Biggs Demands Prosecution of Top Officials in Minnesota Fraud Scandal

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said Thursday that Minnesota’s fraud scandal requires immediate prosecutions extending beyond the “bottom” and into the ranks of officials and organizers who enabled it.

In remarks to reporters, Biggs emphasized that public trust in government can only be restored through consequences for wrongdoing.

“Well, I sure hope so,” he said when asked whether the probe would lead to accountability. “There have been subpoenas for the grand jury for Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Mayor Jacob Frey, and they will answer questions.”

Biggs added that subpoenas without consequences are meaningless. “These people have to be prosecuted,” he said.

He noted that cases have already reached “those on the bottom”—a group he described as “the people actually taking the money straight up and defrauding.” Biggs argued prosecutors must now identify who directed, covered for, or benefited from the alleged misconduct.

“The bottom line is this: You have to keep your investigation going, get all the way up to the top of that pyramid, and then people have to be arrested and prosecuted,” he said. “That’s how you get accountability. That’s how you deter people from doing this again.”

Biggs also urged officials to recover taxpayer dollars, saying Congress needs to “claw the money back.” He pointed to congressional testimony about federally funded groups that have come under scrutiny following viral reporting by independent journalist Nick Shirley.

“As Mr. Shirley testified yesterday and others have testified before us, none of these groups that have had their money defunded by HHS have been able to prove they’re legitimate businesses — not one,” Biggs said.

Pivoting to another accountability theme, Biggs argued Congress should show the same resolve in enforcing subpoenas as he wants applied to the Minnesota fraud investigation. He suggested former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, could face jail time for defying congressional subpoenas.

“I see it as a very real possibility,” Biggs said. “They’ve met the elements of a prima facie case already for criminal contempt of Congress.”

Biggs added that such findings should trigger swift action by House Republicans. “That means we should vote them out,” he said. “That should happen today, quite frankly … on the floor.”

“Then it would go to the attorney general and the case is made,” Biggs said. “I thought the documentation was written very well for the committee outlining the facts. And then when you apply the law to it, it’s crystal clear they willfully disobeyed the subpoena.”