Tag Archive for: California

BREAKING: California Passes Bill To Criminalize Undercover Journalism

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What is California’s solution to the massive fraud being expsoed in undercover investigations?

Why, to criminalize such investigations, of course!

Such naked corruption is without precedent.

Nick Shirley deserves a Pulitzer, not prison. The Democrat party is a criminal racket.

CA Legislature Passes Bill to Criminalize Nick Shirley Style Fraud Exposés

The Assembly Judiciary Committee voted 11-2 to make investigative journalism illegal. Their bill would impose civil sanctions of $4,000 minimum if an immigrant services fraudster wants to be off camera and takes the issue to court.

The fraudster can also pursue an injunction disallowing them from being exposed on camera by a journalist for up to four years. If the journalist refuses to take the initial video in which the fraudster was exposed down, they may face up to three times the amount of the initial civil penalty: $12,000.

The bill protects “immigrant service centers” like fake Somali daycares or Los Angeles hospice centers from legitimate journalists by classifying them as “harassers.” In the worst case, if the Journalist is accused of doxxing a fraudster or posing an “imminent threat,” they can get criminal charges and $10,000 in fines.

If this bill passes fully, and, Nick or anyone else were brave enough to film more ghost-client daycares or hospices, they’d be under severe financial and legal scrutiny. What a shame!

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

No, Texans and Floridians Do NOT Pay Twice the Taxes Paid by Californians

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Texas has the most regressive state tax system, but charges poor people more than California does its affluent residents, according to the Golden State’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who further claims that middle-class Texans pay more than residents of his state and Florida.

“Who are you for? Are you just for the one percent or are you for the 98?” Newsom asked in a March 15 post on X. That Newsom, who has all but officially announced his campaign for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, would make such an easily discredited claim suggests a fate awaits him similar to that of former Vice-President Kamala Harris’s 2024 embarrassing bust.

Just Facts Daily (JFD), published by the non-partisan Texas-based Just Facts institute devoted to “publishing facts about public policies and teaching research skills,” likely needed less than a nanosecond of data-driven research to expose the fact that Newsom had it effectively backwards.

“IN FACT, California collects an average of $10,319 in taxes for every person in the state, while Texas collects $5,469, and Florida collects $4,914. Likewise, California collects 13.5% of its economy in taxes, while Florida collects 9.1% and Texas collects 8.6%,” JFD said.

In other words, California’s total tax take on average is almost precisely double that of Texas and a bit more than double that of the Florida’s total levy per person.

But JFD didn’t leave it at that. The researchers dug into the component parts of each of these three states’ tax systems. Here’s what they found:

  • “California’s top personal income tax rate is 13.3%, as compared to 0% in Texas and 0% in Florida.
  • “California’s property taxes average 2.8% of personal income, as compared to 3.6% in Texas and 2.6% in Florida.
  • “California’s top unemployment insurance tax rate is 6.2%, as compared to 6.2% in Texas and 5.4% in Florida.
  • “California’s sales tax rate is 7.2%, as compared to 6.2% in Texas and 6.0% in Florida.
  • “California’s excise tax on a gallon of gas is 70.9 cents, as compared to 20.0 cents in Texas and 40.3 cents in Florida.”

Interestingly, Newsom could have focused on property taxes where his state is measurably lower than that of Texas and nearly the same as the Florida rate. In addition, the California governor could have pointed to the three states’ unemployment insurance tax rate. For California, the rate is 6.2%, same as the Lone Star state and almost a full percentage point higher than Florida.

On the other hand, Newsom’s California demands an excise tax haul of 70.9 cents per gallon, which is more than three times higher than the 20 cents charged per gallon by Texas and considerably higher than Florida’s 40.3 cents per gallon. The sales tax rate for California is also noticeably higher at 7.2%, versus 6.2% in Texas and 6.0% for Florida.

It turns out that Newsom apparently drew his erroneous comparison based on an analysis published by a left-wing non-profit, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), whose work is riddled with errors and misrepresentations, according to JFD’s James Agresti, who is Just Facts’ president and its co-founder.

“The findings of this study have been uncritically cited in prominent venues such as the Washington Post, CBS, the Daily Beast, Newsmax, the Providence Journal, and the New York Times. For instance, the Times reported that ‘according to the study, in 2015 the poorest fifth of Americans will pay on average 10.9 percent of their income in state and local taxes, the middle fifth will pay 9.4 percent and the top 1 percent will average 5.4 percent.’”

