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A damning performance audit released this week exposed what Minnesota taxpayers have every right to call a disgrace: employees in the Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Administration created and backdated documents after auditors asked for them, a practice the legislative auditor described as a “systemic effort” to mislead oversight. This is not garden-variety paperwork errors — it is deliberate manipulation of records to hide how hundreds of millions were spent, and it happened on the watch of Governor Tim Walz’s administration.
The report didn’t stop at sloppy bookkeeping; auditors found jaw-dropping examples of real money handed out with no proof of services rendered, including a single grantee receiving roughly $672,000 in a single month while oversight files were manufactured after the fact. Even worse, the official who approved that payment left state employment and went to work for the very grantee, a classic revolving-door red flag that reeks of cronyism and corruption. Americans who pay taxes deserve better than this kind of pay-and-pray operation.
The fallout has already rattled the political class: Republicans in Congress have hauled Minnesota officials into hearings, and House Oversight chairmen have issued subpoenas demanding DHS records tied to these disclosures. Governor Walz announced on January 5, 2026 that he would not seek reelection, a stunning political consequence that only scratches the surface of what real accountability should look like. If the scandal were simply incompetence, voters might forgive it; this smells like something far worse.
Conservative investigators and citizen journalists like Nick Shirley exposed striking examples of fraud at daycare and social service sites, and those viral findings helped force federal and state probes into long-simmering abuse of assistance programs. The mainstream media and the political class tried to downplay the problem for too long, but when honest Americans put boots on the ground the rot became undeniable. This validates long-held conservative warnings about the consequences of bureaucratic trust without verification.
Let’s be clear: finger-pointing isn’t enough. The OLA audit shows potential criminal conduct in creating and backdating records, and those responsible must be criminally investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted. Calls for firings, resignations, and reforms are appropriate, and Minnesotans should demand that the governor stop playing political defense and help deliver real accountability instead.
This is a moment for conservatives, principled journalists, and everyday taxpayers to hold the line. Congress must follow through with subpoenas and hearings until every question is answered and every misused dollar is tracked down; state prosecutors should pursue criminal referrals without fear or favor. If we let this fade away into the usual political spin, then we’ve already lost — and hardworking Americans will keep footing the bill for the waste.
