Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
They m I've been going to be with you. Happy
New Year.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Happy New Year to you as well. Pretty big news
today Tim Walls is announced that he is not going
to be running for reelection, which I think makes a
lot of sense considering what's going on. I'm not sure
many people thought he'd actually step aside like this, But
this fraud thing with the state seems to be growing
by the day, and the corruption that led to it
(00:24):
seems to be getting deeper and deeper. What can you
tell us with the latest on this in which direction
eventually pushed Walls out of the race?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Well, I mean, who knows what exactly led him to
leave the race seeking the third term. That would have
been historic. Nobody's ever saw their third term as governor
of the state of Nesota. He was up until today,
And in a little bit a little over twenty minutes
now we'll hear from from Tim Walls as as he
(00:56):
announces officially that he's not going to be seeking third
chairm in office, dropping out of his re election bid.
And yeah, as you mentioned, comes amid a billion dollar
fraud scandal that really has rocked the state and ongoing
state and federal probes into stolen tax dollars that mostly
(01:18):
targets the state Somali community. The Walls campaign releasing his
speech ahead of his news conference, staying in part that
Republicans are playing politics for the future of the state,
but that we shouldn't be concerned about whether that we
should be concerned about fraud in our state government, and
that we cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we
(01:40):
can't earn the public's trust.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
That's key.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Public trust has diminished in the state of Minnesota as
more and more stories and examples of fraud and in
organizations ripping off taxpayers comes to light. The viral video
that we saw from independent journalist Nick Shirley really was
(02:05):
maybe the catalyst in terms of national news that brought
brought this delight. We've been reporting on this for weeks
and weeks prior to Nick Shirley's viral expose. By the way,
Nick Shirley on x Today saying I ended Tim Walls.
Tim Walls saying this had nothing to do with the video,
(02:28):
uh and and took he he's he's going to take
in his press conference coming up here. He's going to
take a lot of shots at Republicans and the White
House specifically, but we'll see. I mean, this story has
has legs and it's going to grow into the fraud
that that that we're uncovering, in which the US Attorney
(02:50):
for the Northern District of Minnesota has has also said
that the fraud could top nine billion dollars. This as
minister is increasing taxes, rising property taxes statewide running rising
by six point nine percent, cigarette tax, X size tax,
other taxes are skyrocketing in the state. Uh, to keep
(03:14):
the state solvent. Well, when you've got that happening, and
you've got taxpayers paying attention no matter what party you're from,
and you've seen all this fraud, and you've seen all
these these these swindlers driving or alleged swindlers I should say,
driving cars and living in homes that most people can't afford.
One one's you know, you start asking questions.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
And so.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
It's obviously that it's obvious that Tim Walls now believes
that there's no way he would have been able to
to be re elected.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, it's quite interesting how this is all started to
pan out for him. Jeff and Asso joining us on
the phone line here. So with him dropping out of
the race, you know, and I don't know if this
is a Democrat problem or a Tim Walls problem, or
a Somalian problem, or a Minneapolis problem. It just really
feels like there's as much of a difference in the
(04:08):
people who vote blue in Minnesota and the people who
vote red in Minnesota. And I know that twenty twenty
six is going to be a pivotal election year in
so many different ways all across the country. But there's
got to be other states and other big cities that
are kind of taking a look at what they got
going on, right because they don't want to end up
in this debacle that we're seeing up north. What lessons
(04:31):
do you anticipate being learned by people in other cities,
especially blue run cities, to try to avoid this whole
thing from happening something that they're not going to be
able to be in power to fix.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
It doesn't appear like, yeah, well, look, I think that
you know, with with the trumpend administration suspending many government
funds that.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Go to these states because of Minnesota's fraud problem, you
know it's going to be there's going to be a
lot of investigations into where all this money is going.
There's going to be accountability, where's this money going? And
and UH, you know, we want to see some paper trails.
