Minnesota's Democratic Senate nominee pointed the finger at Gov. Tim Walz when pressed on a fraud scandal that federal investigators say could exceed $9 billion, and critics from both parties say she cannot credibly separate herself from an administration she helped lead for seven years.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Thursday, days after winning her Senate primary on Tuesday night. Asked directly whether she bears any personal responsibility for the massive fraud that unfolded on her watch, Flanagan declined to claim any. Instead, she cited Walz's own words.
Flanagan told the hosts that "the governor says the buck stops with him, more should have been done sooner, and I agree." She added that "100 people have been charged, 60 have been convicted." The answer amounted to a two-step: acknowledge the problem exists, then hand the blame to someone else. The someone else, in this case, is the governor she served under since 2019.
Flanagan has been Walz's second in command since 2019. Federal investigators have said the fraud could total more than $9 billion. One hundred people have been charged. Sixty have been convicted. And no top officials have been fired or removed from office.
That record makes Flanagan's deflection a hard sell. A lieutenant governor does not sit in a separate building running a separate government. She served inside the same administration, under the same leadership structure, for the entire period the fraud metastasized. Walz himself found the scandal damaging enough that he dropped his bid for re-election. Flanagan, by contrast, is asking voters to promote her.
And when she won her primary Tuesday night, she did not mention the fraud at all during her victory speech. Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya, the former sports broadcaster, noted the omission on X shortly after.
Tafoya, who will face Flanagan in November, did not let the "Morning Joe" appearance pass without a response. In a post on X, Tafoya framed the contrast sharply:
"Peggy Flanagan refuses to take any responsibility and accountability for billions of our tax dollars being stolen under her watch as lieutenant governor. Minnesotans deserve better than excuses. They deserve leaders who will take responsibility and get the job done."
The Republican National Committee's research arm piled on. RNC Research posted that "Minnesota Democrat Peggy Flanagan blames Tim Walz and dodges accountability for rampant fraud in her state."
Conservative radio host and editor Larry O'Connor wrote on X that Flanagan "KNOWS she's vulnerable on this. Huge opening for @Michele_Tafoya." Townhall columnist Dustin Grage put it more bluntly: "She knows she's cooked if she rightfully gets tied to the fraud."
Perhaps the most pointed criticism came from inside the Minnesota statehouse. Republican State Rep. Kristin Robbins, who chairs the Minnesota House's Fraud Prevention and Oversight Committee, posted on X this week with a specific charge:
"@peggyflanagan did NOTHING to protect vulnerable citizens & taxpayers despite countless whistleblower reports, Auditor reports, & criminal convictions. Peggy Flanagan, @Tim_Walz & @keithellison protected their political base instead of stopping the fraud."
Robbins's accusation goes beyond the general claim that Flanagan failed to act. She alleges that whistleblower reports and state auditor reports flagged the problem, and that Flanagan, Walz, and Keith Ellison chose to protect political allies rather than stop the theft. Fox News Digital reached out to the Flanagan campaign for comment on the interview and the surrounding criticism. No response was noted.
The scandal has already reached Washington. On March 4, 2026, Walz testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the U.S. Capitol. That hearing examined the alleged misuse of federal funds intended for Minnesota social services and Medicaid programs. The governor's appearance underscored the federal scale of the problem, this was not a state bookkeeping error but a breakdown that drew congressional scrutiny and a nine-figure-plus fraud estimate from federal investigators.
Walz at least showed up. He told the public that "the buck stops with him." Whether that statement was adequate or not, it was an acknowledgment. Flanagan's strategy appears to be the opposite: agree that more should have been done, then make clear she believes someone else should have done it.
That posture becomes harder to defend the longer you look at the timeline. Flanagan joined the administration in 2019. The fraud grew large enough to produce 100 criminal charges and 60 convictions. Federal investigators put the potential total above $9 billion. No top official lost a job. And now the administration's No. 2 wants a Senate seat without answering for any of it.
Flanagan's decision to skip any reference to the scandal in her Tuesday victory speech tells voters something about her campaign's theory of the race. She appears to believe she can win a general election by treating the fraud as Walz's problem, a problem she watched unfold from the next office over for seven years.
Tafoya and Republican critics clearly plan to make that theory expensive to test. Every time Flanagan says "the governor says the buck stops with him," the follow-up writes itself: Where does the buck stop for the lieutenant governor?
Voters can forgive a lot. They have a harder time forgiving a leader who watched billions disappear and now pretends she was just visiting.
