Political cartoon: A man standing in a mountain of newspapers with Feeding Our Future fraud headlines, shouting 'Why won't the Star Tribune cover this?' while a bystander reads one of the hundreds of copies.
Illustration: “The Newsstand” — Emmer surrounded by hundreds of Star Tribune fraud stories, asking why they won’t cover the story.

Executive Summary

On February 11, 2026, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN-06) posted on X (formerly Twitter) claiming that the Star Tribune is “complicit” in the Minnesota fraud scandal and “refused to report” on the Feeding Our Future case. The post embedded a video from the January 7, 2026 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, in which Emmer stated: “The Star Tribune is complicit. They have had this story for years, as you’ve just heard, and have refused to report it. In fact, they continue to try to cover up.”

Verdict: False

The Minnesota Star Tribune has published hundreds of original investigative stories on the Feeding Our Future fraud and related Minnesota social services fraud since the FBI raid in January 2022—and was covering Medicaid fraud in the state as far back as 2014. The paper’s investigative team broke numerous exclusive stories, built a comprehensive fraud-tracking database, filed dozens of public records requests, and reported on state oversight failures that no other outlet uncovered. Emmer’s claim is directly contradicted by the publicly available reporting record.

The Claim

In the embedded video from the January 7, 2026 House Oversight Committee hearing, Emmer made the following statements while questioning Minnesota State Rep. Marion Rarick (R):

“The Star Tribune is complicit. They have had this story for years, as you’ve just heard, and have refused to report it. In fact, they continue to try to cover up. Our Minnesota Republican colleagues have demanded answers and accountability for years, but have seen nothing from Walz, his administration, our Democrat colleagues, like Tina Smith, Amy Klobuchar, Ilhan Omar, and Angie Craig, or the worthless Star Tribune. Thank God for President Donald J. Trump for bringing attention to this issue!”
— Rep. Tom Emmer, House Oversight Committee hearing, January 7, 2026

This was not the first time Emmer made such claims. In December 2025, he told Fox News Digital: “The Minnesota Star Tribune has proven itself to be nothing more than communist fish wrap.”

Emmer’s official congressional website published a full transcript of his hearing remarks under the headline “ICYMI: Whip Emmer blasts Tim Walz, Keith Ellison, Somali fraudsters in Oversight Committee hearing on Minnesota fraud.”

The Evidence: Star Tribune’s Reporting Record

Scope of Coverage

The Star Tribune’s own accounting, corroborated by independent review, shows the paper has published hundreds of articles on the Feeding Our Future fraud and related Minnesota social services fraud. A spokesperson for the paper stated in December 2025:

“The notion that the Minnesota Star Tribune is downplaying the fraud crisis is contradicted by a simple Google search. The newsroom has written hundreds of articles, filed dozens of public information requests, and broken countless stories that hold state leaders accountable for this massive theft of taxpayer money.”
— Minnesota Star Tribune spokesperson, December 2025 (via Fox News)

The paper further noted it was the first outlet to report that the Walz administration was withholding information about which social service providers had been suspended, and that as far back as 2014, the Star Tribune reported on how Minnesota had become one of the worst states in the country for investigating and prosecuting Medicaid fraud.

Detailed Timeline & Scorecard

Star Tribune reporting   Emmer action   Both

Who Actually Did the Work?

Emmer’s first public action on Feeding Our Future came in September 2022—a co-signed letter to the USDA. The Star Tribune had already published dozens of investigative stories by that point. Emmer introduced no fraud-prevention legislation until the SCAM Act in January 2026, nearly four years after the scandal broke.

Emmer’s Words vs. The Record

Key Original Investigative Contributions

Beyond day-to-day coverage, the Star Tribune broke several major original stories that no other outlet reported:

Whistleblower failures exposed: Star Tribune reporters uncovered documents showing the MN Department of Education and the AG’s Office failed to act on whistleblower complaints about Feeding Our Future’s leader in 2018 and 2019, before more than $200 million was paid to the nonprofit.

Ellison AG inaction: The Star Tribune revealed that AG Keith Ellison’s office referred the whistleblower to other agencies rather than opening its own investigation, and did not launch a probe until February 2022—after Feeding Our Future had already collected approximately $250 million.

Federal audit failures: A 2022 Star Tribune review of federal audits found MDE was repeatedly faulted by federal regulators for management of meal programs before the pandemic, with broader federal concerns about USDA’s sloppy oversight.

State withholding records: Star Tribune was the first to report the Walz administration was withholding information about which social service providers had been suspended, and fought for public records access.

Comprehensive fraud database: Star Tribune built and maintains a database tracking every criminal case involving theft of state and federal funds since the first Feeding Our Future indictment, with documented methodology published for public scrutiny.

