups siphoned millions in government funds by fabricating services or inflating the number of people they claimed to serve.
“The fraudsters – many of whom are from Minnesota’s Somali community – have stolen from programs meant to feed needy kids, provide services to autistic children, house low-income and disabled Americans, and provide healthcare to vulnerable Medicaid recipient,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said at the hearing.
Fox News’ Leo Briceno contributed to this report.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.