Rep. Bakeberg: DOJ Referral Signals Long Awaited Action

St. Paul — Representative Ben Bakeberg, R-Jordan, issued the following statement after a recent U.S. House Oversight Committee report alleged senior Minnesota officials ignored repeated fraud warnings, retaliated against whistleblowers, and failed to act. The report has since been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“What’s being alleged doesn’t come as a big surprise to those of us who’ve been working to combat fraud and restore accountability in state government,” Bakeberg said. “But it’s reassuring to see this issue receive the attention it deserves and to see the Department of Justice follow through on its duty to uphold the law.”

Bakeberg said the allegations raise serious questions about what state leaders knew, when they knew it, and why more wasn’t done sooner.

“At the Capitol, taxpayer money is often talked about as ‘revenue,’ but it’s much more than that,” Bakeberg said. “It’s money earned by hardworking Minnesotans, and it deserves to be treated with the same respect and integrity those families would expect if they were handling it themselves. When fraud is allowed to continue, it’s not just a line item on a spreadsheet. It’s real money taken from real people.”

Bakeberg said the DOJ referral is an important step toward getting answers and making clear that fraud in state government cannot be treated as routine or inevitable.

“If warnings were ignored and whistleblowers were pushed aside, people need to be held accountable,” Bakeberg said. “This needs to be taken seriously, followed wherever the facts lead, and handled with the urgency Minnesotans should expect when their money and trust have been violated.”