“Glaringly absent from the media coverage is how this study uses the same type of deceitful methodology behind claims that the middle class pays a higher federal tax rate than the top 1 percent of income earners, Warren Buffett pays a lower federal tax rate than his secretary, and Mitt Romney pays a lower federal tax rate than the middle class,” Agresti explained.

Those deceitful methodological approaches include, among others, Agresti noted, the use of “calculations that exclude certain taxes, use partial measures of income, or employ both of these charades. The result is that the actual tax rates of the wealthy are understated, while those of others are progressively overstated as their income declines.” Just Facts’ detailed explanation provides additional details on flaws in the ITEP analysis.

As Agresti explained in detail, however, the presence of such analytical flaws didn’t stop The Washington Post, New York Times, and other media outlets from uncritically reporting a claim that an aspiring Democratic presidential candidate thought would advance his campaign to win four years in the Oval Office.

AUTHOR

Mark Tapscott

Mark Tapscott is senior congressional analyst at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2026 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Emmer Says More Blue States ‘On Notice’ In Trump’s War On Fraud

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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said Minnesota’s fellow blue states will be the next fronts in the Trump administration’s war on fraud.

As much as $9 billion in taxpayer funds may have been stolen from Minnesota’s social programs in schemes where the vast majority of those charged were of Somali descent, federal officials say. Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th congressional district, spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation after joining House Oversight Committee members Wednesday to grill Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison about their role in presiding over the theft of taxpayer funds intended for those in need.

“This should be a good message to every other state that has this type of failed leadership. The day is coming. You’re all going to be held accountable,” Emmer told the DCNF. “At the end of the day, these programs, they need to be viable for the people they were intended for, not the fraudsters.”

Just a week ahead of the hearing, Trump declared a “war on fraud” in his State of the Union address. He specifically singled out California, Massachusetts and Maine as having “even worse” rates of fraud than Minnesota, and appointed Vice President JD Vance to lead the effort. Maine, like Minnesota, also has a significant Somali population.

Vance quickly jumped into action and halted $259 million in Medicaid funds over fraud concerns, saying the government’s job is “to shut the border and shut off the fraud.” Minnesota state leaders, including Walz, have called the move politically motivated “retribution.”

Emmer called Vance’s appointment an “excellent decision,” adding he has “full confidence in our vice president.”

“[Vance is] going to go from Minnesota to places like California to Illinois to New York. They know where the fraud is currently, and they know where they need to look,” Emmer told the DCNF. “I have no doubt that when the president says this, he’s gonna find it, and they’re gonna root these people out.”

The Minnesota Republican has began sounding the alarm on fraud in his home state for years. The Walz administration was first notified of the rampant abuses as early as 2019, shortly after the fraud was said to have began, according to the assistant commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Education who  under oath.

“I guarantee they’re going to find the same thing when people go to California, for instance. Minnesota is only 5.7 million people and we’re talking as much as nine billion in fraud. California’s got 40 million people,” Emmer told the DCNF. “I think these states are now on notice.”

Republican California Rep. Young Kim called California the “fraud capital of the world” during a February hearing with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. She underscored the $32 million in unemployment fraud throughout the state as well as significant fraud linked to artificial intelligence in community colleges.

Three individuals were arrested and another charged after the Department of Justice found over $1 million was stolen in a fraud scheme in Massachusetts that targeted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General also recently released an audit report from Maine revealing $45.6 million in improper Medicaid payments for children diagnosed with autism.

Individuals tied to the Minnesota’s fraud cases started facing charges in 2022 under the Biden administration, with the Department of Justice charging 48 people with stealing $240 million for exploiting a child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there was no further action to fix the program’s vulnerabilities that allowed for fraud to go unnoticed.

“I’m just grateful [the Trump administration] started in Minnesota,” Emmer told the DCNF. “We’ve been screaming about this for years. Nobody would listen.”

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

AUTHOR

Andi Shae Napier

Congressional Reporter

RELATED ARTICLE: Somali ‘Autism’ Center Chief Pleads Guilty To $6 Million Fraud Scheme

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Republicans Pull Ahead In Deep Blue State, Polls Show

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The top two Republican candidates in California’s 2026 gubernatorial race are once again leading their Democratic rivals, according to recent polls.

