The Trump administration is intensifying a nationwide effort to crack down on the misuse of taxpayer funds, with California emerging as a central focus of federal scrutiny.
A top federal prosecutor sharply criticized California’s Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom this week.
Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, is accusing the state of allowing rampant fraud to flourish under Democrat leadership.
During a Thursday appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Essayli branded Newsom 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,” Essayli said.
In April, Essayli launched a federal task force aimed at investigating corruption in California, with a particular focus on homelessness-related programs.
That task force has already produced results, including federal charges against two men accused of using real estate projects to exploit the state’s homelessness system for personal gain.
According to Essayli, those prosecutions represent only a fraction of what investigators are uncovering.
“We already charged millions of dollars in fraud,” he said.
“I can tell you more charges are coming, probably as soon as this month.
“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Essayli accused Newsom and California’s Democratic leadership of presiding over state-run programs plagued by weak oversight and little accountability, allowing fraud to persist while billions in taxpayer dollars flow through the system.
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California is not alone, however.
Federal authorities are also probing benefits programs in other Democrat-led states.
In Minnesota, investigators are examining allegations of widespread fraud involving childcare assistance and other social services.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the developments earlier this week, suggesting California’s problems may eclipse even Minnesota’s.
“The Fraud investigation of California has begun,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social.
Newsom’s office quickly pushed back, claiming the governor has aggressively fought fraud.
In a post on X, the press office said Newsom 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 taken aim at California’s welfare policies, arguing the state openly provides taxpayer-funded benefits regardless of immigration status.
“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,” Vance told Fox News’s Jesse Watters.
“They’re getting rich off of the generosity of the American taxpayer,” he added.
“The political corruption that enables it has got to stop.”
As federal investigations expand, the Trump administration has signaled that California’s programs, particularly those involving homelessness and welfare spending, will remain under an increasingly intense microscope.
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