Judge Says Walz Lying About Feeding Our Future, Dept. Of Ed Responds

ST. PAUL, MN — A Minnesota judge and the Walz administration are competing in a high stakes blame game.

In a rare statement, Ramsey County Judge John Guthmann on Friday accused Gov. Tim Walz of lying. Guthmann referenced comments the governor made last week regarding the Feeding Our Future fraud investigation.

On Thursday, after 48 people were federally charged in connection with Feeding Our Future, Walz said Guthmann blocked his administration's efforts to stop payments to the Bloomington-based nonprofit.

After the Minnesota Department of Education cut off funding to Feeding Our Future, the nonprofit sued the state, asking a judge to make the state pay up. That much is agreed upon.

Here is the contentious part: According to the Walz administration, Guthmann ordered the state to restart payments to Feeding Our Future in April of 2021.

"When the MDE stopped payments, Feeding Our Future hit back with accusations of racism and a sham lawsuit," the Department of Education said in a news release Thursday. "Because of Feeding Our Future’s misrepresentations in that lawsuit, a court instructed the payments to continue."

"My commissioner was threatened with jail, if she did not pay, by contempt of court the judge ruled," Walz also said on Thursday.

However, Guthmann said that isn't true.

In a rare move, the Minnesota Judicial Branch issued a statement defending Guthmann late Friday afternoon. "Judge Guthmann never ordered the Department of Education to resume payments to FOF in April 2021, or at any other time,"the statement reads.

Instead, according to Guthmann, "the Department of Education voluntarily resumed making payments to FOF. The Department of Education was not ordered by the court to do so."

The Department of Education responded to the letter Friday night, telling Minnesota Public Radio that "Feeding Our Future demanded that MDE make payments, and the court made it clear that if MDE were to continue the legal fight to withhold payments, MDE would incur sanctions and legal penalties. The court held MDE in contempt for not processing Feeding Our Future apps."

"The court held MDE in contempt for not processing Feeding Our Future applications," the department added.

The Department of Education is referencing Guthmann's June 24, 2021 ruling, in which he ordered the following:

Feeding Our Future’s motions to find MDE in contempt of the stipulated December 22, 2020 Order (“Order”) is granted. The Court finds MDE’s violation of the Order sanctionable and hereby orders MDE to pay Feeding Our Future $35,750. MDE shall pay the sanction to Feeding Our Future within thirty days of the date of this Order.

As part of the ruling on the motions for contempt, MDE is also ordered to pay Feeding Our Future’s reasonable attorneys’ fees for pursuing its motions for contempt of court in the amount of $11,750, which was stipulated by the parties, without prejudice to any other of Feeding Our Future’s claims or any of MDE’s defenses.

Read the entire ruling below:

However, there is no ruling that directly ordered the state to restart payments to Feeding Our Future.

Instead, there is a proposed order, which the judge never signed:

The governor has not directly responded to Guthmann's claims.

Meanwhile, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen said that Walz should lose his job over the legal battle.