On Monday, Tim Walz announced he was dropping his bid for a third term as Minnesota’s governor amid an ongoing fraud scandal. I said that dropping out of the race wouldn’t save him from being held accountable, and sure enough, on Monday evening, Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the Department of Justice has launched a sweeping criminal investigation into Walz for his potential role in the fraud.
Appearing on Fox News with Jesse Watters, Bondi said the developments surrounding Walz were hardly surprising.
“The scale of the fraud that the Trump Administration, with the help of great independent journalists like Nick Shirley, is uncovering right now… is surely shocking, but President Trump has been calling out Tim Walz for his incompetence and corrupt leadership for a very long time, and Trump was right about everything.”
Walz, however, in announcing his dropping his reelection bid, blamed Republicans and President Trump for exploiting the crisis to make Minnesota “a colder, meaner place” by calling attention to the fraud. He also framed his decision as a selfless act designed to allow him to focus on bringing the fraudsters to justice.
“Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity.… So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”
The Department of Justice obviously wasn’t buying this narrative.
“This is a man who can no longer even win the support of the voters within his home state because his policies have failed them,” said Bondi.
Related: Walz’s Press Conference Was Such a Disaster That He Bolted Without Taking Questions
She went on to deliver a blunt assessment of what Minnesota has become under Walz’s leadership: “And now the great people of Minnesota, a state that was once known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, has been turned into the Land of 10,000 Somali Schemes because of their governor."
“And don’t forget, this is a guy who was at the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket, the number two,” she reminded listeners. “He was Kamala Harris’s running mate just about a year ago, until President Trump crushed them last November, and it was in large part because the president was calling out this fraud.”
According to Bondi, investigating that alleged fraud became a priority from the very start of Trump’s second term.
“And so, this has been a day-one priority for the Trump Administration, Jesse,” she said. “The Department of Justice has convicted and prosecuted nearly 100 defendants in Minnesota, and because of these new details and this new reporting that has come to light, this is an all-hands-on-deck across-the-entire-government effort.”
That effort now spans multiple federal agencies. Bondi said resources are being surged and funds frozen as investigators dig deeper.
“You saw today, the Department of Homeland Security announced we have nearly 2,000 agents from the Homeland Security Investigations Team, the FBI is on the ground, and we’re freezing money.”
She added that the Health and Human Services Department has already taken concrete steps, including cutting funding to potentially fraudulent daycare centers, and she made clear that the investigation could reach to the very top of Minnesota’s government.
“Rest assured, it’s a top priority for President Trump, and he believes that Governor Walz is criminally liable," said Bondi. "And I think the Department of Justice is going to find out.”
🚨 BREAKING: The Department of Justice is launching a CRIMINAL PROBE into Tampon Tim Walz in relation to endless fraud he oversaw in Minnesota
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 6, 2026
FINALLY!
Walz may soon be moving straight out of the governor’s mansion and straight into a federal penitentiary 😏 pic.twitter.com/zrqcihXfbk
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