New Delhi, June 10 -- Vice-President JD Vance has asked the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, acting on a House Republican report alleging they failed to act on widespread taxpayer fraud in state social programmes, a referral Ellison immediately denounced as a "political stunt from an administration that uses the machinery of government to target its perceived opponents."

The Republican-controlled House oversight committee released a 205-page report on Monday alleging that Walz and Ellison were aware of "widespread taxpayer fraud" in social service programmes and "repeatedly failed to act." The report further claimed that state leaders retaliated ag...