CAL DOGE director claims Newsom and Bonta ignored California fraud findings
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Republican congressional candidate and CAL DOGE Director Jenny Rae Le Roux accuses Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta of failing to take action against widespread fraud after the watchdog group uncovered multiple cases that she says state leaders ignored.
“Every day is an opposite day when it comes to Gavin Newsom and Rob Bonta,” Le Roux told Fox News Digital. “No matter what they say, I generally believe the opposite is true, and so when Gavin Newsom says the fraud is under control, that means he’s either in on it or doesn’t want to do anything about it.”
“They either don’t want to do anything, or they don’t want to do anything and they’re trying to spin what they’ve already done,” he added.
THE REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA ALLOWS THE STATE TO CONTROL HOSPITAL FRAUD AS IT LOOKS TO Flip THE BLUE SEAT
California Governor Gavin Newsom answered questions from the media after announcing at a news conference in Sacramento, California, that the state would sue the White House to restore SNAP funding before it was cut. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
California has become a national fraud hotspot in recent months, with the Trump administration sending resources to the state to investigate allegations of fraud ranging from health care to homelessness to nonprofits.
The CEO of a nursing home advocacy group in California told congressional lawmakers Tuesday that fraud in the industry is on the rise across the state and questions how many fraudulent providers are able to continue operating under the nose of regulators.
“You’d be surprised how many hospices there are in California, and there’s no one there. Five months’ worth of mail you can see piled up on top of each other… there’s no one there,” said Sheila Clark, president and CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA). “And it passed a survey. How did that happen?”
Le Roux said his group uncovered what he described as “intentional fraud” in Sacramento and claimed funds were directed to “base-building for Democrats.” Cal DOGE is a group founded by Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton that is working to root out waste, fraud and abuse in California by early 2026.
The band says it has out in the open Almost $700 million in waste, fraud and abuse since its inception.
“Over the last 10 weeks, we have been more effective with a group of volunteers than we have been since Gavin Newsom and Rob Bonta took office,” Le Roux said.
He added that Bonta’s office was wasting its resources on legal battles against the Trump administration instead of focusing on fraud patterns his group identified using artificial intelligence and financial data.
“Rob Bonta’s office was billing more than 150,000 hours a year following the policies of President Trump and the Trump administration; That’s almost 200 lawyers times as many lawyers over the course of an entire year; “That’s one-sixth of his entire office, and it’s larger than the Justice Department office in California that actually does stuff,” he said.
Le Roux, a cousin of Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, launched her campaign in March and is running in the anti-fraud-focused GOP primary for California’s 47th Congressional District.
“This doesn’t just happen, it’s normal modus operandi, so again, people like Newsom and Bonta, who committed the fraud and brought the blame, can’t be the ones to actually investigate it,” he said.
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In one example, he said his group uncovered a case in which $370 million in marijuana tax revenue was routed through a middleman and split into smaller grants that went to unrelated programs. He noted systemic flaws, including limited federal investigation of funds “mostly under $1 million.”
“There is no single report or oversight needed to explain where the money is being spent,” he said.
As a result, he said the lack of oversight contributes to an estimated $80 billion in “fraud, waste or gross overpayments” annually, arguing that the problem is systemic.
On recent allegations of nursing home fraud, Le Roux said stronger oversight could have prevented the problem and prevented fraud. Newsom’s office pushed back, saying enforcement belonged to the federal government.
“These nursing homes that we are currently in the process of closing are licensed by the state of California,” he said. “They should never have opened. All the inspections that the state of California was supposed to administer had not occurred, and so this is a California problem.”
He said his group was pressuring authorities to investigate the fraud.
“Instead of being a part of reforming our state, Newsom is trying to get credit for doing nothing, which is something not only Republicans but independents and Democrats desperately want,” he said.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced at a press conference in Sacramento that the state will sue the White House to restore SNAP funding before the cut. (Fred Greaves/Reuters)
But he emphasized that the fraud extends beyond California.
“When money flows into California and nothing is checked, it’s not a California problem, it’s America’s problem,” he said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom and Bonta offices for comment.
Newsom’s office has generally responded to criticism in recent weeks by saying the state “leads the nation in preventing fraud.”
“Since @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom took office: — Over $125 billion in fraud STOPPED — More than 1,200 criminals ARRESTED — 83% reduction in EBT fraud — New hospice licenses BANNED starting in 2022,” Newsom’s press office said Published on X last month.
