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Minnesota governor says Operation Metro Surge hindered fraud investigations, calls for federal help
Summary
Minnesota's governor told the Oversight Committee that staffing losses and court-related backlog at the U.S. Attorney's Office and reductions at federal agencies have made it harder to prosecute fraud, while the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension continues work and recently secured a conviction; he urged federal partnership and resources.
During the hearing, a committee member asked the governor to explain how "Operation Metro Surge" affected Minnesota's ability to investigate fraud. The governor answered that federal partners — including the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office — had been weakened or left without necessary staff, and that lead investigators had not been replaced, creating backlog and court challenges that made it harder to move fraud cases to federal prosecutors.
"Right now, those lead investigators and basically that whole team has left that office. They've not been filled back in," the governor said. He said the U.S. Attorney himself was before a federal judge on contempt issues and that the resulting backlog in the U.S. Attorney's Office makes it more difficult for the state to get cases over to federal prosecutors.
The governor said Minnesota would continue to prosecute fraud and pointed to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension as continuing to do investigations, noting, "We got a conviction this week." He said the state needs federal partners for forensic capacity and urged any organizations with relevant abilities to help. He also said offices and investigators had been "decimated," and described the situation as "completely outrageous" for those trying to take on fraud.
The attorney general's office, the governor said, has repeatedly asked the state legislature for more investigators and funding; the governor described current federal staffing and court challenges as limiting prosecutions but emphasized willingness to work with federal partners.
Democratic staff released a related report during the hearing and it was entered into the record without objection. The transcript of the recorded exchange does not show any formal vote on the matters discussed.
