Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz won’t seek third term as fraud scandal churns

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will hold a news conference after announcing he won’t seek a third term. Follow here for live updates.

• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will hold a noon ET news conference to discuss his decision to drop his bid for a third term. • The former Democratic nominee for vice president is awash in fallout from a recent viral video that propelled yearslong fraud allegations to the forefront of a national conversation. • Walz is set to testify before a Republican-led US House Oversight Committee next month. A video posted by conservative content creator Nick Shirley last month featured disputed claims of fraud against specific day care centers but the larger issue of fraudulent use of government funds in Minnesota’s Somali community has been investigated for years, and allegations the Walz administration did not do enough to stop it helped lead to the end of his reelection campaign. The first blockbuster fraud investigation was revealed in 2022, when the Justice Department announced indictments against people associated with Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit group which allegedly pocketed money that was supposed to be going to feed needy children during the Covid-19 pandemic. Charges have been brought against more 78 people associated with the organization, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, with more than $300 million lost. The vast majority of those indicted are of Somali ancestry, although the group’s founder – who prosecutors have called the “mastermind” of the deception – is not.