In a stunning development that sent shockwaves through Minnesota politics, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that embattled Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is now under criminal investigation for his alleged role in the massive Somali migrant fraud scandal that has rocked the state.
The revelation came during a primetime interview with Jesse Watters on Jesse Watters Primetime, where Leavitt laid out, in blunt terms, the scope and seriousness of the federal response. According to the Trump administration, this is not a symbolic probe or political posturing—it is a full-scale law enforcement operation.
Leavitt made clear that President Donald Trump has ordered an “all hands on deck” approach across the federal government to root out fraud, recover taxpayer dollars, and determine criminal responsibility at the highest levels of Minnesota’s leadership.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck, across-the-entire-government effort,” Leavitt told Watters. “We are surging resources.”
She revealed that the Department of Homeland Security alone has deployed nearly 2,000 Homeland Security Investigations agents to Minnesota, an extraordinary number that underscores how seriously the administration is taking the scandal. The FBI, she added, already has agents on the ground actively working cases tied to what officials believe is one of the largest public benefits fraud schemes in modern U.S. history.
But the crackdown doesn’t stop there. Leavitt explained that multiple federal agencies have moved swiftly to cut off the flow of taxpayer money that allegedly fueled the fraud. The Department of Health and Human Services has frozen funding to childcare centers and daycares implicated in the scheme. The Department of Agriculture is demanding transparency from Walz’s administration regarding SNAP recipients. In short, the spigot is being turned off.
“The FBI is on the ground, and we’re freezing money,” Leavitt said. “HHS cut off funding for childcare centers and daycares. USDA Secretary Rollins has been asking Governor Walz to identify SNAP recipients. This is serious.”
Perhaps most striking was Leavitt’s confirmation that the president believes Walz himself may be criminally liable. That assessment, she emphasized, is now being tested by federal investigators, including the Department of Justice.
“This is a top priority for President Trump,” she said. “He believes Governor Walz is criminally liable, and I think the Department of Justice is going to find out.”
The announcement comes just days after Walz abruptly declared he would not seek reelection, a move many conservatives see as a tacit admission that the walls are closing in. On social media, the response from the MAGA base was immediate and intense, with many celebrating what they view as long-overdue accountability after years of alleged corruption and political protection.
Others, more cautious, noted that Americans have heard similar promises before and are waiting to see real consequences. Still, the scale of the federal response—and the direct implication of a sitting governor—suggests this investigation is different.
For an administration elected on restoring law and order and ending the era of elite immunity, the message from the White House was unmistakable: no one is above the law, and the Minnesota fraud scandal is far from over.
