Jim Jordan Corners Tim Walz Over ‘False’ Claim About Restarting Payments to Fraud-Riddled Nonprofit
He walked straight into that one.
This article originally appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Jason Cohen
Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan confronted Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday over his past claim that a court ordered his state to restart payments to Feeding Our Future (FOF).
After Walz pushed for a probe into Judge John Guthmann for allegedly compelling Minnesota to resume payments to the fraud-riddled nonprofit in 2021, the judge asserted the payments were voluntary, FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reported in 2022. Jordan accused Walz of being dishonest during a House Oversight Committee hearing, noting the court’s response to the governor.
WATCH:
“Why didn’t you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?” Jordan asked.
Walz rejected the premise of the question and pivoted to note FOF expanded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I didn’t ask that question,” Jordan said. “I said, ‘Why didn’t you tell the truth about why you restarted the payments?’ The payments stopped because there were concerns, obviously, or they wouldn’t stop the payments. Then they restarted a month later. What was the reason for restarting the payments?”
“My understanding was the agency believed that the court had required them to make those payments,” Walz said.
Jordan asked Walz if his understanding was “false” and referenced his past claim that the state restarted payments due to a court order.
“Is that right?” he asked the governor.
“I don’t believe that is settled yet, to the best of my knowledge,” Walz said.
Jordan disagreed and highlighted a Sept. 23, 2022, court press release disputing Walz’s claim.
“Here’s what the judge says: ‘Governor Tim Walz told the media that the Minnesota Department of Education attempted to end payments to FOF because of possible fraud, but that Judge Guthmann ordered payments to continue in April 2021.’ Next sentence: ‘That is false.’ So you said something that wasn’t true,” the Republican said.
Jordan also quoted the portion of the press release noting that the judge “never ordered the Department of Education to resume payments to FOF in April 2021, or at any other time.”
He then told Walz he wanted to understand why he was not honest.
“Congressman, the attorneys at the Department of Education interpreted that differently,” Walz said. “Both of those judges are no longer on the bench.”
Jordan retorted that the press release was from the court rather than unfounded news reporting. He asked the governor if the court was “lying.”
Walz expressed uncertainty and began to repeat that there was a difference in “interpretation,” but Jordan cut him off.
“Well, somebody’s lying … you can’t say the court ordered you to restart the payments,” Jordan said. “And then the court says, ‘We didn’t order you to restart the payments.’ So either you’re lying or the court’s lying … Which one is it?”
“I just simply know what the attorneys at the agency believed, that it was a misinterpretation,” Walz said.
Jordan accused Walz of “trying to hide behind … some court order that didn’t exist.”
Federal prosecutors have indicted over 70 individuals for allegedly defrauding more than $300 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through FOF under the pretense of providing meals to children during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
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