And we were already seeing UH independent journalists go into
(05:14):
other states like Ohio, Columbus, the Somali community there and
talking about bogus organizations repping off state taxpayers. There's been
stories out of Maine, out of Washington State as well
as and even UH donations political donations from some of
these suspected fraud businesses that have gone to that have
(05:35):
gone to politicians. And so this is going to be far, far,
far reaching, and we expect to hear more UH in
a there's going to be a hearing on Capitol Hill
a little bit later on this week. And we we
know that it's the Oversight Committee, UH and James Comer,
(05:57):
who who runs that committee. It's a the Oversight and
Government Reform Chairman James Comer, Republican Kentucky. He issued a
following statement just a few minutes ago actually, and it
says that do chim Walls is not running for governor again.
He cannot run from accountability. The House Oversight Committee demands
(06:19):
that he appear for a public hearing on February tenth
to expose the fraud and and begin the process of accountability.
The American people deserve answers, and they deserve them now.
So there's going to be that hearing. There's also going
to be a hearing this week on Wednesday when whistles,
some whistleblowers out of Minnesota come forward and they kind
(06:39):
of spell out what they've seen, what they've witnessed. This
will witnessed over the last five, six, seven years in
the state of Minnesota, in which they alleged that they
came forward to to state officials, including the governor, and
told told him about this fraud, that nothing was not
only that nothing was done, but they were calliated against.
(07:01):
And so again this is far Ragie. The story has
a lot of legs and it's only going to grow, Jeff.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And ASO is joining us. Last thing for you, Jeff,
is we take kind of inventory of where we're at
in a country right now. And obviously we have this
Venezuela thing that's kind of dominating national headlines. But this
is a really big deal and I think a lot
of people see the United States potentially on a precipice
of you know, culture wars in a figurative sense, where
(07:29):
you have you know, dearborn Michigan, the over fifty percent
population now of Islamic or Arabic background. You have this
Somalian presence that has grown and continues to grow in
the in the state of Minnesota. You see what the
United States is trying to do with travel bands and
closing off the border, and then of course you see
(07:49):
what's happening in some of the foreign countries. We just
extracted a leader of one of these nations and brought
them to the United States to face charges. So, I
guess my question to you is a standpoint of importance,
Right Minnesota is where Minnesota is, and I've kind of
said this is Minnesota's got to figure its own problems out.
But how important is what this what is happening to
(08:11):
the north of us here in Iowa. How important is
it for us to monitor this situation just to make
sure that we understand what exactly is happening with the
relationship between the states and our federal government.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Well, I think it's huge. You know, as a as
a taxpayer, it's huge. And as leaders of any state,
your number one priority is too well, it's it's in
addition to keep people keeping people safe, it's being good
shorts of their finances, uh and and and and money
and and you know, not not allowing this to happen,
because it appears that it appears, based on what we're seeing,
(08:49):
that this was allowed to happen. And and so you know,
whether Tim Wallas is responsible, whether his his lieutenants are
are responsible people underneath him, uh, you know, appears based
on what we're seeing, that that it was it's a
systemic issue that that there was there was there were
numerous red flags that we have documented though inaction and
(09:12):
delay whistleblowers and lawmakers. They despite the early warnings, uh,
even twelve years ago, that significant action wasn't taken until
more recently, obviously frustrating those efforts to address the issues.
And and you know, because of of some of the
actions that that we're seeing and some of the the
(09:35):
the exposure to this story, we're we're we're now digging
in and and we're seeing that you know that that
that over half of of of all illegal immigrants in
this country are are on are on some sort of
government assistance, and and including half of the Somali community
in the state of Minnesota. And so you know, whether
(09:57):
you're a publican or a Democrat. I don't think it matters.
I think, you know, hard working Americans what what what
they're seeing in One of Tim Walls's problems is that
they're they're they're saying to themselves that I've played by
the rules, and I've worked hard, and yet I was
allowed to be ripped off. And then they see people
coming into the community and in the end of the
(10:19):
country and essentially be given carte blanche and and and
the red carpets rolled out for them, and there's no oversight,
there's no accountability, and I think that's enough to make
any any taxpayer at least a little angry.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Some We're going to continue to monitor and it's very
interesting new development. Tim Wall is not running for election
as governor of Minnesota. With the information today, Foxing is
ready a reporter. Jeff Maan ASO. Jeff, as always, we
do appreciate the time and will chat Agan soon, you bet.
