Article

2026-01-09 Government Corruption

Newsom faces heat as billions in homeless relief funds can't be accounted for

[FoxNews] Federal prosecutor calls Newsom 'king of fraud' as Trump launches California corruption probe. Top prosecutor says millions in fraud uncovered, more charges coming

The Trump administration is ramping up a nationwide crackdown on the misuse of taxpayer money. A top federal prosecutor criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom over a lack of oversight, branding him the "king of fraud."

"California has spent $24 billion in the last five years on homelessness, and no one can account for where that money has really gone," First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said Thursday on "Fox & Friends."

In April, Essayli launched a task force to investigate corruption in California, with a focus on homeless services. The task force has already resulted in federal charges against two men accused of using real estate projects to exploit the state’s homelessness system for personal profit.

Essayli said those cases, which involve millions of dollars in alleged fraud, are only the "tip of the iceberg."

"We already charged millions of dollars in fraud," he said.

"I can tell you more charges are coming, probably as soon as this month."

He accused Newsom and California’s Democratic leadership of allowing fraud to continue in state-run programs with little oversight or accountability.

The scrutiny of California comes as other Democrat-led states face similar federal probes of benefits programs. In Minnesota, federal authorities are investigating allegations of widespread fraud involving childcare and other social services.

President Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social, suggesting California could be "more corrupt" than Minnesota.

"The Fraud investigation of California has begun," he wrote on Tuesday.

Newsom’s press office pushed back against the accusations, writing on X that the governor has "blocked over $125 BILLION in fraud, arrested criminal parasites leaching off of taxpayers, and protected taxpayers from the exact kind of scam artist Trump celebrates, excuses, and pardons."

Vice President JD Vance has also criticized California’s welfare policies, accusing the state of providing benefits regardless of immigration status. Speaking to Fox News’ Jesse Watters, Vance said California openly advertises using taxpayer funds to provide Medicaid to illegal immigrants.

"California, more than almost any other state, has been so glaring and obvious about the fact that they're giving welfare benefits to illegal aliens," said Vance.

"They're getting rich off of the generosity of the American taxpayer. The political corruption that enables it has got to stop," he added.

Fox News video: JD Vance announces multi-state fraud task force in wake of Minnesota scandal

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Posted by Skidmark 2026-01-09 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1846 views ] Top

1 That’s one of the bigger NGO scams. As this rolls out, we will find that some of the NGOs were generally trying to help the homeless, a portion of the NGOs were really leftist activists working on irrelevant stuff like gender queer advocacy, a portion will be Newsom friends and that disappeared the money and a portion will be scams. The breakdown is hard to guess at ahead of time but the portion of legitimate expenditures might be as low as 25%.

A bigger immediate issue is that a large portion of American trucks will be barred from use in CA for environmental reason.

Posted by Super Hose 2026-01-09 06:15|| 2026-01-09 06:15|| Front Page Top

2 Likely pales in comparison to off-shore "NGO scams."
Of course this may be one of those distinctions without a difference.

Posted by Besoeker 2026-01-09 06:53|| 2026-01-09 06:53|| Front Page Top

3 Doesn't matter - Dems are teflon when it comes to fraud - nothing sticks and ultimately it'll kill you.

Posted by Mercutio 2026-01-09 10:06|| 2026-01-09 10:06|| Front Page Top

4 The task force has already resulted in federal charges against two men accused of using real estate projects to exploit the state’s homelessness system for personal profit.

It's bad enough when the state gives taxpayers' money to developers to build "housing for the homeless". But if the housing is never even built that's even worse.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2026-01-09 10:55|| 2026-01-09 10:55|| Front Page Top

5 the portion of legitimate expenditures might be as low as 25%

The spending may have been legal according to state law but there is nothing the least bit legitimate about any of this. The whole damn thing was a scam.

The only legitimate way to deal with hobos, drug addicts and crazy people is to incarcerate them preferably in somewhat uncomfortable conditions out in the boondocks so that normal people don't have to step over their droppings on the sidewalks. Any other method is a scam in which the likes of Newsom give taxpayer money to NGOs for ineffective and, in some cases nonexistent, programs. The NGO perpetrators get rich and give kickbacks to the politicians while the hobos remain on the sidewalks.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2026-01-09 11:04|| 2026-01-09 11:04|| Front Page Top

6 The Department of Finance, is the most unnoticed CA state Agencies in the MSM newsrooms, but also the most dangerous. Having dealt with them over the years in my second career, I can say with high confidence that they know EXACTLY where the money was sent, to the penny. They just don't get forced to answer, and are very good at obfuscation and the grand stall....

Posted by NoMoreBS 2026-01-09 15:15|| 2026-01-09 15:15|| Front Page Top

7 ^ Haven't you heard? They're scheduled for a fire in their records department in a couple weeks

Posted by Frank G 2026-01-09 15:45|| 2026-01-09 15:45|| Front Page Top

8 Leading snark candidate above.....if it didn't ring so true.

Posted by Besoeker 2026-01-09 16:02|| 2026-01-09 16:02|| Front Page Top

9 Newsom Owners:

Posted by 3dc 2026-01-09 18:55|| 2026-01-09 18:55|| Front Page Top

10 That money is easy to find. Check the ballot boxes nationwide. It's all the D votes.

Posted by Hellfish 2026-01-09 21:04|| 2026-01-09 21:04|| Front Page Top

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