As the city of Minneapolis faces a $1 billion welfare scandal, Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. Scott Jensen spoke to Fox News Digital about his belief that Gov. Tim Walz is not only directly responsible for the controversy, but suggested that a “cover up” that’s “worse than Watergate” is at play.
Walz’s role in what’s been labeled by prosecutors as the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country, stemming from allegations that the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future and its associates defrauded federal child-nutrition programs for hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID-19 aid, has been a major topic of conversation in the gubernatorial race in recent weeks.
“In Minnesota, I don’t think that there’s any way to cut it other than to say the buck has to stop somewhere,” Jensen told Fox News Digital. “And it’s always been that the buck stops at the governor’s desk. Arguably, the governor is the CEO of the state of Minnesota and the business of the government. And Tim Walz has been derelict in doing his duties, and he’s absolutely corrupted common sense.”
The dereliction, Jensen explained, is evident when one examines a timeline he says shows Walz knew about Feeding Our Future fraud far earlier than he has admitted and then misled Minnesotans about his administration’s response.
“Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Education knew in 2020 that there was a problem… but they didn’t get the FBI involved until 2021,” Jensen said. “And yet they’ve made claims that as soon as they learned about it, they got the FBI involved. That’s not true. Their timeline’s a year off.”
Jensen argues the delay was not just mismanagement but part of a broader pattern of deflection and dishonesty from the governor’s office.
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Dr. Scott Jensen claims Gov. Tim Walz is directly responsible for the COVID-19 fraud scheme involving Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future.AP
5“Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Education knew in 2020 that there was a problem… but they didn’t get the FBI involved until 2021,” Jensen said.AP
“At the end of the day, he’s demonstrated a very skilled approach to deflecting, so that he’s not being honest,” Jensen said.
Jensen cited several examples of actions by Walz that he views as deflecting the blame onto others, including in 2022 after the first indictments in the scandal were handed down by the FBI and U.S. Attorney, and Walz placed blame on district court judge John Guthman for allegedly forcing the state to continue fraudulent payments.
In what was described by media outlets at the time as a “rare public rebuke,” Guthman fired back at Walz accusing him of making “inaccurate statements.”
“When Judge Guthman did that, then you saw Tim Walz and Keith Ellison try for someone else they could blame it on,” Jensen told Fox News Digital. “So they blamed it on the FBI and said, ‘Well, the FBI told us we had to keep paying because we’re not supposed to interfere with their investigation.’ And the FBI said, ‘We didn’t make you continue fraudulent payments to the Feeding Our Future agency.’”
5The offices of Feeding Our Future on Jan. 27, 2022.AP
Jensen told Fox News Digital that the “elephant in the room” is what else will come out in the future about the “cover up” of the scandal.
“The underlying question has to be: is there something more nefarious than this?” Jensen said.
“Is there literally sequestration of funds that at some point in time could be paid back to people when things have calmed down? Is there some pay-to-play scheme that we haven’t yet been informed about? That’s what’s really frightening, because if that’s the case, then you have to, you have to ask yourself the question: will there be at some level a need for criminal prosecution to take place of some Minnesota elected officials?”
5“With where it’s gone from the beginning to now, recognizing that there’s been an interest in covering this up, for many people it has some of the haunting reminders of Watergate,” Jensen said.AP
The welfare fraud controversy has received the attention of the federal government in recent days.
The Small Business Administration announced it is investigating the network of Somali groups in Minnesota that it says are tied to the massive COVID fraud scandal highlighting alleged systemic failures by Walz’s team to properly audit public funds.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has claimed that “because of Governor Walz’s negligence, criminals — including Somali terrorists — stole nearly $1 billion from the program while children suffered.” He is leading the probe into Walz’s role in the Feeding Our Future scandal.
President Donald Trump also recently announced a flurry of new actions to crack down and investigate fraud schemes in Minnesota, which he has assailed as a “hub of money laundering activity,” and cited as the basis of his decision to terminate deportation protections for hundreds of Somali migrants.
Senior Trump administration officials announced fresh investigations this week, including a new Treasury Department probe into how taxpayer dollars were allegedly diverted to the terrorist organization al-Shabaab, according to Secretary Scott Bessent.
“With where it’s gone from the beginning to now, recognizing that there’s been an interest in covering this up, for many people it has some of the haunting reminders of Watergate,” Jensen told Fox News Digital.
5House Oversight Chairman James Comer is leading the probe into Walz’s role in the Feeding Our Future scandal.Star Tribune via Getty Images
“And yet, in this way, this time, it could even be worse, because it’s possible that there’s something far more nefarious than simply covering something up. It could be a pay to play scheme that involves elected officials.”
