Senior Minnesota state officials allegedly hired outside investigators to silence whistleblowers in an attempt to cover up widespread state social services fraud, a House committee report released Monday found.
A 200-page staff report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s state administration intimidated and retaliated against state employees who raised concerns about fraud, soliciting private investigators to reveal employees’ personal details.
The report, titled “The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota’s Fraud Explosion,” exposed that senior state officials, as high as allegedly Gov. Walz, were aware of widespread fraud for years and neglected to respond to reports. (RELATED: California Faces Election Fraud Investigations Amid Major Vote Count Delays)
A Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) official who contacted the FBI told federal investigators she was pressured “at every turn” by her superiors to stop raising fraud concerns and was “hand slapped” when she continued to investigate, according to the report.
The MDE official also reported that she was warned by state administrators to “stop digging into things” as it would appear she was “targeting certain groups.”
Dozens of other whistleblowers reported they were told to stay silent about fraud concerns by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) because they would be labeled “racist” or “Islamophobic.” DHS also told state employees that raising fraud concerns would harm the state, the report said.
Whistleblowers reported that DHS conducted “arbitrary investigations” to photograph their cars and houses, monitored their phones and computers, and asked employees where their kids attended school.
Here’s an insider tip on how DHS operates. If you detect fraud, 2 things could happen: 1. You will have arbitrary investigations started on you until you quit. DHS investigators will photograph your car, house, monitor your phone and computer and ask which school your kids go to.…
— Minnesota Staff Fraud Reporting Commentary (@Minnesota_DHS) September 18, 2025
Then-Temporary Commissioner Shireen Gandhi at DHS confirmed in a testimony copied in the report that the state department used outside entities to conduct these investigations of employees, but could not confirm whether independent law firms were used.
Gandhi also confirmed in her testimony that DHS management would regularly meet and “check-in” on employees who had reported fraud concerns. Gandhi continued to conduct these check-ins on DHS whistleblower Faye Bernstein “a year or two” after her investigatory leave.
Bernstein alleged Gandhi “shamed” her in a meeting after she raised concerns about fraud and “excluded [her] from further meetings on the topic.”
Whistleblowers also alleged that former state Commissioner Jodi Harpstead held a division-wide meeting and told attendees that “employees would be punished if they reported concerns about fraud in DHS program,” according to the report.
DHS employee Emmanuel Nwala told colleagues that he “did intelligence research with in the Army” and appears to have threatened to provide IP addresses to former colleagues in order to find the locations of whistleblowers’ email addresses, an email obtained through a public data request showed.
This DHS “manager” has been promoted to a “leadership” role. Emmanuel Nwala has threatened employees with military surveillance & made numerous staff uncomfortable with his intimidation & behavior. See the email that was obtained through a PUBLIC DATA REQUEST. #Menace #Disgusting pic.twitter.com/Z6yPGVZfyd
— Minnesota Staff Fraud Reporting Commentary (@Minnesota_DHS) November 10, 2023
Gov. Walz testified he was unaware of the email, but agreed it would be intimidation to confront employees with their personal information, according to an interview transcript located in the report. (RELATED: SCOOP: Tim Walz Accused Of Stonewalling Key Probe As Somali Fraud Sweeps His State)
The report also alleged that DHS de-anonymized an internal fraud hotline for employees in an attempt to intimidate fraud reporters. After whistleblowers later created an anonymous external email to report fraud, DHS blocked the email address. Whistleblowers reported that their fraud hotline tips were sent to Human Resources (HR) and used against them.
The hotline was originally anonymous, but was de-anonymized under Gandhi’s tenure as Deputy Commissioner of HR. Gov. Walz appointed Gandhi as Commissioner of DHS in Feb. 2026, but removed her in May before her confirmation hearing amid scrutiny of her response to fraud allegations, local KSTP news reported.
Republican Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky officially launched a congressional investigation into alleged Minnesota fraud on December 3, 2025.
Rep. Comer reported to Vice President J.D. Vance Sunday that the committee estimates around $300 million of Minnesota’s federal child nutrition funds and around $9 billion Medicaid-related funds were “lost or at serious risk.”
According to the committee’s news release, the House of Representatives will consider ten Oversight Committee bills this week aimed at “protecting taxpayer funds and combating rampant fraud and improper payments in federal programs.” The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates between $233 billion and $521 billion is lost annually due to fraud.
Minnesota’s DHS did not respond immediately to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
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