A Minnesota newspaper led by a former Tim Walz appointee has pushed back against headlines claiming $9 billion in fraud, a stance that has drawn sharp criticism from prosecutors and conservative observers who say the scale of theft from taxpayers demands accountability.
A Twin Cities paper run by Steve Grove, a onetime Walz commissioner turned CEO and publisher, says it has found no solid evidence supporting a $9 billion fraud tally. That position has set up a public clash between the paper, the governor’s office, and prosecutors who say the criminal investigation already shows widespread theft from programs meant to help vulnerable people.
Steve Grove’s history as a Walz appointee raises questions about impartiality when his paper challenges large fraud estimates tied to state programs. Critics argue the paper is shielding an administration that has repeatedly downplayed the scale of the problem instead of forcing real answers and reform.
Walz claimed that the number isn’t accurate and is sensationalized. His comments have been used to undercut outrage while investigations continue and indictments move forward.
“We’re the ones fixing it,” Walz said in a recent press conference. He presented that as a guarantee of action even as details remain disputed and criminal cases proceed.
“And so would I have wanted to stop this? Do you think the governor goes out and checks someone on Medicare and if they were there? No, but somebody in government needed to do that, and if they didn’t do that, or if there were loopholes in this- and what we found is that these are poorly written and it left openings and the goal was to get the money out.”
“They’re going to continue to come up with numbers that don’t have it there.” And it’s sensationalized.” Prosecutors disagree.
Other outlets and investigators have traced a pattern of abuse across multiple programs, from a $14 million theft tied to services for autistic children to a Feeding Our Future scheme that reached roughly $250 million. Those cases mounted into a $1 billion estimate in one part of the probe before some reports put the broader impact into the billions and raised the $9 billion number.
Reporting has shown separate prosecutions, suspicious transactions, and defendants who used stolen funds to buy property and travel, creating a mosaic of criminal activity that prosecutors say adds up. The scale and the variety of schemes lend credibility to calls for a full, transparent reckoning rather than silence or spin.
The political reaction has been raw: Democrats in state government have defended their handling and emphasized fixes, while Republicans and watchdogs demand clearer accounting and immediate safeguards to stop more losses. That partisan split matters because strong, nonpartisan auditing is the only way to determine the true scope and where the system failed.
Accountability means prosecuting fraudsters and closing the loopholes that enabled them to exploit emergency and welfare programs. It also means resisting any attempt by officials or media managers with political ties to minimize or obscure the findings while cases are active.
State prosecutors point to indictments and evidence collected in court filings as proof that the fraud is real and criminal, not an overstated number designed to inflame headlines. They argue that parsing individual cases into a final dollar figure takes time, but the underlying thefts are tangible and harmful to taxpayers and beneficiaries alike.
For people who trusted these programs to help children, seniors, and low-income families, the politics around the reporting feel like a distraction from fixing broken systems. Officials who appointed insiders to influential media positions should expect questions when coverage aligns too neatly with the governor’s messaging.
Meanwhile, those calling the figure into question need to show their work in public, not just assert that estimates are sensationalized. Transparency from the paper, the governor’s office, and law enforcement would help settle whether the $9 billion claim is accurate, inflated, or somewhere in between.
The American public has a right to a clear accounting of how federal and state dollars were diverted and who benefited. Until audits are complete and prosecutions are resolved, politicians and the institutions they influence should be treated skeptically when they rush to reassure rather than to disclose facts and evidence.
What happens next will shape trust in government programs and the media that covers them. Conservative critics will continue pressing for accountability, while prosecutors pursue the legal work that can turn allegations into convictions or clear exonerations backed by documents and testimony.