Fox News Digital asked Jensen, who ran against Walz in 2022, what he believes the governor’s legacy is after two terms in office.
“Tim Walz’ legacy right now would be fraud at an unprecedented level, and I think from his policies, I think people would say he seemed to worship the ground that AOC and Bernie Sanders walked on,” Jensen explained. “He went from someone who many people who knew him earlier in life thought of as a moderate person to a person who was literally living on the five-yard line of the hard left part of the Democratic field.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment.
When the Ground Shakes and the Truth Trembles
At first, the headlines read like a standard disaster report: a powerful earthquake strikes Colombia, buildings fall, lives are lost. But as emergency crews dug through the rubble and eyewitness accounts surfaced, something didn’t sit right.
The destruction was undeniable—but so was the silence.
A Catastrophe That Raised Questions
On Thursday morning, central Colombia was rocked by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake centered near Villavicencio, a town nestled 80 kilometers southeast of Bogotá. The tremor lasted nearly 45 seconds—but the consequences will be felt for much longer.
In Bogotá, chaos erupted as part of a high-rise apartment tower crumpled, its concrete frame groaning before slumping sideways into a neighboring building. The image was surreal—steel supports snapped like twigs, balconies sheared off, air conditioners dangling over sidewalks now littered with brick and dust.
First responders arrived within minutes. The city’s fire department confirmed multiple fatalities and dozens injured, with a growing number feared trapped beneath the wreckage. Rescue teams worked against time, swarmed by the sound of sirens and the smell of concrete dust and scorched metal.
But in the background, a quieter narrative emerged—one that has raised more than a few eyebrows.
Too Many Coincidences, Too Little Clarity
Reports began circulating of unusual absences in the hours before the quake—maintenance teams not showing up, elevator services shut down without warning, and entire floors said to be “temporarily vacated” for undisclosed reasons.
Even more curious: government officials declined interviews, citing the “sensitive nature” of the investigation. Some residents claim they received anonymous alerts on social media urging them to avoid certain buildings.
And while authorities insist it was just a natural disaster, a growing number of locals aren’t convinced.
“It’s like someone knew this was coming,” said one resident who lived three blocks from the collapse. “But no one said anything—until it was too late.”
A Pattern of Silence
This isn’t the first time Colombians have felt the sting of disaster wrapped in bureaucracy. The partial collapse of the apartment complex mirrors other recent events in Latin America—where poor infrastructure, ignored warnings, and political red tape turned natural disasters into full-blown human catastrophes.
Could it simply be a failure of engineering? Or are we once again witnessing a dangerous blend of negligence and silence?
The Bigger Picture
As images of the leaning tower spread across social media, the tragedy has reignited calls for transparency in construction oversight, improved disaster preparedness, and accountability at every level of government.
But beyond the dust and headlines lies a deeper truth: when systems fail—whether structural, political, or ethical—people pay the price.
Final Reflection
What happened in Bogotá may seem like a freak accident. But for the survivors, the families of the lost, and the growing chorus of skeptics, it feels like something more calculated—or at least preventable. The ground shook for 45 seconds. The consequences will last far longer.
And as investigators sift through both rubble and records, one question lingers louder than the rest:
Was this truly an act of nature… or the result of human failure hidden in plain sight?
Whistleblower Describes Maxwell In Prison, Reveals Nothing on Trump
Ghislaine Maxwell received preferential treatment while incarcerated at a federal prison in Texas, according to a former nurse at the facility. Noella Turnage, who has worked for the Bureau of Prisons since 2019, identified herself Monday as the whistleblower who previously provided some of Maxwell’s correspondence to members of the House Judiciary Committee, Newsweek reported.
“I actually emailed them from work, from my Bureau of Prisons email address, and said, ‘Hey, this is who I am, this is where I work, and I have some things I think you might be interested in, and documents you may be interested in,’” Turnage told KBTX. “I didn’t even specify what it was.”
A staff member for Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, responded to Turnage within 30 minutes, she said. The 46-year-old added that she has since participated in multiple follow-up calls regarding her disclosures.
“I have not shared them with anyone other than the committee,” Turnage said of Maxwell’s emails, some of which she showed to a reporter this week, KBTX reported.
Over the summer, Maxwell confirmed to the Department of Justice during a series of sit-down meetings that she did not witness Donald Trump exhibit inappropriate behavior on the occasions that she met him.
