Amy Klobuchar is campaigning for governor on a promise to root out fraud in Minnesota, but a review of more than 1,000 press releases from her Senate office found she never once mentioned the state's multibillion-dollar social-services scandal while it was unfolding.
Fox News Digital reviewed every press release Klobuchar's Senate office published between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2025, the entire period during which the Feeding Our Future fraud case and the broader social-services theft dominated Minnesota headlines. Not one of those releases mentioned the scandal by name. The review searched for "Minnesota fraud," "social services fraud," "Medicaid fraud," "autism fraud," "Housing Stabilization Services," "child nutrition fraud," "DHS fraud," and "nonprofit fraud." Zero hits across the board.
Klobuchar's office did issue releases about other forms of fraud during that window. But on the single largest theft of taxpayer money in the state's history, a scandal prosecutors say could total more than $9 billion, the senior senator from Minnesota said nothing through her official communications channel for nearly four years.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth, who serves as Minnesota's House Speaker, drew attention to that gap during a speech earlier in August when she released her own plan to fight fraud. In a Friday interview with Fox News Digital, Demuth did not hold back about what the silence means.
Demuth told Fox News Digital:
"As Feeding Our Future was breaking and all of the fraud that was being talked about, the absent voice that I was noticing was Senator Klobuchar."
The Feeding Our Future scandal broke in late January 2022. Federal prosecutors described it as a $250 million fraud scheme exploiting child nutrition programs. But the rot ran far deeper than one nonprofit. Prosecutors have said the broader social-services fraud across Minnesota could exceed $9 billion, a staggering figure built on years of lax oversight at state agencies.
Governor Tim Walz, who presided over the state government while the fraud metastasized, announced on January 5, 2026, at a press conference at the State Capitol in St. Paul that he would not seek reelection. His decision came amid mounting political fallout from the scandal. Klobuchar breezed through the Democratic primary and now heads into November as the favorite to replace him.
Minnesota's political landscape has shifted considerably in the wake of the fraud crisis. Fox News midterm rankings have tracked the state's competitive dynamics as voter frustration with Democratic governance grows.
Klobuchar released a campaign ad earlier in August promising a state audit on her first day as governor that would "root out waste fraud and abuse." She also posted on X: "It's time for results, not excuses."
Demuth sees the timing as telling. She pointed out that Klobuchar spent two decades in the Senate, including years when the fraud was accelerating, and did nothing publicly to address it. Demuth told Fox News Digital:
"She with her extended time, twenty years as a senator, could have held hearings but not only did she not hold hearings, the hearing that took place a few months ago about fraud here in the state of Minnesota she didn't even attend and so I think that speaks very loudly to the people of Minnesota that we have a twenty-year senator, the most explosive fraud that has taken place a theft of our tax dollars here and yet, there was no mention."
That claim, that Klobuchar skipped a recent congressional hearing on Minnesota fraud, adds another layer to the record gap. Klobuchar's campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on either the press-release findings or the missed hearing.
Demuth pressed the point further, questioning Klobuchar's past praise of Walz. She noted that Klobuchar had called Walz "an exceptional governor" and "a great governor" while he was running for vice president, and asked why the senator never partnered with him to address the fraud consuming the state.
"My question is, where were you for the last 10 years, but absolutely the last eight years?"
Fraud has become a defining issue across Minnesota's 2026 races. A retired state trooper running in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District has built an entire campaign around the issue, reflecting how deeply the scandal has reshaped the state's politics.
Demuth's argument rests on more than opposition research. After becoming House Speaker in 2025, she established the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, a move she made before launching her gubernatorial bid. She posted on X: "Billions of our tax dollars stolen. It's time for change."
Demuth framed the race as a credibility test for voters, telling Fox News Digital:
"Who are Minnesotans gonna trust for their next governor? Somebody that has just decided to talk about fraud now that they're running for office or someone that has been fighting fraud this entire time? And I think I am the most trustworthy when it comes to ending fraud and respecting taxpayer dollars as your next governor."
Demuth earned the Republican nomination after defeating MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in the August primary. Demuth secured 43.6% of the vote to Lindell's 32.3%, despite Lindell carrying a personal endorsement from President Donald Trump. Minnesota Republican Chairman Alex Plechash had argued the party needed to nominate "the candidate best positioned to defeat Amy Klobuchar," and primary voters agreed.
The Washington Examiner reported that the Minnesota Republican Party had openly opposed Trump's endorsement of Lindell, warning that the general election against Klobuchar demanded disciplined leadership. Demuth's primary win positioned her as exactly the kind of candidate party leaders wanted: a sitting state official with a governing record on the issue that will define the race.
Republican Senate hopeful Michele Tafoya told Fox News Digital earlier in August that Minnesota voters are "ready for a change", a sentiment that tracks with the broader frustration over years of fraud and the Democratic establishment's failure to confront it. The GOP gubernatorial primary result signaled that Republican voters, too, want a candidate focused on competence over celebrity.
The core problem for Klobuchar is straightforward. Between 2022 and 2025, her Senate office issued more than 1,000 press releases. Some addressed fraud, just not the fraud happening in her own state, the one that prosecutors say could reach $9 billion, the one that forced her party's governor out of the race.
She could have held hearings. She could have issued statements. She could have shown up to the hearing that did happen. By Demuth's account, and by the documentary record Fox News Digital reviewed, Klobuchar did none of those things.
Now she wants voters to believe she will audit the mess on day one. Minnesota's Democratic primary results suggest the party's base is not punishing its candidates for ignoring inconvenient problems. But a general electorate may be less forgiving.
Voters can read a thousand press releases. They can also count to zero.
