Tag: california

Unearthed clip exposes shocking claim by Newsom’s wife about inmates at violent California prison

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is getting raked over the coals for comments she made several years ago, suggesting criminals housed in a notorious California prison, which was known for housing violent criminals and death row prisoners, got there by “accident.”

Siebel Newsom’s comments came as she was discussing a tragedy in her younger life at an event in 2016. A few days before her seventh birthday, Siebel Newsom was involved in a fatal golf cart accident that ultimately killed her sister.  

“I had to be very raw when we interviewed the young men who were juvenile offenders at San Quentin. I told them about my own loss, where I lost my older sister a few days before my seventh birthday and I blame myself for her death and I share that because they ultimately were accused of committing these violent crimes and sentenced for life, and I think it shocked them that this blonde lady, who was interviewing them, had a similar story – was perhaps in the wrong place at the wrong time – but wasn’t punished the way they were because clearly it was an accident, but theirs was probably an accident too,” Siebel Newsom said when discussing ways to connect with others. 

“Anyways, I share that – I guess – I quite enjoy spending time with people and being real and unmasking and showing them that it’s safe to unmask themselves.”

A spokesperson for Governor Newsom’s wife clarified that the remarks in the 2016 interview with the first partner, were referring to incarcerated individuals for her 2015 documentary “The Mask You Live In.” 

The spokesperson did not provide an on-the-record statement but did point Fox News Digital to a social media post from Gov. Newsom’s press office calling out the media for being “focused on running nonstop hit pieces on California’s First Partner,” while the president is “threatening to obliterate a civilization tonight.” 

On Tuesday, the same day the clip began going viral on social media, President Donald Trump issued an ominous message on his social media platform Truth Social, indicating “a whole civilization will die tonight,” amid his threat of a looming U.S. attack against Iranian bridges and power plants.

“This is the MAGA distraction machine — in full force,” concluded the social media post, which included news segments criticizing Siebel Newsom on Tuesday.

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California Attorney General Charges 21 Suspects in $267 Million Hospice Fraud Ring

Democrat officials in California are suddenly interested in prosecuting hospice fraudsters after the Justice Department created a division dedicated to arresting fraudsters.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) on Thursday announced his office charged 21 suspects in a $267 million hospice fraud ring in Southern California.

Five of the 21 suspects have been arrested so far.

“California Attorney General Rob Bonta, together with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), today announced charges filed against 21 suspects and the dismantling of a major hospice fraud scheme that defrauded California of $267 million,” Bonta’s office said.

“Operation Skip Trace resulted in the arrest of five people after ten different locations were searched in Southern California. In addition, two handguns and over $757,000 in cash were seized,” Bonta’s office announced.

“Investigators found that those involved purchased personal identifying information for people living outside of California on the dark web, then enrolled them in Covered California by posing as California residents,” Fox News reported.

“Straw owners” then bought a number of hospice companies and began billing Medi-Cal for services never provided to those stolen identities. The suspects used fake records, nonexistent offices, and fraudulent diagnoses to justify these claims, Bonta said.” – the outlet said.

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California Supreme Court Orders Sheriff Bianco to Pause His Massive Election Fraud Investigation and Preserve 650,000 Ballots He Seized

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Sheriff Chad Bianco to pause his massive election fraud investigation and preserve the 650,000 ballots he seized.

Last month, a state appellate court rejected California Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta’s emergency writ to halt Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s bombshell investigation into 45,000 extra votes mysteriously counted in the November 2025 special election.

Chad Bianco, a Republican currently running for California governor as a Republican, moved to seize approximately 650,000 ballots and initiate a recount after a citizens’ group reported significant discrepancies, according to CalMatters.

Bianco revealed that a team of 10 investigators had already begun counting ballots before being ordered to halt their work, as part of an ongoing election investigation, The Sun reported.

According to Bianco, the team’s initial progress suggested that counting the approximately 611,000 ballots would take about five days to complete. However, the effort was paused before a full review could be conducted.

Earlier this week Bianco paused his investigation because of the onslaught of legal issues.

California Attorney General Bonta slammed Sheriff Bianco and celebrated the State Supreme Court’s order.

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Woke California lawmaker who backs transgender treatments for children squirms as brave young gay man shares how being railroaded into puberty blockers destroyed his life

A California lawmaker who supports youth access to gender-affirming care was confronted by a young gay man who testified that puberty blockers and hormone therapy negatively affected his physical development.

State Senator Scott Wiener heard from 23-year-old Jonni Skinner, who said the treatments Wiener backs have left him unable to achieve orgasms.

