Minnesota state Rep. Mike Wiener, R-Long Prairie, told Newsmax Wednesday that a tied House committee vote stopped Republican efforts to investigate Attorney General Keith Ellison and Gov. Tim Walz over the state's multibillion-dollar fraud scandal, casting the deadlock as proof Democrats are not serious about protecting taxpayer money.
Wiener appeared on Newsmax's "National Report" two weeks after a House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee resolution that would have referred impeachment investigations of Walz and Ellison to the GOP-led House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee failed on an 8-8 party-line vote on April 15. The chamber is split 67-67 between Republicans and Democrats.
The resolution, which Wiener co-sponsored with Rep. Ben Davis, R-Merrifield, would have set a May 1 deadline for findings.
Its defeat in the evenly split chamber effectively halted the impeachment push for the session.
"Yes, it did," Wiener said when asked about the failed effort. "Thanks for bringing this up and putting it out in the limelight, because absolutely, the fraud that we brought forth, myself and Rep. Ben Davis had the articles of impeachment for Ellison went to committee and was stopped on a tie vote."
He blamed the deadlock on the chamber's composition and on Democrat resistance.
"We're tied in the House, and in order to get it to the next step, we had to get it through that committee, and the Democrats downplayed it. They called it ridiculous. They called it a waste of time. And yet our taxpayer dollars are getting wasted."
The articles Wiener referenced target Ellison over a 2021 meeting with individuals later tied to the Feeding Our Future scheme, in which prosecutors say roughly $250 million in pandemic-era child nutrition funds were stolen.
Ellison has said he did not know the attendees or their alleged conduct at the time.
Wiener cast the vote as a test of seriousness.
"So it shows you how serious they are about the fraud. And it's not just Tim Walz, obviously, that committee and those leads felt that the taxpayer dollar is something that can just be used as a political football and not take accountability. And we want accountability. Every one of our people want accountability."
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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