The Justice Department is expanding the reach of its new fraud division, allowing the office to prosecute any federal offenses uncovered during investigations that begin with suspected fraud, according to a final rule scheduled for publication Tuesday.
The 10-page final rule formalizes powers held by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, the leader of the National Fraud Enforcement Division under the Trump administration. It gives his office jurisdiction over criminal fraud, tax crimes, customs and tariff matters, healthcare fraud, and proceedings involving money owed to or paid by the federal government.
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Notably, the rule states that the division may also prosecute any criminal offenses identified during those investigations, regardless of whether the resulting charges fall within its principal areas of responsibility, according to the department’s paper.
The expansion comes after Vice President JD Vance, who chairs the White House’s anti-fraud task force, pressed the Justice Department in June to investigate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over their handling of alleged fraud in federally funded social services programs.
Vance’s referral followed a Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee report alleging Walz and Ellison knew about widespread fraud and failed to stop it.
Walz ended his campaign for a third term in January after succumbing to scrutiny about systemic fraud uncovered in his state’s social services program. The two Democrats have defended their records, and Ellison has called the referral politically motivated.
The rule further states that the authority provides the division with “necessary flexibility” to oversee additional cases assigned by Attorney General Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, or another assistant attorney general.
McDonald, who was nominated by Trump to lead the division in January, also gains authority to certify that criminal activity warrants summoning a special grand jury in any federal judicial district.
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The rule, reported by Bloomberg, was uploaded to the Federal Register on Monday and is expected to go live on Tuesday. It takes effect Aug. 24.
The regulation neither directs an investigation of the Minnesota officials nor alleges wrongdoing. However, an inquiry involving federally supported benefits could begin within McDonald’s jurisdiction and expand if prosecutors uncovered evidence of other potential crimes.