‘When I was young, I was a feminine child, and I discovered trans influencers online. They said, “Change your body and your life gets better. Don’t and it gets worse,”‘ Skinner said during a state Senate hearing on Tuesday.

‘Or, as my doctors told my mom, I would commit suicide,’ he continued. ‘The medical and mental health providers didn’t bother to ask why I felt the way I did. They poisoned my body with blockers and hormones, arresting my puberty and messing with my development. The result is I’m a 23-year-old gay man who’s never had an orgasm and may never experience one.’

Skinner was testifying against Senate Bill 934, which was introduced by Wiener. The measure allows people to sue licensed therapists for harms caused by ‘sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts’.

At first glance, someone like Skinner – who says he was improperly pushed by therapists and doctors toward transitioning into a female – might be expected to support the measure. 

But critics, including Skinner, argue that the bill is not intended to target medical professionals supportive of gender transition treatment.

The California Family Council said in a statement that the bill will ‘weaponize civil liability’ against counselors who tell children it might not be a good idea to switch genders at such a young age.

‘When the government cannot constitutionally ban speech outright, it sometimes turns to more subtle forms of coercion. By creating overwhelming legal risk, SB 934 seeks to make it practically impossible for counselors to offer certain viewpoints, even to clients who request them,’ the organization said.

The bill vastly expands the statute of limitations for filing claims, allowing people to sue therapists and doctors years or even decades after the alleged harm was done. 

On March 20, Wiener put out a statement explaining the bill’s intent, making it clear it would go after providers who try to convince people they are not LGBTQ.

‘Conversion therapy – the made up notion that you can convert a gay or trans person into being not gay or trans – was debunked long ago, and is now condemned by every major medical association as dangerous and ineffective,’ he said.

Greg Burt, Vice President of California Family Council, has said this amounts to viewpoint discrimination, and that the bill is trying to get around the landmark Supreme Court case, United States v. Skrmetti.

In that case, which was decided last year, a 6-3 majority ruled that state bans on gender-affirming care for minors is constitutional.

‘This is a desperate and vain attempt to pretend the Supreme Court didn’t say what it really did say. They can’t stop professionals from helping people who don’t want to identify as LGBTQ anymore,’ Burt said. 

Skinner filed an amicus brief in that case, where he revealed more about his upbringing and why he ended up on estrogen from the age of 13 until he was 20.

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Total Cost of California High-Speed Rail Line Rises to $126 Billion, With a Big Funding Shortfall

California’s high-speed rail project connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco is now estimated to cost $126 billion, a rail authority board member said in an interview released by CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday.

But the High-Speed Rail Authority, according to its 2026 Business Plan issued in February, forecasts $39.3 billion in capital funding through 2045, a shortfall of around $87 billion.

“It is a big gap to fill,” board member Anthony Williams said, “[but] we have an understanding of how to get there and to fill that gap.”

The project, approved by voters in 2008, was supposed to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles by high-speed rail for around $33 billion and a completion date of 2020.

“We’re now in 2026,” Republican Congressman Vince Fong of Bakersfield said in the interview. “There are no trains. There’s no track laid. It was a complete bait and switch. The business plan that was put out in 2008 was very theoretical. You know, ‘This is what we think is gonna happen.’ And it became very clear that they didn’t have the specifics worked out.”

Toks Omishakin, who became California’s secretary of transportation in 2022, admitted that mistakes had been made and a lot of the project’s criticism is “very fair.”

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Swalwell Caught Paying His Wife with Campaign Cash for Child Care in 2026 California Governor’s Race

If you were a donor to Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign, how would you react to learning that your contributions were used to pay his own wife to watch their children?

As Swalwell now runs for governor of California, a troubling pattern of campaign spending is drawing scrutiny, one that now includes direct payments to his spouse for “childcare.”

These payments do not stand alone. They come after years of similar child care expenditures through his congressional campaign, which are already the subject of my formal complaint before the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

A New Round of Payments—This Time to His Wife

Recent disclosures from Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign show multiple payments made directly to “Swalwell, Brittany” for child care: $2,301.00, $2,026.50, and $1,740.50.

These are not minor reimbursements; they are substantial, repeated payments to a candidate’s spouse.

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O’Keefe Media Group: California’s Top Controller Communications Official Admits Audits “Are Not Getting Done”

The O’Keefe Media Group on Tuesday released undercover video of California’s top Controller Communications official admitting that audits “are not getting done” while acknowledging that fraud is rampant in the state.

Bismarck Obando told an undercover O’Keefe Media Group journalist that there is no plan to tackle homelessness.

