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A progressive lawmaker called for greater scrutiny of crimes committed by “American citizens” and “White men” during a U.S. House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday on Minnesota’s ongoing fraud problems.
The remarks came as Democratic Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday he would not seek re-election. He dropped out after Minnesota prosecutors revealed the state may have lost up to $9 billion under Walz’s leadership through abuse of government assistance programs.
Rather than pressing witnesses on the alleged fraud, some Democrats used their allotted time to place attention on the Trump administration, Jan. 6 and other topics.
During questioning of Republican Minnesota state Rep. Kristin Robbins, Rep. Emily Randall, D-Wash., said the committee should instead focus on crimes committed by White men and Jan. 6 defendants.
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“What percentage of sexual assaults in the United States are committed by White men?” she asked Robbins. “Fifty-seven percent.”
Randall also cited data claiming that 33 individuals she described as “Jan. 6 insurrectionists” who were pardoned had been convicted of subsequent crimes. She further referenced data indicating that 41% of murder suspects in the United States in 2023 were White and that a database tracking domestic extremism found the majority of suspects were men.
“We can trot out all the data that we want to create the sense that there is a bad guy. There is a bad group of people. There are folks that are not among us. There are folks who are other. And I think we should spend a lot more time looking at ourselves,” Randall said.
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“Looking at American citizens. Looking at White men who are committing violence at disproportionate rates in our country, who are committing crimes at disproportionate rates in our country, including the President of the United States, who is sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, as so many of my colleagues have pointed out,” she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Rep. Randall’s office for comment.
The White House called Randall “very sick” in response to her comments.
“Well-known symptoms of Trump Derangement Syndrome include: unhinged rantings and defending Somali fraudsters who rip off American taxpayers. It sounds like Emily is unfortunately very sick. She should remember she was elected to represent hardworking Americans, not the fraudsters who steal their money.” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.
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In recent months, investigators say they have uncovered large-scale fraud schemes in Minnesota involving entities posing as daycare centers, medical providers and food assistance organizations. Authorities allege the groups siphoned millions in government funds by fabricating services or inflating the number of people they claimed to serve.
“The fraudsters — many of whom are from Minnesota’s Somali community — have stolen from programs meant to feed needy kids, provide services to autistic children, house low-income and disabled Americans and provide healthcare to vulnerable Medicaid recipient,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said at the hearing.
Fox News’ Leo Briceno contributed to this report.
The article was updated to include a response from the White House.
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