Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took to social media Tuesday to congratulate himself after FBI agents fanned out across Minneapolis, executing search warrants at day care centers and other businesses tied to an alleged multi-billion-dollar social services fraud scheme. Within hours, both FBI Director Kash Patel and newly appointed DHS chief Markwayne Mullin fired back, telling the lame-duck governor that the federal operation was theirs, not his.
The exchange laid bare a deepening rift over who bears responsibility for what may be one of the largest taxpayer fraud cases in American history, and who deserves credit for finally doing something about it.
As the New York Post reported, the FBI on Tuesday raided Quality Learning Center and more than 20 other businesses across Minnesota as part of a massive investigation into alleged fraud in publicly funded social programs. Some estimates peg the total amount of stolen federal funds as high as $19 billion, a figure that, if accurate, would significantly exceed Somalia's entire $12 billion gross domestic product.
Walz, the failed 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee who announced in January he would not seek a third term as governor, wasted no time posting a thread on X framing the raids as a success story of state-federal cooperation.
He wrote:
"If you commit fraud in Minnesota you're going to get caught, and that's exactly what we saw today. We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information. Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it."
He continued, claiming that state agencies had identified the suspicious activity in the first place:
"Today's raids by state and federal law enforcement happened because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it. That's how the system is supposed to work, and our agencies will keep at it as long as there are fraudsters around to put behind bars."
FBI Director Kash Patel did not let the governor's victory lap go unchallenged. Patel responded directly on X, making clear that the warrants originated with federal agencies, not the state of Minnesota.
"Come again? 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."
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin was equally blunt. In his own post on X, Mullin told Walz he had "zero credibility on this issue."
"@GovTimWalz, you have willingly ignored and downplayed the rampant fraud and abuse in Minnesota. This crackdown on fraud has come thanks to the leadership of President Trump. We will hold those who steal from Americans accountable."
The City of Minneapolis itself appeared to contradict Walz's framing. Its official X account posted that the city was "not involved in the federal operations being reported around Minnesota today" and that as of 9:30 a.m., the Minneapolis Police Department had not been asked to assist with the execution of federal warrants. That statement undercut Walz's suggestion that local and state law enforcement were integral partners in the day's events.
The Washington Times reported that the FBI and partner agencies executed 22 search warrants at childcare and day care centers in Minneapolis on April 28, 2026. The Justice Department confirmed the raids were part of an ongoing fraud investigation, stating that "the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity."
The probe has centered on state-registered childcare facilities allegedly billing for care they did not provide. Breitbart reported that the targets included more than 20 Minneapolis locations, with DHS confirming that "Homeland Security Investigations in cooperation with our law enforcement partners executed criminal search warrants in Minneapolis relating to the rampant fraud of U.S. taxpayers dollars."
The scope of the FBI's search warrant operation in Minneapolis reflects the scale of the alleged scheme, which federal authorities have described as one of the largest public-program fraud cases in the country.
Federal agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations seized records and other evidence during the raids, though authorities did not publicly disclose specific alleged crimes tied to the searches, the Associated Press reported. DHS said in a separate statement: "The American people deserve to know how their taxpayer money was abused.... No stone will be left unturned."
Walz's attempt to position himself as a fraud fighter sits uneasily against a long trail of congressional scrutiny. A House Oversight report has alleged that Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison knew about billions in welfare fraud for years and punished whistleblowers rather than acting on the information.
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota has publicly accused Walz and Ellison of failing to act aggressively on fraud allegations. Fox News reported Emmer's reaction to Tuesday's raids: "[President Trump] and his administration have made it crystal clear, our country will not tolerate waste, fraud, and abuse."
Two of the reported raid locations were Quality Learning Center and Baby Halimo Child Care in Minneapolis, both part of a network of largely Somali-owned businesses at the center of the federal probe. The investigation involves facilities allegedly billing the state for childcare services that were never actually provided.
Walz has also faced congressional pressure over his administration's handling of the scandal. A House committee previously accused his administration of stonewalling a federal probe into hundreds of millions of dollars in welfare fraud.
And the governor's own performance under questioning has not inspired confidence. He appeared before Congress unable to account for billions in stolen program funds, a hearing that raised more questions than it answered about what his administration knew and when it knew it, as previously reported.
Perhaps the most telling part of Walz's Tuesday thread was where he steered the conversation next. After claiming credit for the fraud raids, the governor pivoted to attack the Trump administration on an entirely different front, the deaths of two Minnesotans he said were killed earlier this year by federal immigration agents.
Walz wrote:
"Now let's work on a joint investigation into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, instead of cherry-picking when we seek justice and when we turn a blind eye."
The pivot was notable. In the same breath that Walz tried to share credit for a federal fraud operation he apparently had little hand in, he attempted to redirect attention toward immigration enforcement, an issue where he has previously clashed with the Trump administration. The whiplash between "joint investigations work" and "you're cherry-picking justice" happened within a single thread.
Federal authorities have not announced arrests, charges, or specific alleged crimes connected to Tuesday's raids. The exact number of businesses searched beyond "more than 20" has not been publicly specified. Nor has the methodology behind the $19 billion fraud estimate been disclosed.
Which state agencies Walz claims identified the irregular behavior, and when they reported it, also remains unclear. The gap between the governor's assertion and the FBI director's flat denial of state involvement in the warrant process is a factual dispute that will likely sharpen as the investigation proceeds.
Congressional investigators, including those who have already sent criminal referral materials to the DOJ regarding Walz and Ellison, will be watching closely to see whether Tuesday's warrants lead to indictments, and whether the governor's office cooperates or continues what critics have called a pattern of obstruction.
When billions in taxpayer money vanish on your watch and the feds finally show up to find out where it went, claiming credit for the investigation is a bold choice. Especially when the investigators say you had nothing to do with it.
