Tuesday started as a significant day for federal law enforcement. By midday, it had become something else entirely — a collision between a sitting governor hungry for political redemption and an FBI director unwilling to hand it to him.
Agents fanned out across the Minneapolis metro at dawn, hitting more than 20 locations as part of a broad federal fraud investigation. Childcare facilities were among the sites targeted.
Sources told Fox News the businesses under scrutiny were largely Somali-owned operations. Authorities moved on 22 court-authorized search warrants. The sweep, officials stressed, had nothing to do with immigration enforcement.
A Department of Justice spokesperson described the activity in plain terms: “Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation.”
Governor Tim Walz watched from the sidelines — and then decided he hadn’t been on the sidelines at all. The governor posted on social media claiming Minnesota state agencies had “caught irregular behavior and reported it,” framing the federal operation as something his administration had set in motion.
Within hours, that claim landed in front of FBI Director Kash Patel.
“This FBI and DOJ with our DHS partners drafted and executed every search warrant today. But go ahead and take credit for our work while we smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under your governorship.”— FBI Director Kash Patel, on X
Patel’s two-word opener said everything: “Come again?” He then laid out, without ambiguity, who had done the work. The FBI, DOJ, and DHS partners had drafted and executed every search warrant. He offered no quarter to the governor’s version of events.
Walz’s post surpassed one million views in just a few hours — though not for reasons that helped him. Republicans piled on swiftly and without restraint.
Townhall columnist Dustin Grage reduced the episode to a single phrase on X: “Arsonist masquerading as a firefighter.”
Tim Murtaugh, a Republican operative who served as communications director for the Trump 2020 campaign, delivered a broader verdict: “The main problem Tim Walz has now is that no one – Republican or Democrat – takes him seriously. He’s proven that he’s that much of a boob.”
The House Oversight Committee, led by Republicans, called out the governor’s record directly. The committee posted on X that Walz had spent an entire congressional hearing sidestepping questions about what it described as $9 billion in fraud that occurred in Minnesota — deflecting to immigration topics instead. “Now,” the committee wrote, “he’s praising fraud control.” The committee added that legislation to prevent such fraud from recurring would move through committee the following day, and told Walz plainly: “Sit this one out, Tim.”
Representative Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin went further. He posted on X: “.@GovTimWalz is a stolen valor POS. This is par for the course.” His remarks invoked past criticism of Walz’s military record that gained traction during the 2024 presidential race.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky redirected credit away from Walz entirely, writing on X: “Well, the American people know we can actually thank @nickshirleyy and @VP.”
The rebuke extended beyond politicians. Social media users pointed to a post from the city of Minneapolis itself, in which city officials told residents the city had no involvement in the raids — a fact that directly contradicted the picture Walz had tried to paint.
The episode unfolded against a backdrop that has followed the governor for months. The fraud scandal now driving federal action developed during Walz’s tenure, and has already exacted a steep political price. Fox News reported that public pressure stemming from the scandal compelled Walz to abandon his bid for another term as governor.
Tuesday’s clash offered a pointed summary of where things stand: federal agents doing the work, federal leadership taking the questions, and a governor on the outside trying to find a way back in — only to be told, publicly and by name, that the door was closed.
