There are three ways to get to Washington.

One way is to get elected.

The second is to be invited.

The third is to get subpoenaed.

Embattled Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, along with Kamala Harris, failed to get elected and has balked at a Congressional invitation to testify on vast welfare fraud in his state under his watch.

So, he will soon arrive in the nation’s Capitol anyway, this time under a subpoena.

“I think Tim Waltz better lawyer up,” Rep.  James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which is probing vast Minnesota welfare fraud, said.

The scandal has already led to Waltz’s decision to drop his campaign for a third term. However, critics have called for him to outright resign.

Veteran U.S Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the third-ranking Democrat in the House, said, “Tim should do the right thing and resign. And if he doesn’t, I think he might be leaving in cuffs.”

Waltz, rather than take responsibility for the sweeping fraud that took place under his administration, has tried to shift the blame to President Trump.

The Republican controlled Congress, meanwhile, and the American people, frankly, want to know how Waltz turned Minnesota, the bucolic “Land of 10,000 Lakes” into the grimy “Land of 10,000 Fakes.”

It is obvious that massive welfare theft by fakers — many of whom are conniving Somali immigrants — had a lot to do with it.

And it all took place during Waltz’s two terms as governor. The wonder is how Kamala Harris ever chose this creepy blowhard as her 2024 vice presidential running mate. Someone had to be drunk.

So far, the U.S. Justice Department has charged 98 people, mostly Somali immigrants, with fraud, 64 of whom have already been convicted. It is estimated that some $9 billion in federal aid programs has been stolen, but the figure could be even higher.

Congress now wants to know what Waltz knew about the massive fraud and when he knew it.

Welfare fraud in Minnesota by so many people under Waltz’s governorship was so big, bad and bold that it is a wonder that there is anything left worth stealing.

Not only were the taxpayers ripped off as Somali criminals stole millions, but the legitimate services provided of people in need of help, like SNAP food assistance and childcare, suffered and are still suffering

All of this may account for Walz’s pathetic and desperate attempt to divert attention from the welfare scandal by roiling Minneapolis protesters over the shooting of the woman who appeared to attack an ICE agent with her vehicle.

Among his inflammatory remarks about calling out the Minnesota National Guard to protect people from federal agents legally charged with deporting criminal illegal immigrants, Waltz called the federal officer “a rogue agent.”

When it all comes out, we just might find out — if there were any previous doubt–that the main rogue in Minnesota was Waltz. And he could have been a heartbeat away from the presidency.

If that doesn’t make you shudder, nothing will.

The only wonder is why President Donald Trump has not yet sent in a couple of Black Hawk helicopters to St. Paul or Minneapolis to scoop up the soon-to-be-indicted Waltz the way he did with former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.

Not likely, of course, but that is what Maduro thought, too.

Besides, Minneapolis is not Caracas. It just looks that way.

And with Trump, you never know.

Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com