Gavin Newsom and the California schemers

“California Schemin.’” 

Do those words refer to Gavin Newsom’s bid for the presidency — or to the rampant fraud in the state he leads?

Perhaps it’s both.

Nearly every time Team Trump highlights or prosecutes fraud in California, Newsom reacts by denying, deflecting, and assailing the messenger. 

Instead of ducking the issue, the governor should step up and answer tough questions about how fraud grew so pervasive and entrenched in California on his watch. 

On the heels of federal fraud raids Thursday in Southern California, LA’s top federal prosector told Fox News that Newsom has presided over hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud.

Let that sit for a minute. 

“I call him the fraud king for a reason,” said Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “… They’ve not taken fraud seriously for over a decade here in California … Remember, none of this fraud could happen unless California issued these licenses.”

Poor oversight is one reason California schemers have grown so brazen.

Scammers create faux facilities that bill Medicare (that is, loot federal taxpayers) for end-of-life care for non-terminal or nonexistent patients. 

Extensive reporting by The California Post has found glaring signs of the hospice hustle, including empty storefronts, offices that don’t exist, and addresses purported to house multiple end-of-life care facilities.

And what is Newsom’s answer to all of this?

“This is utter bullsh** from top to bottom,” a Newsom spokesperson told The Post. “California will keep doing its part to go against fraud, we ask the federal government to work with us to do the same.”

The governor’s press office also wrote this week on X:

“Glad the federal government is finally stepping up to do their part. State has been taking action for years, including suspending 280+ licenses & banning new licenses since 2022. Big question: Will Trump pardon any of them like he’s done for so many fraudsters before?”

None of this indicates a governor who treats the issue seriously. 

From “utter bullsh** (denial) to “keep doing its part” (laughable) to “Will Trump pardon …?” (deflection), Newsom’s deploying rhetorical tricks.

The line about suspending 280+ licenses and banning new ones since 2022 at least broaches the issue. 

But it falls far short of addressing the scandal in a serious and comprehensive way.

How did billions of dollars of fraud occur on Newsom’s watch? And why on his watch and not his predecessor’s?

Why did state agencies — including the Department of Public Health, which licenses hospices in California — miss or fail to act on so many obvious red flags? 

How, in one example, did 89 hospice companies come to be registered to a single building in Van Nuys?

If the state has done so much to clean up fraud … then why is there still so much fraud to clean up?

We have questions, but Team Newsom has few answers.

Instead, he offers glib attacks, deflection and, of course, indignation.

Essayli said the governor has failed to implement fraud regulations, “because he doesn’t want to own the problem!” 

He does not, indeed.

Newsom may be serious about chasing the presidency. 

But voters should remember: For years, he wasn’t serious about fraud in California.

By all current signs, he still isn’t.

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