They m I've been going to be with you. Happy
New Year.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Happy New Year to you as well. Pretty big news
today Tim Walls is announced that he is not going
to be running for reelection, which I think makes a
lot of sense considering what's going on. I'm not sure
many people thought he'd actually step aside like this, But
this fraud thing with the state seems to be growing
by the day, and the corruption that led to it
(00:24):
seems to be getting deeper and deeper. What can you
tell us with the latest on this in which direction
eventually pushed Walls out of the race?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Well, I mean, who knows what exactly led him to
leave the race seeking the third term. That would have
been historic. Nobody's ever saw their third term as governor
of the state of Nesota. He was up until today,
And in a little bit a little over twenty minutes
now we'll hear from from Tim Walls as as he
(00:56):
announces officially that he's not going to be seeking third
chairm in office, dropping out of his re election bid.
And yeah, as you mentioned, comes amid a billion dollar
fraud scandal that really has rocked the state and ongoing
state and federal probes into stolen tax dollars that mostly
(01:18):
targets the state Somali community. The Walls campaign releasing his
speech ahead of his news conference, staying in part that
Republicans are playing politics for the future of the state,
but that we shouldn't be concerned about whether that we
should be concerned about fraud in our state government, and
that we cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we
(01:40):
can't earn the public's trust.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
That's key.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Public trust has diminished in the state of Minnesota as
more and more stories and examples of fraud and in
organizations ripping off taxpayers comes to light. The viral video
that we saw from independent journalist Nick Shirley really was
(02:05):
maybe the catalyst in terms of national news that brought
brought this delight. We've been reporting on this for weeks
and weeks prior to Nick Shirley's viral expose. By the way,
Nick Shirley on x Today saying I ended Tim Walls.
Tim Walls saying this had nothing to do with the video,
(02:28):
uh and and took he he's he's going to take
in his press conference coming up here. He's going to
take a lot of shots at Republicans and the White
House specifically, but we'll see. I mean, this story has
has legs and it's going to grow into the fraud
that that that we're uncovering, in which the US Attorney
(02:50):
for the Northern District of Minnesota has has also said
that the fraud could top nine billion dollars. This as
minister is increasing taxes, rising property taxes statewide running rising
by six point nine percent, cigarette tax, X size tax,
other taxes are skyrocketing in the state. Uh, to keep
(03:14):
the state solvent. Well, when you've got that happening, and
you've got taxpayers paying attention no matter what party you're from,
and you've seen all this fraud, and you've seen all
these these these swindlers driving or alleged swindlers I should say,
driving cars and living in homes that most people can't afford.
One one's you know, you start asking questions.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
And so.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
It's obviously that it's obvious that Tim Walls now believes
that there's no way he would have been able to
to be re elected.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, it's quite interesting how this is all started to
pan out for him. Jeff and Asso joining us on
the phone line here. So with him dropping out of
the race, you know, and I don't know if this
is a Democrat problem or a Tim Walls problem, or
a Somalian problem, or a Minneapolis problem. It just really
feels like there's as much of a difference in the
(04:08):
people who vote blue in Minnesota and the people who
vote red in Minnesota. And I know that twenty twenty
six is going to be a pivotal election year in
so many different ways all across the country. But there's
got to be other states and other big cities that
are kind of taking a look at what they got
going on, right because they don't want to end up
in this debacle that we're seeing up north. What lessons
(04:31):
do you anticipate being learned by people in other cities,
especially blue run cities, to try to avoid this whole
thing from happening something that they're not going to be
able to be in power to fix.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
It doesn't appear like, yeah, well, look, I think that
you know, with with the trumpend administration suspending many government
funds that.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Go to these states because of Minnesota's fraud problem, you
know it's going to be there's going to be a
lot of investigations into where all this money is going.
There's going to be accountability, where's this money going? And
and UH, you know, we want to see some paper trails.