With roughly four months until the state’s jungle primary, when the top two performers advance to the general election regardless of party, Democratic contenders continue to lose ground. A new Emerson College Polling survey released Wednesday shows GOP candidate Steve Hilton leading with 17% support, followed by fellow Republican Chad Bianco and Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell tied at 14%. Former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter trails at 10%.

The survey, conducted Feb. 13-14 among 1,000 likely voters, captured responses on the upcoming election and current concerns about California. Compared with Emerson’s December poll, Hilton gained five points, Swalwell two points, Bianco one point and Porter lost one point.

Among Democrats surveyed, Swalwell led with 23% support, followed by Porter at 14%, billionaire candidate Tom Steyer at 12% and 22% undecided. Republican support split between Hilton (38%) and Bianco (37%), with 6% backing Swalwell and 11% undecided. Among independents, 22% back Hilton, 12% support Bianco, 4% favor Swalwell and 30% are undecided.

The poll comes on the heels of a second survey conducted by Tavern Research and passed through Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra’s campaign, which surveyed 1,097 likely voters between Feb. 2-5. According to the data, Bianco led with 20% from supporters, followed by Hilton at 12% and Swalwell at 10%.

With more than ten Democrats running for governor, the party’s candidates are splitting the vote ahead of the primary election.

Elections expert Paul Mitchell warned KCRA3 Political Director Ashley Zavala on Sunday that there is roughly a 12% chance two Republicans could advance to the general election in California. While the odds are slim, Mitchell cautioned Democrats against dismissing the possibility outright.

Hilton, speaking to the Daily Caller News Foundation on Monday, pushed back on the scenario, saying it was unlikely. Instead, he warned that two Democrats would most likely face off in November unless voters consolidate behind a single Republican — singling out Bianco in the process.

Hilton’s criticism of Bianco appears to mark a new strategy for his campaign, which began during the January gubernatorial debate. At the time of the event, Hilton called for Bianco to exit the race over allegations that he knelt with Black Lives Matter protesters during the 2020 riots.

Hilton’s campaign escalated the attacks on Wednesday, responding to Bianco’s post of the Tavern Research poll. In a response, the campaign dismissed the survey as a “fake” Democrat “internal poll” that they claim Democrats are pushing to “boost the weaker Republican.”

“They know the BLM Bianco video will crater Republican turnout. Steve Hilton is leading in reputable independent polls, including the latest Emerson poll,” Hilton’s campaign wrote.

AUTHOR

Hailey Gomez

West Coast Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

EXCLUSIVE: Suicide Hotline Operator Pushes ‘Radical’ Trans Ideology In Open Revolt Against Trump Admin

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At least one major suicide hotline operator continues sending callers in some states to transgender activists, despite the Trump administration prohibiting the use of federal funds to promote gender ideology, internal documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation reveal.

The 988 suicide hotline’s “press 3” option that routed young LGBTQ-identifying callers to transgender activist groups ended in July when the Trump administration announced it would instead “focus on serving all help seekers.” Yet the move hasn’t uprooted gender ideology from a system intended to support the most vulnerable in times of crisis.

Protocall, a taxpayer-funded 988 service provider, tells its employees that “gender affirming care is an appropriate decision for minors.” The company did not respond to questions about its policies.

When a caller dials the 988 hotline, they are routed to their local crisis center or a national backup if the local center is unavailable. Protocall functions as a national 988 backup and operates the state crisis response lines in New Hampshire and New Mexico, as well as holding contracts with public colleges in states like Arizona, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California and New York.

Subcontractors like Protocall, who receive funds from government grantees, must still comply with federal law and executive orders, including President Donald Trump’s day-one order stating funds “shall not be used to promote gender ideology,” a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson told the DCNF.

Counselors who work for Protocall are expected to agree with the company’s stances on gender identity — and are tested on their understanding of the issues nearly every three months, former employee Jaime Brooks told the DCNF. Brooks left the company in December after working there for just over a year.

“LGBTQ2SIA individuals, often out of necessity, learn to build community and their own families of choice that we can count on for acceptance, support, and sharing in the jobs and important moments of life,” a Protocall guide on “Supporting LGBTQSIA Callers/Visitors” states. “As crisis counselors, helping individuals identify their supports and possible avenues for finding support (such as through social media, local queer resource centers, queer recovery groups and affirming/queer spiritual and religious organizations) can be invaluable.”