Maxwell had met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for a total of nine hours late last month. According to her attorney, she had been forthright during questioning and did not “plead the fifth.”
According to ABC News’ sources, Maxwell reportedly said that Trump had “never done anything in her presence that would have caused concern.”
As for Turnage, she said she provided Maxwell’s correspondence after facing retaliation from Bureau of Prisons officials for reporting what she described as poor working conditions and the alleged mistreatment of inmates at Federal Prison Camp Bryan.
She said her complaints resulted in her reassignment to the facility’s “phone room,” where her responsibilities included monitoring inmate telephone calls and emails, Newsweek noted.
“They call it prison jail,” Turnage told KBTX. “I would be looking for any evidence that they’re doing something they shouldn’t be. Like, are they trying to smuggle in drugs? Are they doing this? Are they whatever? But these women aren’t risking that, not for the most part. And same as emails, you’re monitoring for anything they shouldn’t be doing. Usually on the phone, the biggest thing you run into is they’ll call a family member who then conference calls somebody else that they’re not supposed to be talking to.”
Turnage said that Tanisha Hall, the warden of the federal prison, personally handled all incoming mail addressed to Maxwell.
Maxwell — who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s international sex-trafficking operation — also received “private, catered-style visitation arrangements” at the minimum-security facility, according to KBTX.
“There was the whole thing about closing down the compound for her to have a visit,” Turnage told the outlet.
Maxwell’s relatives were permitted to attend private meetings, often disguised as legal consultations, claims Turnage.
“I guess maybe they can bring everybody and say it’s a legal visit?” she continued. “I don’t know, but they’re going to have an area cornered off for you, so it won’t be a problem coming in. They’re going to provide drinks, coffee, snacks, and all this stuff.”
Some of Ghislaine Maxwell’s outgoing correspondence appeared “coded,” with irregular spacing and formatting that differed from messages sent by other inmates, according to Turnage.
The veteran Bureau of Prisons (BOP) employee printed some of Maxwell’s messages and examined them at home. After noticing a Wall Street Journal report in early October about the favorable treatment that Epstein’s former associate allegedly received at the federal prison, Turnage shared the emails with Raskin’s office.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee wrote in a letter to Donald Trump that the convicted child sex offender plans to file a commutation application for the Trump administration’s review, according to reporting by NBC and CBS
Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty; Kevin Dietsch/Getty
Ghislaine Maxwell is planning to seek a commutation of her prison sentence from President Donald Trump, according to multiple news reports.
The disgraced 63-year-old former British socialite is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for her role in sex trafficking underage girls alongside financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee wrote a letter to Trump on Monday, Nov. 10, saying that Maxwell is planning to file the commutation application for Trump’s administration’s review, according to reporting by NBC and CBS.
NBC cites a whistleblower and CBS cites a letter obtained by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee and seen by the news outlet.
Per CBS, the letter from the committee’s Democrats says it has received information that shows “either that Ms. Maxwell is herself requesting you release her from her 20-year prison sentence for her role as a co-conspirator in Jeffrey Epstein’s international child sex trafficking ring, or that this child sex predator now holds such tremendous sway in the second Trump Administration that you and your DOJ will follow her clemency recommendations.”
A source close to Maxwell tells PEOPLE that “nobody knows what the President will do.” Trump has been known to have had a social relationship with Epstein and his name was listed in Epstein’s flight logs released by the attorney general in February.
The letter from House Democrats further claims Maxwell is receiving “concierge-style” treatment at the minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, where she was transferred in July, NBC News reported.
Per the BOP website, FPC Bryan is described as a facility with “dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing,” compared to the “double-fenced perimeters” at FCI Tallahassee, where she was housed before. At the time, a BOP spokesperson would not confirm the reason Maxwell was moved, PEOPLE previously reported.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Sigrid McCawley, an attorney who has represented Epstein accusers including Virginia Giuffre, said, “the news of Ghislaine Maxwell seeking a modification to her prison sentence is deeply disturbing and offensive to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. It would be the greatest miscarriage of justice to give any privilege to Maxwell who is a convicted sex offender of young girls.”
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Maxwell has been seeking a pardon or commutation from Trump in exchange for information on associates of Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 in what was controversially ruled a suicide as he faced sex trafficking charges.
Earlier this summer, she spoke with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, reportedly speaking about 100 ex-associates of Epstein, and was subpoenaed to testify in front of Congress. That court date has since been postponed, per NBC. However, she has said she intends to assert her Fifth Amendment rights unless she gets immunity from prosecution, PEOPLE previously reported.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.