And we were already seeing UH independent journalists go into
(05:14):
other states like Ohio, Columbus, the Somali community there and
talking about bogus organizations repping off state taxpayers. There's been
stories out of Maine, out of Washington State as well
as and even UH donations political donations from some of
these suspected fraud businesses that have gone to that have
(05:35):
gone to politicians. And so this is going to be far, far,
far reaching, and we expect to hear more UH in
a there's going to be a hearing on Capitol Hill
a little bit later on this week. And we we
know that it's the Oversight Committee, UH and James Comer,
(05:57):
who who runs that committee. It's a the Oversight and
Government Reform Chairman James Comer, Republican Kentucky. He issued a
following statement just a few minutes ago actually, and it
says that do chim Walls is not running for governor again.
He cannot run from accountability. The House Oversight Committee demands
(06:19):
that he appear for a public hearing on February tenth
to expose the fraud and and begin the process of accountability.
The American people deserve answers, and they deserve them now.
So there's going to be that hearing. There's also going
to be a hearing this week on Wednesday when whistles,
some whistleblowers out of Minnesota come forward and they kind
(06:39):
of spell out what they've seen, what they've witnessed. This
will witnessed over the last five, six, seven years in
the state of Minnesota, in which they alleged that they
came forward to to state officials, including the governor, and
told told him about this fraud, that nothing was not
only that nothing was done, but they were calliated against.
(07:01):
And so again this is far Ragie. The story has
a lot of legs and it's only going to grow, Jeff.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And ASO is joining us. Last thing for you, Jeff,
is we take kind of inventory of where we're at
in a country right now. And obviously we have this
Venezuela thing that's kind of dominating national headlines. But this
is a really big deal and I think a lot
of people see the United States potentially on a precipice
of you know, culture wars in a figurative sense, where
(07:29):
you have you know, dearborn Michigan, the over fifty percent
population now of Islamic or Arabic background. You have this
Somalian presence that has grown and continues to grow in
the in the state of Minnesota. You see what the
United States is trying to do with travel bands and
closing off the border, and then of course you see
(07:49):
what's happening in some of the foreign countries. We just
extracted a leader of one of these nations and brought
them to the United States to face charges. So, I
guess my question to you is a standpoint of importance,
Right Minnesota is where Minnesota is, and I've kind of
said this is Minnesota's got to figure its own problems out.
But how important is what this what is happening to
(08:11):
the north of us here in Iowa. How important is
it for us to monitor this situation just to make
sure that we understand what exactly is happening with the
relationship between the states and our federal government.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Well, I think it's huge. You know, as a as
a taxpayer, it's huge. And as leaders of any state,
your number one priority is too well, it's it's in
addition to keep people keeping people safe, it's being good
shorts of their finances, uh and and and and money
and and you know, not not allowing this to happen,
because it appears that it appears, based on what we're seeing,
(08:49):
that this was allowed to happen. And and so you know,
whether Tim Wallas is responsible, whether his his lieutenants are
are responsible people underneath him, uh, you know, appears based
on what we're seeing, that that it was it's a
systemic issue that that there was there was there were
numerous red flags that we have documented though inaction and
(09:12):
delay whistleblowers and lawmakers. They despite the early warnings, uh,
even twelve years ago, that significant action wasn't taken until
more recently, obviously frustrating those efforts to address the issues.
And and you know, because of of some of the
actions that that we're seeing and some of the the
(09:35):
the exposure to this story, we're we're we're now digging
in and and we're seeing that you know that that
that over half of of of all illegal immigrants in
this country are are on are on some sort of
government assistance, and and including half of the Somali community
in the state of Minnesota. And so you know, whether
(09:57):
you're a publican or a Democrat. I don't think it matters.
I think, you know, hard working Americans what what what
they're seeing in One of Tim Walls's problems is that
they're they're they're saying to themselves that I've played by
the rules, and I've worked hard, and yet I was
allowed to be ripped off. And then they see people
coming into the community and in the end of the
(10:19):
country and essentially be given carte blanche and and and
the red carpets rolled out for them, and there's no oversight,
there's no accountability, and I think that's enough to make
any any taxpayer at least a little angry.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Some We're going to continue to monitor and it's very
interesting new development. Tim Wall is not running for election
as governor of Minnesota. With the information today, Foxing is
ready a reporter. Jeff Maan ASO. Jeff, as always, we
do appreciate the time and will chat Agan soon, you bet.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.