Minnesota fraud scandal prompts DOE grants probe of Biden administration

FIRST ON FOX: As a sweeping fraud scandal rocks Minnesota, a conservative energy watchdog is urging lawmakers to examine billions of dollars in Energy Department grants they say were hastily thrown out the door in the final weeks of the Biden administration, warning that domestic red flags may have been ignored and taxpayer money may have been subjected to waste and political cronyism.

According to information obtained by Fox Digital, Power the Future founder and director Daniel Turner sent a letter on Monday to Republican Senator Ron Johnson, chairman of the US Senate Permanent Investigation Subcommittee, and Republican Representative James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, urging lawmakers to review the grants and loan guarantees approved by the Biden administration’s Department of Energy.

“As allegations of widespread fraud among government programs in Minnesota rightfully appall American taxpayers, I am writing on behalf of Power The Future to request an immediate congressional audit of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) unprecedented grant and loan activity in the final weeks of the Biden Administration,” Turner said. wrote Turner,

According to the letter, the letter diverted lawmakers to the final months of the Biden administration; “When former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm authorized tens of billions of dollars in so-called ‘clean energy’ grants and loan guarantees, the amount exceeded the Department’s previous activities,” according to the letter.

TREASURY SECRETARY ANNOUNCES CASH REWARDS TO SCAMMERS IN MINNESOTA

“These funds were rushed out the door despite warnings from the DOE Inspector General that internal controls were inadequate and the program should be paused for further review,” the letter continued, pointing to a Department of Energy Inspector General report that recommended the department pause its $400 billion green bank due to conflict of interest concerns.

“These warnings were not taken into account,” the letter states. “The funds were distributed anyway.”

Turner noted that the Department of Energy’s Office of Loan Programs grants grants roughly. $710 million It’s part of a 12-state affordable energy initiative four days before President Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office.

The letter noted that the allocation to New Jersey “follows closely as Secretary Granholm accepts a senior role overseeing energy policy for New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill. This troubling series of events raises legitimate questions about whether federal resources are being allocated with political or personal considerations in mind rather than the objective public interest.” The statement was included.

Sherrill appointed Granholm to co-lead an action team on “Making Energy More Affordable and Reliable” following the November gubernatorial election.

DUE TO USDA FRAUD INVESTIGATION, WE IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED ALL FEDERAL FUNDS TO MINNESOTA

“This episode reflects a broader pattern that is becoming increasingly familiar to the American people: oversight mechanisms are working, red flags are being raised, and yet taxpayer dollars are still being lost, with only accountability once the money is gone to be discussed. Public trust is eroded when internal warnings are ignored and transparency is treated as optional,” Turner wrote in his Monday letter. Turner wrote in his Monday letter.

Fox News Digital reached out to Sherrill’s transition team for comment on the letter, Granholm’s role and the former DOE chief’s response but did not immediately receive a response. Fox Digital has also reached out to Biden’s office for comment on the letter.

Then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks during the daily news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on January 23, 2023. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Climate change was a cornerstone of the Biden administration; the then-president repeatedly called it an existential danger and “the greatest existential threat to humanity.” He argued that his administration is righting the ship on climate through legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act’s sweeping clean energy tax credits and incentives and by strictly adhering to EPA rules aimed at reducing emissions from power plants, oil and gas, among other initiatives.

Power the Future called on Congress to conduct a full accounting of all DOE grants and loan guarantees approved in the final six months of the Biden administration, review invalidated Inspector General findings, and examine political or financial ties between grant recipients and senior DOE officials.

“Congress should not allow these funds to disappear without answers,” Power The Future said, adding that taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability for how their money is spent.

Upon returning to office, the Trump administration moved to halt and reevaluate Biden-era climate spending; Trump signed a first-day order positioning the United States to “unleash” domestic energy and move away from what the White House frames as a “global climate agenda.”

President Donald Trump in his first address to the nation in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on December 17, 2025. (Doug Mills/Getty Images)

“Under the Biden Administration, green energy spending has been sold to taxpayers as transparent, accountable, and scrutinized,” Turner’s letter continued. “As the episode involving former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams securing $2 billion worth of grants reveals, this wasn’t always the case. Instead, it appears to have served as a shield for rushed, massive federal spending that was timed to avoid meaningful scrutiny and is now embedded in state and political ecosystems.”

BESSENT ACCUSES WALZ WHILE TREASURY INVESTIGATES WHETHER FRAUD FUNDS IN MINNESOTA REACHED TERRORIST GROUP AL-SHABAB

The Biden administration came under fire from Republicans in the wake of the IG report, using it as ammunition to argue that the Biden-era Office of Credit Programs pushed money out too quickly without proper guardrails; The Ministry of Energy, on the other hand, disregarded the 2024 IG report on the grounds that it was based on “incorrect facts and a misunderstanding of the law.”

“The LPO is in full compliance with both the Department’s conflict of interest rules and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”),” the Department wrote in a response letter at the time. …. “In fact, despite a months-long audit of more than a hundred contract files, the OIG did not identify any corporate conflicts of interest.”

One person is taken into custody as federal agents and police clash with protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press, via AP)

As a sprawling Covid-era scheme involving money laundering came to light in Minnesota ahead of the holiday season, lawmakers and voters have paid increased attention to fraud as it relates to taxpayer funds. Investigators estimate the fraud could exceed $1 billion and be as high as $9 billion. Most of the suspects arrested in the alleged plots come from the state’s large Somali community.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION

“Large-scale fraud in Minnesota, where public benefit federal funds were systematically misused despite warning signs, underscores the risks of allowing large amounts of taxpayer money to move with limited scrutiny. Just as lawmakers are calling for a congressional investigation of Minnesota, Congress should similarly question the Biden Energy Department’s late-stage grantmaking process,” Turner wrote in his letter to lawmakers. he added.