“Do you feel there’s fraud going on in the state of California?” the OMG journalist asked Obando.

Without skipping a beat he replied, “Everywhere, cities, counties, special districts, hospitals, insurance companies.”

“We just can’t conduct the audits,” Obando told the journalist.

“It’s funny because they haven’t funded us to do those audits…they keep cutting our auditing teams,” he said.

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SoCal: Orange County Man Pleads Guilty to Submitting $270 Million in Fraudulent Claims to Medi-Cal in 11 Months: DOJ

A man in Orange County, California, pleaded guilty to orchestrating a scheme to steal $270 million in bogus Medi-Cal claims in 11 months, the DOJ announced on Tuesday.

“Paul Richard Randall, 66, of Orange, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of wire fraud committed while on release. He has been in federal custody since June 2025,” the DOJ said.

According to federal prosecutors, Randall and others, through a business called Monte Vista Pharmacy, submitted claims for expensive prescription drugs that contained generic ingredients that were “not medically necessary.”

Monte Vista Pharmacy billed Medi-Cal millions of dollars a month after it suspended its requirement that healthcare providers “obtain prior authorization before providing certain health care services or medications as a condition of reimbursement,” the DOJ said.

Medi-Cal suspended the prior authorization as it transitioned to a new payment system.

Of the $270 million that was billed to Medi-Cal, Randall and his co-conspirators received $178 million.

Randall and the other defendants laundered the money by transferring the funds to a third party to pay “kickbacks” to Patricia Anderson, 58, of West Hills.

Randall is facing up to 30 years in federal prison.

“This defendant used a public health program as his personal piggy bank,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “This guilty plea should send a message that this administration — consistent with the President’s war on fraud — will not turn a blind eye while criminals fleece taxpayers.”

“Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the Department, working closely with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is supercharging efforts to take down every fraudster and bring them to justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“In one day, the Department prosecuted the theft of a half-billion in taxpayer dollars. All those ripping off the American people are on notice,” Blanche added.

“The defendant was a repeat fraudster who caused Medi-Cal, a program designed to help those in need, to be billed nearly $270 million for expensive and medically unnecessary medications,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“He and his co-schemers stole over $178 million through false and fraudulent claims for these medications, lining their own pockets with public funds. The Criminal Division will aggressively prosecute those who defraud Medicaid and exploit taxpayer-funded benefit programs,” he said.

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NBC Report Drops Truth Bomb: Newsom’s Lies About Gas Prices Are Pure Gaslighting

Rising tensions tied to the war in Iran and its impact on global oil shipping routes are contributing to higher gas prices across the United States, with California drivers facing some of the steepest costs in the country.

The national average price for gasoline has now surpassed $4 per gallon, while California’s statewide average is hovering just below $6.

In several locations across the state, prices have climbed even higher, widening the gap between California and the rest of the nation.

As consumers question why California continues to pay significantly more at the pump, analysts point to a combination of long-standing state policies and factors that remain less clearly understood.

Dr. Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas at the University of California, Berkeley, said California’s higher fuel taxes, environmental fees, and unique gasoline blend account for roughly half of the price difference compared to the national average.

However, he said those factors alone do not fully explain the current price gap.

“The difference is what I call the mystery gasoline surcharge,” Borenstein said.

According to Borenstein, prior to 2015, California gas prices generally tracked closer to the national average, with an additional 90 cents to $1 per gallon attributed to the state’s taxes and environmental requirements.

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California FRAUD SCANDAL Keeps Getting Worse: LA School District Employee Accused of Running $22M Kickback Scheme

The latest corruption case in California’s public education system serves as a warning sign of a deeper structural failure—one that reflects weak oversight, misplaced priorities, and leadership that has consistently failed to enforce accountability.

As the Los Angeles Times reported, a former Los Angeles Unified School District employee is accused of directing $22 million in contracts to a private technology firm in exchange for roughly $3 million in kickbacks. 

Prosecutors have described the scheme as the largest of its kind in the district’s history, involving shell companies, manipulated bidding processes, and deliberate efforts to conceal wrongdoing.

The details are not merely concerning—they are revealing. According to the complaint, the employee allegedly controlled the contract selection process, removed oversight personnel, and coordinated directly with the vendor to ensure favorable outcomes. 

At one point, messages cited by prosecutors indicate explicit awareness of wrongdoing, including instructions to delete communications and avoid detection.

This level of coordination does not occur in a system with strong safeguards. It occurs in a system where oversight mechanisms either fail or can be easily bypassed.

That reality leads to a broader question: how does a scheme of this scale operate for years inside one of the largest school districts in the country without being stopped?

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