独家消息： 明尼苏达州在国会中职位最高的议员呼吁对该州政府领导人被指控故意忽视福利欺诈证据的指控展开更深入调查，并表示如果指控属实，这些领导人甚至应该面临监禁。
“人们受够了当选官员奉行双重标准，他们与普通民众受到的对待不同。当当选官员不承担责任时，他们却要为本应承担责任的事情负责，”明尼苏达州共和党众议员、众议院多数党督导汤姆·埃默（Tom Emmer）告诉福克斯新闻数字频道（Fox News Digital）。
“如果这两个人不干净，他们就应该承担责任，并且应该入狱服刑。”
他指的是明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹（Tim Walz）和州总检察长基思·埃利森（Keith Ellison），两人是周三众议院监督委员会就欺诈问题举行的备受瞩目的听证会上的几位证人之一。
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众议院多数党督导汤姆·埃默正在批评明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹政府应对该州肆虐的欺诈丑闻。（Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images；Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images）
瓦尔兹和埃利森都坚称，他们认真对待起诉该州社会项目中的欺诈行为，并且在发现欺诈后采取了行动。
但埃默援引了众议院监督委员会的一份报告，该报告指责两人比此前认为的更早知道欺诈情况，并且出于对该州进步派——尤其是明尼阿波利斯的索马里社区——的政治报复的恐惧，拖延了公众问责。共和党人曾指责该社区利用州福利体系。
“他们可能有办法将其描述得不够清晰，不那么黑白分明，但如果他们今天早上在委员会上就明知欺诈存在、何时发现欺诈以及联邦调查局的调查情况撒谎，那本身就是犯罪行为，”埃默告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
[严厉审计揭示明尼苏达州顶级机构内部更多欺诈担忧，伪造文件、“不当行为”频发]
“因此，我相信，根据这份报告以及多数党工作人员正在做的其他工作，他们很可能希望再次传唤他们并在宣誓后对其进行讯问。”
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明尼苏达州总检察长基思·埃利森在国会山上的参议院国土安全委员会听证会上发言。（Tom Brenner/AP Photo）
他还补充道：“明尼苏达州大约有8万到10万索马里人。蒂姆·瓦尔兹以52%的得票率获胜。他们（索马里社区）起到了作用。基思·埃利森的胜选优势不到1%，我记得可能是2万票。这有影响。所以如果这些情况相互关联，那么是的，我认为这是竞选欺诈。”
“我已经为这件事承担了责任。我不会再参选了。我需要花时间解决这个问题，”瓦尔兹在听证会上说道。“这确实损害了民众对政府的信任。我希望有些事情本可以更早发生吗？是的。但在这个职位上，‘希望’无济于事。我正在审视我能看到的问题。”
[明尼苏达州欺诈罪犯定罪后指控瓦尔兹、埃利森知晓广泛欺诈]
此外，瓦尔兹将欺诈统计数据的上升归咎于起诉的增加，他告诉共和党人：“当你抓获罪犯并对其提起诉讼时，这就表现为欺诈案件的增加。”
他还驳斥了关于他因担心被视为歧视伊斯兰教而压制举报人的指控：“我无法对此发表评论，因为我不会说这样的话。”
与此同时，埃利森表示，他很高兴跨两党合作起诉欺诈行为。
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明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹于2026年3月4日在华盛顿特区美国国会大厦参加众议院监督与政府改革委员会听证会作证。（Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images）
“我来这里是为了改进这个体系，并且有很多改进的空间，”他说。“如果我们能从指责转向解决问题，那对我来说将是一件非常重要的事情。”
[点击此处下载福克斯新闻应用程序]
但埃默坚持认为需要进一步调查，暗示他怀疑两人的动机。
“这是权力。他们想要权力。为了获得权力，他们需要当选。为了当选，他们必须以不同的方式作弊。而这正是他们所为，”埃默说。“如果索马里社区被这些公职人员利用来进入官场……这看起来确实有问题，需要进行调查。”
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[格雷格·贾雷特：如果瓦尔兹在明尼苏达州欺诈案中被起诉，他最好的辩护是无能]
伊丽莎白·埃尔金德（Elizabeth Elkind）是福克斯新闻数字频道的政治记者，主要负责众议院报道。此前曾在《每日邮报》和哥伦比亚广播公司新闻担任数字版专栏作家。
在Twitter上关注@liz_elkind，并向elizabeth.elkind@fox.com发送线索。
EXCLUSIVE:The highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress is calling for a deeper investigation into allegations that leaders in his state government knowingly ignored evidence of welfare fraud, and he called for those leaders to even face incarceration if proven true.
“People are sick and tired of elected officials having a double standard, being treated differently than they are. They’re held accountable for things that they should be held accountable for, when their elected officials are not,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital.
“If these two guys are dirty, they should be held accountable, and they should serve jail time.”
He was referring to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, two of several witnesses at a high-profile hearing on fraud conducted by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is criticizing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration over the fraud scandal plaguing the state.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)
Both Walz and Ellison insisted that they were serious about prosecuting fraud in the state’s social programs and that they took action to stop it once it was brought to their attention.
But Emmer cited a report by the House Oversight Committee that accused them both of knowing about the fraud earlier than previously thought and delaying public accountability for fear of political retribution from progressives in the state — particularly the Somali community in Minneapolis, who Republicans have accused of taking advantage of the state’s welfare system.
“They might have been able to qualify it enough that it wasn’t black and white, but if they lied to the committee this morning about knowing about the fraud and when they knew about the fraud and the FBI investigation, that is a criminal act of its own,” Emmer told Fox News Digital.
[SCATHING AUDIT REVEALS MORE FRAUD CONCERNS INSIDE TOP MINNESOTA AGENCY WITH FABRICATED DOCUMENTS, ‘MISCONDUCT’]
“So I do believe, depending on this report and what else the majority staff is doing, they very well may want to call them back in and depose them under oath.”
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill.(Tom Brenner/AP Photo)
He added at another point, “You have maybe 80 to 100,000 Somalis in Minnesota. Tim Walz won with 52%. They made a difference. Keith Ellison won by less than 1%. I think it was 20,000 votes. Makes a difference. So if those are connected, yeah, I mean, this is campaign fraud.”
“I’ve taken accountability for this. I’m not going to run again. I need to spend the time fixing this,” Walz said during the hearing. “This does undermine trust in government. Do I wish there were things that could have happened earlier? Yes. But in this job, ‘wish’ didn’t do it. I’m looking into where I see it.”
[CONVICTED MINNESOTA FRAUDSTER ALLEGES WALZ, ELLISON WERE AWARE OF WIDESPREAD FRAUD]
At another point, Walz attributed the rise in fraud statistics to an increase in prosecutions, telling Republicans, “When you catch people and prosecute them, it shows up as a fraud increase.”
He also dismissed accusations that he kept whistle-blowers quiet over fear of being seen as Islamophobic, “I can’t speak to it because it’s not anything I would say.”
Ellison, meanwhile, said he was happy to work across bipartisan lines to prosecute fraud.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2026.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“I am here to work to improve this system, and there are improvements that can be made,” he said. “If we can get out of fixing the blame and get to fixing the problem, that would be an enormous thing for me.”
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But Emmer, who maintained that further investigation was needed, suggested he doubted their intentions.
“It’s power. They want power. In order for them to get power, they need to be elected. In order for them to get elected, they have to cheat in different ways. And that is exactly what they did,” Emmer said. “If the Somali community is being used by these public officials to get themselves into office…it sure does look suspect, it needs to be investigated.”
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[GREGG JARRETT: If Walz is charged in Minnesota fraud scandal, his best defense is incompetence]
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com