A Minnesota Republican state lawmaker is seeking an impeachment of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
Rep. Mike Wiener, R-Long Prairie, posted the impending four articles of impeachment to Facebook earlier week. Wiener said after working for about two months on the effort, the articles were drafted by the Minnesota House Research Department.
The overarching theme is fraud that has reached estimates of $9 billion, according to federal prosecutors. The articles of impeachment accuse Walz of concealing it, allowing it and failing to stop it once it all came to light. Wiener said he has the support of 10 GOP lawmakers.
Wiener said he introduced the articles before the start of the Minnesota legislative session on Feb. 17 to give himself time to convince more lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle, to come to his side, saying this should not be a partisan issue.
Wiener represents District 5B, which includes the cities of Wadena and Long Prairie, and parts of Cass, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties.
He said he owes this to the taxpayers even though Walz is not running for a third term.
“I owe it to them to hold our politicians responsible for this waste, fraud and abuse. I take this serious. It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle this was on,” Wiener said. “We are supposed to be stewards of the taxpayer dollar, whether we’re running for office or not, is irrelevant. I would like to see some restitution. I would like to see some checks coming back to the taxpayers.”
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With the state House still locked at 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats, Wiener would have to have bipartisan support to get a majority to pass his articles. If passed by the House, it would go to the Minnesota Senate, where it would require a two-thirds vote to remove Walz.
In a statement provided to WDAY, a spokesperson from the governor’s office said, “These legislators are apparently trying to capitalize on the president’s vow for ‘retribution’ against the state. Respected career attorneys have resigned over the DOJ’s behavior. The federal government is attempting to pull billions from their constituents. It is shameful that this is how they’re choosing to spend their time, and we urge them to get serious.”
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