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Former pro hockey player Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., raised eyebrows Tuesday with a social media post referencing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s recent decision to not seek re-election but refusal to resign, as Walz vows to address the state’s ongoing fraud issues.
Staub’s post compared Walz’s determination to fight fraudsters to the infamous 1994 murder trial of former NFL player O.J. Simpson, when Simpson vowed to find his wife’s killer after being acquitted for the murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
“Tim Walz staying in office to fight the fraudsters is like O.J. saying he’d look for the real killer. He should resign,” Stauber wrote.
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A Walz spokesperson responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Stauber’s post.
“Lol that is not news!” the spokesperson said.
Although Simpson was acquitted in the 1994 case, he later lost a civil lawsuit connected to the deaths. Simpson was found liable in civil court in 1997 and ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages. Most of that judgment went unpaid during Simpson’s lifetime.
Simpson died last April after a private cancer battle. Near the end of his life, he remained in Las Vegas and returned to the public eye on X, posting reactions to current events. Simpson’s estate has taken a key step toward paying Goldman’s family nearly $58 million — nearly three decades after Goldman won a wrongful death judgment in a civil case against Simpson, according to a November report by TMZ.
Meanwhile, Walz has been the subject of immense national scrutiny since October. He ended his bid for an unprecedented third term amid stinging criticism from Republicans and some Democrats over his handling of his state’s massive welfare assistance fraud scandal.
WALZ’S LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AND PROGRESSIVE SENATE HOPEFUL SLAMMED FOR LEADERSHIP AMID SOMALI FRAUD CRISIS
However, Walz insisted Tuesday he will not step down from his position, and passionately declared he will stay in office to help fight the state’s fraudsters who potentially stole billions of dollars in taxpayer dollars under his watch.
“I’m not going anywhere. And you can make all your requests for me to resign. Over my dead body will that happen,” Walz said.
More than 90 people — most from Minnesota’s large Somali community — have been charged since 2022 in what has been described as the nation’s largest COVID-era scheme. How much money has been stolen through alleged money laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers and Medicaid services is still being tabulated. But the U.S. attorney in Minnesota said the scope of the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion.
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Prosecutors said some of the dozens that have already pleaded guilty in the case used the money to buy luxury cars, real estate, jewelry and international vacations, with some of the funds also sent overseas and potentially into the hands of Islamic terrorists.
“This is on my watch, I am accountable for this and, more importantly, I am the one that will fix it,” Walz told reporters last month, taking responsibility for the scandal.
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