Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is addressing a so-called "rift" between he and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan.
Axios reported tensions have boiled over between the two after Walz's failed Vice Presidential bid, with the pair not appearing publicly together since Election Day.
The governor was asked about any possible issues during an interview with the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar Thursday.
"No. Look, we, Lieutenant Governor and I have worked together for many years," said Walz. "We're transitioning back after a national campaign, and we're just taking a look at, again, how do we approach this job to cover more ground? How do we make sure that if the lieutenant governor's doing an event in Bloomington, it might make sense for me to be in Duluth."
Walz said he didn't know anything about further reports that he was upset that Flanagan had tapped into his gubernatorial campaign fund.
"I have nothing to say on that, I don't know about that, and I've certainly never heard anyone say it to me. So, no," answered the governor.
Walz Responds to Minnesota's Fraud Cases
Governor Tim Walz says he'll make a specific request to lawmakers when they return to the state capitol next month after two Minnesota autism centers were recently raided by federal agents.
The FBI raided Minneapolis and St. Cloud autism centers last week as part of an investigation into Medicaid fraud in Minnesota’s autism program that a search warrant application said revealed “substantial evidence” of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims. Investigators found evidence of the autism fraud while investigating Feeding Our Future.
No criminal charges have been filed yet, but it has led the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Andrew Luger, to declare Minnesota has a "fraud problem" after this recent raid and that massive Feeding Our Future fraud scandal from 2022.
"We've got situations where we know, and in these last cases we're investigating them, we turn them to the FBI," Walz told WCCO Thursday. "But as the law is written, we need to continue to pay them, even though I said that has to end. If we suspect you there, we need to err on the side of, you can take us to court and sue us, but we're not paying you because we think, and we have good indications, of this."
Walz said he's "furious" about the latest fraud investigation, but says there's no indication government officials were involved.
"But can we do better? Absolutely," says Walz. "This is a case of, put a double lock on the door. Put an eye on this. Be more skeptical."
Smart Therapy Center and the Star Autism Center are accused of submitting phony claims for services that weren't ever provided.
This past week, Luger told WCCO's Chad Hartman that while Minnesota has this issue, he believes it is something that government can resolve.
"Minnesota has a fraud problem and I think we're seeing it," Luger told Hartman. "But it's something that we can conquer and turn around and it's going to take really smart people at all levels of government to do that."