Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. will chair Tuesday's hearing investigating federal assistance fraud in Minnesota. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Minnesota State Sen. Mark Koran's testimony will highlight the role Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison played in allowing fraud to fester and spread across the state in what he calls the "largest expansion and fastest acceleration of fraud this country has ever seen."
Witnesses are expected to say that senior officials were not only aware of the fraud but have also taken steps to hide it from public scrutiny by backdating audit records and cracking down on whistleblowers.
A Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) whistleblower told Fox News that she was the victim of a "smear campaign" after raising red flags about fraud in the state since 2019.
MINNESOTA DHS WHISTLEBLOWER DETAILS 'SMEAR CAMPAIGN' AFTER REPORTING FRAUD CONCERNS TO STATE
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz canceled his plans to run for re-election amid Minnesota's fraud scandal. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Federal prosecutors estimate that up to $9 billion was stolen through a network of fraudulent fronts posing as daycare centers, food programs and health clinics. The majority of those charged, so far, in the ongoing investigation are part of Minnesota's Somali population.
In addition to Koran, lawmakers will hear testimony from Seamus Bruner, the vice president of the Government Accountability Institute; Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the acting vice president of Policy & Government Affairs for the Project on Government Oversight, and Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Government.
Talcove's testimony will focus on transnational groups that he says are exploiting federal assistance programs and using stolen funds support "organized crime, drug trafficking, human exploitation, and, in some cases, terrorist-affiliated or hostile foreign actors."
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Bruner's testimony will also focus on foreign influence, linking the funding streams to foreign actors, including individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on X: @Hagstrom_Anders.
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