Conservatives, GOP lawmakers and MAGA followers were ecstatic Tuesday following the announcement that Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz was among those named in a criminal referral forwarded to the Justice Department (DOJ) by Vice President JD Vance.
“Lock them up!” wrote Abdul-Rahman Magba-Kamara, a conservative political activist and commentator, echoing the chants heard during President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign targeting former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
On Monday evening, Vance announced that he had sent the DOJ a criminal referral naming Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison regarding allegations of “widespread fraud in federally funded social services programs in the state.” Allegations of systemic fraud in Minnesota received renewed attention last year in the wake of the controversial fraud investigation by influencer Nick Shirley into Somali daycares.
While the announcement was met with scrutiny by some critics, including from journalist Marcy Wheeler, who called the referral “an attempt to distract from far bigger right-wing crimes, especially by Trump” – conservative onlookers couldn’t contain their excitement with the news.
“Let’s go!!” wrote Andrew Kolvet, spokesperson for the conservative youth outreach and advocacy organization Turning Point USA.
“I voted for this,” wrote Dustin Grage, a Republican political strategist and conservative commentator based in Minnesota.
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) thanked Vance for having made the criminal referral, and proclaimed that “accountability is coming.” Anthony D-Esposito, a former lawmaker currently serving as Trump’s inspector general for the Labor Department, echoed Emmer’s remarks.
“Anyone who facilitated fraud, misled investigators, or retaliated against whistleblowers should be held fully accountable,” D-Esposito wrote Tuesday in a social media post on X. “Let’s. Go.”
I voted for this. https://t.co/F1VWbCLGUO
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) June 9, 2026