Criminal background investigation: Star Tribune discovered that multiple meal distributors under federal investigation had prior felony convictions, and that neither Feeding Our Future nor MDE conducted background checks.

Linked fraud schemes: Star Tribune connected Feeding Our Future defendants to day care operations also receiving state funds, revealing overlapping fraud networks.

Contrast: Rep. Emmer’s Own Record

While Rep. Emmer now claims he and his Republican colleagues have been “demanding answers and accountability for years,” the documented record of his own actions is substantially more limited:

September 2022: Emmer co-signed a letter with the MN Republican congressional delegation to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack asking for documents related to the scandal—this was after charges had already been filed and the Star Tribune had been reporting for eight months.

July 2023: Emmer co-signed a follow-up letter to Vilsack complaining about an “inadequate response.”

November 2023: MN Republican delegation sent a letter to the Walz administration requesting documentation related to MDE’s oversight.

December 2025–January 2026: Emmer began making extensive public statements about the fraud only after President Trump elevated the story nationally and it became politically advantageous. His SCAM Act, targeting denaturalization of convicted fraudsters, was introduced in January 2026.

Notably, Emmer’s congressional record shows no legislation introduced specifically addressing fraud prevention or meal program oversight prior to December 2025, despite the fraud being publicly known since January 2022 and charges filed in September 2022. His primary legislative focus during this period was cryptocurrency regulation (the CLARITY Act, CBDC opposition) and partisan messaging. Emmer’s first letter on the topic came seven months after the Star Tribune was already deep into its investigative coverage.

The January 7, 2026 Hearing: Full Context

The hearing at which Emmer made these claims was the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s first hearing on Minnesota fraud. Emmer questioned three Minnesota state Republican representatives: Marion Rarick, Walter Hudson, and Kristin Robbins.

Key exchange (from official transcript on Emmer’s congressional website):

Emmer: “You have an understanding that 1,000 whistleblowers running an account on X have come forward to expose fraud in Minnesota state agencies, and they have been entirely ignored by Tim Walz, and have even been retaliated against. Is that accurate?”
Rarick: “That is correct.”
Emmer: “Are their claims credible or are they politically motivated against Walz?”
Rarick: “They’re completely credible. In fact, many of these are Walz administration employees.”
Emmer: “They’re actually Democrats as well?”
Rarick: “They are actually Democrats as well.”
Emmer: “Based on what you’ve learned over the last several years, do you have any doubt that Governor Tim Walz knew about this fraud as it was occurring?”
Rarick: “He absolutely knew that it was occurring.”

The Star Tribune reported on this very hearing in a story published the same day: “Minnesota Republicans blast Walz administration in congressional fraud hearing.” The story quoted Emmer’s attacks and noted the broader political context, including Walz’s decision to drop his reelection bid.

Analysis

What Emmer Gets Wrong

1. “Refused to report” — The Star Tribune has published hundreds of articles on the fraud since January 2022, including original investigative reporting that exposed state oversight failures no other outlet uncovered. The paper’s investigative reporter Jeffrey Meitrodt has been assigned to the story full-time for years.

2. “Had this story for years and refused to report it” — The fraud became public knowledge only when the FBI conducted raids on January 20, 2022. The Star Tribune was literally on-scene at the raid and published its first investigative piece the following day. Before the raid, the fraud was an active FBI investigation that was not public. No media outlet—including any conservative outlet—reported on the fraud before January 2022. Emmer himself did not publicly address it until September 2022.

3. “Continue to try to cover up” — The Star Tribune has actively fought for transparency, filing more than 10 public records requests related to fraud that were largely denied by the Walz administration. The paper broke the story that DHS was refusing to release records on suspended providers—a story that directly undermines Emmer’s “cover up” claim.

4. Conflating editorial independence with complicity — Emmer appears to object to the Star Tribune’s independent analysis of fraud totals, which found $217.7 million in documented fraud compared to the $9 billion figure cited by some prosecutors and the Trump administration. The Star Tribune published its complete methodology for public scrutiny. Disagreeing with an evidence-based analysis is not evidence of a “cover-up.”

The Broader Pattern

Emmer’s attacks on the Star Tribune follow a recognizable pattern of discrediting journalism that doesn’t align with a preferred political narrative. In December 2025, he called the paper “communist fish wrap” in an interview with Fox News Digital. This is part of a broader rhetorical strategy: by claiming the media covered up the story, Emmer positions himself and the Trump administration as the ones who “brought attention” to the issue—despite the fact that investigators, prosecutors, and the Star Tribune had been documenting the fraud for years before it became a national political issue.

The irony: Emmer’s own claim that Republicans “demanded answers and accountability for years” is supported primarily by letters co-signed in 2022 and 2023—well after the Star Tribune had already broken the story and published dozens of investigative pieces.

Sources

Primary Sources (Star Tribune)
Emmer Sources
Other Sources