WASHINGTON — Gov. Tim Walz was hit with a subpoena this week that compels the Minnesota Department of Education to produce documentation relating to the state’s Feeding Our Future scandal.

In what congressional leaders have called the “largest pandemic fraud scheme in the country,” 70 people were charged in federal court with a “brazen” scheme to steal $250 million in government funding that was meant to feed children in need.

More than a dozen people have already pleaded guilty in the scheme, and five of seven were found guilty by a jury in June.

But as the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee works to conduct oversight on what exactly happened with the federal dollars provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, committee members say the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) hasn’t been cooperative.

“After MDE, under Governor Walz, failed to respond to previous attempts by the Committee to garner information necessary to uncover how the Governor and the USDA allowed such fraud to occur, the Committee today is proceeding with a subpoena to compel responses,” a committee news release reads.

In the subpoena’s cover letter, Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said Walz was “well aware” of the fraud and has a responsibility to ensure the MDE’s compliance with oversight.

“As the chief executive and the highest ranking official in the state of Minnesota, you are responsible for the MDE and its administration of federal child nutrition programs,” Foxx wrote. “You are well aware of the multi-million-dollar fraud that has occurred under your tenure as Governor.”

Walz has previously claimed that state employees were unaware of the misuse of funds.

“This wasn’t malfeasance,” the letter quotes Walz as saying. “There’s not a single state employee that was implicated in doing anything that was illegal. They simply didn’t do as much due diligence as they should’ve.”

The subpoena demands Walz to appear before the House Education and Workforce Committee at noon on Sept. 18, and to provide the committee with all documents relating to communications between the MDE and Feeding Our Future, communications regarding the MDE’s decision to resume payments to Feeding Our Future as well as communications between Walz and various state officials.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Harris-Walz campaign deferred questions to the governor’s office, which had not yet released a statement responding to the subpoena, or indicating whether Walz intends to fight it.

Other subpoenas were also issued to Minnesota Commissioner of Education Willie Jett, USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack and USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong.

At the time of the subpoena’s public release, Walz was traveling in Pennsylvania for campaign events.

Related Articles

That photo of people wearing ‘Nebraska Walz’s for Trump’ shirts? They’re distant cousins

The presidential campaigns brace for an intense sprint to Election Day

Walz unharmed after some of the vehicles near the back of his motorcade crash in Milwaukee

Pork chops and politics: Tim Walz gets Minnesota homecoming at State Fair

It’s a pork chop on a stick and a vanilla shake for Tim Walz at the Minnesota State Fair