My first two thoughts when I saw this report: Who would have thought? Why is CNN suddenly snubbing Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota and Kamala Harris’ vice president?
We talk Way under the bus.
The “CNN Investigates” report Bubbles Rolling from beginning to end, starting with the heading: “As fraud scandals erupt in Minnesota under Governor Tim Walz’s watch, accountability is in short supply.”
Beginning with a damning state audit, CNN reported (emphasis mine):
This was the result of a state audit Bonus checks intended for frontline workers during the pandemic were distributed to inappropriate recipients. Another criticized a state agency in Minnesota for doing so There has been a failure to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest in taxpayer-funded mental health and addiction programs. A third more detailed Lax oversight of a program to feed needy children led to the country’s largest fraud scheme in the Covid era, according to federal prosecutors.
Additionally, Judy Randall, Minnesota’s nonpartisan auditor, told CNN that some state agencies working under Walz’s administration repeatedly downplayed or dismissed the allegations when confronted with “these and other troubling examples of waste, fraud and abuse.” were confronted. Like “Tim Walz” from them.
As expected, CNN concluded that Walz “was a reticent leader when it came to taking responsibility for instances of fraud and mismanagement under his watch.”
Randall, who has worked in the office for 26 years, told The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that some agencies’ responses to their audits felt like shooting the messenger. How “democratic” of them.
I have seen increasing rejection of our findings and recommendations. Or denial or rejection or excuses. There’s definitely a “Shoot the Messenger” feel.
Asked about the audits in July, Walz said said:
There are people who will try to stay one step ahead of us, they will continue to try to commit crimes. In many of these cases, and Feeding Our Future is one of them, people end up in prison, and that’s exactly where they need to go. And then we can further strengthen our protection.
Memo to Tim Walz: There are always “people” who are “trying to get ahead of us,” Governor, and that’s exactly why sturdy leadership and accountability are critical.
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CNN reviewed more than a dozen reports from Randall’s office that blamed specific agencies for allowing fraud, waste or mismanagement during Walz’s tenure as governor. It wasn’t nice:
Some dealt with high-profile scandals such as the pandemic fraud allegations and a troubled featherlight rail project — which predates Walz but is currently overseen by 17 Walz employees — that has suffered from cost overruns of more than $1.5 billion.
Randall’s office last year accused that agency of a lack of transparency about rising costs and a failure to ensure that contractors’ skyrocketing prices were justified.
Others found gaps in security measures that were worth wasting or expressed more targeted conflicts of interest, such as a state Department of Public Safety employee who received payments from the recipient of a grant the employee oversaw.
And were any of Walz’s appointees held accountable? Randall told CNN that she was not aware of any personnel changes related to an audit by her office since Walz took office in 2019.
As I wrote this article, I had to smile as I thought: If Harris was looking for a vice presidential candidate who could be expected to do a worse job than she has done for more than three and a half years, she has found her man .
It’s getting worse
State Republican Sen. Mark Koran, who serves as vice chairman of the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Audit Commission, left Conclusion.
The governor’s appointees in almost every agency have been hostile and uncooperative when citizens demand transparency and oversight from the legislative auditor. The hostility is led by Governor Walz.
Wait. You mean that lovable everyday guy with a folksy personality who referred to himself as a “knucklehead” while fiddling with the debate question (lying) about why he repeatedly claimed he was actually in China during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre Been in Hong Kong Do you feel hostile when asked about a lack of responsibility when there are no cameras and microphones? Why I never.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris talks about a lack of accountability.
