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WATCH: Walz, Ellison, Omar refuse to answer when pressed on fraud after contentious fraud hearing

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WATCH: Walz, Ellison, Omar refuse to answer when pressed on fraud after contentious fraud hearing

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Following the highly anticipated House Oversight Committee hearing on fraud Wednesday, Fox News Digital pressed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison about their roles in the scandal but received no response from the embattled officials.

“Why wasn’t the fraud caught sooner, governor?” Walz was asked after the hearing. “Almost $10 billion — why wasn’t it caught sooner?”

Walz declined to answer as he was escorted down a hallway by staff but stopped briefly to speak with another individual. During a second encounter, Walz again declined to answer the question but acknowledged a security guard as he walked down the hallway.

“Mr. Attorney General, can you tell us why the fraud wasn’t caught sooner?” Ellison was asked after his testimony.

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TAFOYA RIPS WALZ ‘DODGING’ ACCOUNTABILITY IN HEARING, UNVEILS PLAN TO FIGHT FRAUD: ‘FULL WEIGHT OF THE LAW’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, AG Keith Ellison and Rep. Ilhan Omar avoided questions from Fox News Digital on Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images )

Ellison did not respond and continued walking up a staircase.

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who did not testify Wednesday but has faced criticism for her ties to the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal in the state, did not respond after the hearing when Fox News Digital began asking her questions.

Walz and Ellison faced a barrage of tough questions from Republicans during the hearing on the massive fraud scandal in the state, with most focused on one key theme: What did they know, and when did they know it?

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Walz and Ellison were asked multiple times for specifics about when they were first made aware of the fraud and faced sharp rebukes from Republican members, including Rep. Virginia Foxx.

WALZ MOCKED ONLINE AFTER GOP LAWMAKER FLOATS THEORY IN HEATED HEARING ABOUT WHY KAMALA HARRIS CHOSE HIM AS VP

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in the U.S. Capitol Building on March 4, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“You did not do your job, you did not do your job,” Foxx told Walz. “You did not protect taxpayer dollars. You allowed massive fraud. You and Mr. Ellison allowed massive fraud to go on in the state of Minnesota. It is unfortunate, as somebody said, that you can’t be held personally responsible at this stage in the game.”

An exchange between GOP Rep. Jim Jordan and Walz sparked immediate pushback from conservatives on social media. 

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One of the most contentious exchanges came during questioning from GOP Rep. Nancy Mace when she pressed Walz for specific numbers on how many children are in his state, the massive increase in autism care spending and why that occurred, without getting specific figures from Walz.

“OK, so your excuse before — that you didn’t know what the 2017 autism numbers were — because you were not governor, and today you can’t answer the numbers about 2024 as governor, and you still said you prepared for this hearing today. It’s unbelievable.”

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Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to reporters after announcing he would not seek reelection at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., January 5, 2026. (Reuters/Tim Evans)

GOP Rep. Clay Higgins confronted Ellison in another heated moment, asking him to say he was “leading” the fight to root out corruption. Without receiving the specific answer he was looking for, Higgins called for Ellison’s resignation.

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“I’m not talking about Medicaid fraud, don’t hide behind that,” Higgins said, interrupting Ellison. “You have the authority to prosecute anything criminally that the governor asks you to, and this thing is big. I’m giving you an opportunity, sir, are you leading the criminal investigative effort into this massive fraud across the board…or not?” Higgins pressed.

“You are not leading. I’m going to say, Mr. Chairman, that the attorney general of the state of Minnesota should resign,” Higgins said.

At the close of the hearing, things became tense again when GOP Rep. Nick Langworthy suggested that Walz, who is still serving as governor despite dropping out of his reelection bid due to the fraud scandal, should be impeached for “malfeasance,” citing Minnesota’s Constitution.

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Cleveland, OH

WOW! $5M top prize won on Ohio Lottery scratch-off

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WOW! M top prize won on Ohio Lottery scratch-off


CLEVELAND (WJW) — A $50 Ohio Lottery scratch-off ticket recently sold in Cleveland paid off 100,000 times over.

