(The Center Square) – A Minnesota media outlet is facing criticism over recent coverage of fraud in the state.
Tom Hauser of KSTP-TV, a Twin Cities-based outlet, published a story last week titled, “It’s the $9 billion question: Where is the fraud documentation?”
In the story, Hauser pointed to uncertainty among Democratic lawmakers surrounding the often-cited $9 billion figure. He also cited an investigation by the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS investigative team which found that documented cases of fraud that are currently being prosecuted in the state total less than $500 million so far.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services picked up the story, calling $9 billion a “claim.”
“Any amount of fraud is too much,” the department said in a post on social media posted alongside the KSTP story. “We recognize the seriousness of the issue, and we know we'll continue to see new charges as we harden our systems to fight fraud. This year, we've already doubled the number of referrals to law enforcement compared to last year.”
Hauser identified the source of the $9 billion number as a press conference in 2025 with then-First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson.
Since then, however, a federal report has provided additional support for the $9 billion estimate. As previously reported by The Center Square, a March report from the U.S. House Oversight Committee found that federal prosecutors “estimate that $9 billion has gone to fraud from the high-risk Medicaid programs in Minnesota since 2018.”
Officials in the Trump administration have called the widespread fraud in Minnesota “the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars through welfare fraud in American history,” while
Minnesota Republicans conducted their own hearings on the matter throughout the spring.
State Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, stated in one hearing that the fraud in Minnesota’s welfare systems is a “web.”
“This is a web and we keep finding these webs over and over,” Robbins said. “I just feel like we are still missing the mark to dismantle these webs of fraud.”
Hauser’s reporting and the post from the MDHS led to pushback from many across the state, including Media Watch Minnesota and the Minnesota-based Center of the American Experiment.
Bill Walsh, vice president of communications at the center, said it is not feasible to compare the total amount of fraud with the amount that has actually been prosecuted.
“Having received access to the Department of Human Services computer systems, Thompson could see that more than half of the activity was fraudulent. That doesn’t mean the federal or state government will ever prosecute cases that add up to that amount. I’ve also heard Thompson say more than once, ‘We prosecute people, not dollars,’” Walsh said. “A lot of the fraud will never be prosecuted. That’s one of the sad features of Minnesota’s fraud story: the sheer volume of fraud overwhelmed the system.”
Media Watch Minnesota was more pointed in its criticism of the outlet and DHS.
“Minnesota DHS, the agency responsible for allowing fraud to continue unchecked in Minnesota, is using a bogus KSTP article to downplay the scale of the fraud to the public,” it said. “With propaganda like this, it’s no wonder Democrats keep winning elections.”
Fraud also remains a critical issue for voters going into the election, with polling from June finding that 58% of Minnesota voters consider fraud in the state a major problem, while another 23% call it the biggest problem facing the North Star State.