AJ’s Drive Thru, 10301 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland, sold an Ultimate $5,000,000 Scratch-Off ticket that won the top prize of $200,000 per year for 25 years, according to a Thursday, April 30, news release from the Ohio Lottery.

That’s a total of $5 million.

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The ticket was claimed by a trust, which opted for the 25-year annuity, rather than a lump sum, according to the release.

After mandatory state and local taxes of 26.75%, the trust is taking home a total of $3,662,500.

As of Thursday, three top prizes still remained for that scratch-off.



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Illinois

Illinois in line for $148.8M opioid settlement payout from Purdue Pharma

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Illinois in line for 8.8M opioid settlement payout from Purdue Pharma


Illinois is receiving $148.8 million from Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family as part of a nationwide $7.4 billion settlement agreement that took effect Friday, marking the state’s latest payout from companies that systematically addicted generations of Americans to opioids.

The money will be doled out over the next 15 years, mostly in the next three, under the deal reached last spring by a coalition of state attorneys general including Illinois’ Kwame Raoul.

“No amount of money will ever put right the devastating effects of Purdue’s and the Sacklers’ prioritization of profits over people’s lives and the welfare of our communities,” Raoul said in a statement. “I will continue to ensure settlement funding is distributed equitably throughout the state to help support programs that are trying to mitigate the opioid addiction crisis.”

A nationwide investigation of Purdue Pharma was launched in 2016 over the company’s role in fueling the opioid epidemic through the over-prescription of painkillers like Oxycontin, and the downplaying of risk for addiction.

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Illinois sued Purdue and its owners in the Sackler family in 2019, when Purdue filed for bankruptcy.

The overarching settlement agreement, which permanently bars the Sacklers from selling opioids in the U.S., calls for the family to pay $1.5 billion and Purdue to pay $900 million in the first payment. They’ll also pay $500 million in a year, the same amount in two years and $500 million in three years.

Opioid settlements with other companies linked to the nationwide crisis have totaled more than $58 billion, with Illinois so far earmarked for $1.6 billion.

More than $531 million of that has already been paid out to the state from various distributors and pharmaceutical companies.

About 725,000 people died of opioid overdoses across the country from 1999-2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Overdoses spiked in Cook County during the COVID-19 pandemic, to a staggering high of 2,001 deaths in 2022, with 91% of those cases tied to fentanyl. Fatal opioid overdoses have declined since then, with 1,822 deaths countywide in 2023, 1,169 in ‘24 and 687 last year, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Settlement funds are dedicated to addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programs. For more information on treatment for opioid addiction, visit helplineil.org or call 833-2FINDHELP.



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Indiana

Threats of violence reported at 2 central Indiana schools, police investigating

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Threats of violence reported at 2 central Indiana schools, police investigating


INDIANAPOLIS — Police are investigating at two central Indiana schools on Friday after reported threats of violence.

Avon High School

According to an alert from Avon High School, the school was placed on a lockdown around 2:14 p.m.

Officials said the lockdown was lifted and the school campus is currently under a ‘secure the building’ status after an anonymous call.

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The following alert was sent out to students and staff of Avon High School on Friday.

The alert said the call referenced threats outside of the building, and the interior of the school was not threatened.

A sweep of both the interior and exterior of the school found no threats.

All students are safe, and they will remain in classrooms until early dismissal, officials said.

Traffic is currently being blocked from entering the campus until an investigation is completed.

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The Avon School Police Department said the incident will now be investigated by Federal authorities.

Zionsville High School

There were also reports of a police presence at Zionsville High School on Friday.

According to Superintendent Dr. Rebecca Coffman, a call indicating a bomb threat was received around 2 p.m.

Law enforcement immediately responded to assess the threat and found it to be non-credible.

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All students were reported to be safe. Students will be released following normal protocols this afternoon.

An investigation is ongoing, Zionsville PD told WRTV.

WRTV has a crew at both scenes.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.





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