If an adult must be involved in “mitigating risk” for youth, counselors should “ask the youth if they feel safe involving their parent and how we should refer to them with their parent (i.e. it may not be safe for them if we use their chosen name or their pronouns),” the guide recommends.

“We can be creative in considering who is a safe adult in their life who we might be able to involve in safety planning,” it states.

Brooks told the DCNF she was required to review and discuss this document with a group. Quizzes accompany other company trainings, such as a “Trans* 101” training that claims that transgender individuals’ “right to exist, socially, medically and legally, are actively and increasingly legislated against every year.”

“It is deeply troubling that the organization operating our nation’s suicide hotline is pushing a radical, disproven ideology onto vulnerable adolescents in crisis,” Do No Harm Executive Director Kristina Rasmussen told the DCNF. “This taxpayer-subsidized program should provide compassionate, life-saving care to confused children, not send them further down a path that can lead to lasting mental and physical harm.”

‘Unethical Behavior’

In her Dec. 23 resignation letter, Brooks raised issues with the company “distributing resources to minors that facilitate their access to sex rejecting medical procedures and drugs.”

“I no longer wish to be an accomplice to such criminal and unethical behavior,” she wrote, citing recent actions by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that will restrict Medicaid-participating hospitals from offering sex-change procedures to minors.

Protocall Company Trans 101 training (Credit: Daily Caller News Foundation)

A list of resources provided to counselors recommends the Trevor Project, the initial sole operator of the federal government’s LGBTQ youth hotline. The Trevor Project still operates its own private crisis hotline, as well as Trevor Space, an online community that parents have criticized for allowing minors and adults ages 13-24 to discuss topics related to sexuality.

Trevor Space is “a breeding ground for grooming,” Kevin Brown, a former law enforcement officer who founded a nonprofit that identifies victims of human trafficking, warned California lawmakers in June. As a 70-year-old man, Brown was able to create an account on Trevor Space posing as a 15-year-old boy and connect with other users in a chat room, including an individual who wanted to take their conversation to Discord.

The Trevor Project opposes policies that require educators to inform parents if their child is using a new name or pronouns at school, while supporting policies that allow men to use women’s’ bathrooms and locker rooms

The Trevor Project told the DCNF that TrevorSpace, which is separate from its crisis services, “is built with LGBTQ+ youth safety as a top priority.”

“The platform was created for LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-24, and there are safeguards in place to prevent direct messaging between minors and those who are over the age of 18,” the organization said in a statement. “TrevorSpace actively collaborates with leading safety solution organizations to ensure the safety and security of all users, especially those under age 18.”

Protocall’s recommended resource list also includes PFLAG, an activist group that defends irreversible sex-change procedures as “medically necessary” for minors, and the Family Acceptance Project, an organization that develops resources and programs designed to convince families to accept their child’s gender confusion.

Though hotline callers can request to speak with a male or female counselor, their calls are sometimes received by individuals of the opposite sex who identify as transgender, according to Brooks. Young callers who request to speak with a counselor of the same sex often have sensitive concerns about issues like sexual assault and puberty, she explained.

“The fact that the training documents suggest hiding information from parents is both alarming and part and parcel of the gender activist playbook,” Rasmussen told the DCNF. “That the CEO of Protocall has doubled down on DEI, the twin pillar of the crumbling identity politics movement, is further proof that there must be additional scrutiny on the training provided to the people tasked with the critical job of interceding in young people’s times of crisis. It also calls into question why groups like this continue to hold key public service contracts at all.”

‘We Will Not Retreat’

Protocall has pulled in millions from the federally-funded administrator of the 988 hotline, Vibrant Emotional Health, previously known by another name, the Mental Health Association of New York City.

It received nearly $5.85 million in the 2023 fiscal year and $2.67 million in the 2022 fiscal year, according to Vibrant Emotional Health’s tax records. Vibrant Emotional Health did not respond to a request for comment.

Protocall has a contract with New Hampshire worth $10,328,136, effective through June 2027. New Hampshire’s funding for the company draws on federal grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), according to the contract.

“SAMHSA funds cannot be used for activities that violate federal law or the requirements set forth in current Executive Orders,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told the DCNF.

“This applies to SAMHSA funding of grantees through subcontractors,” he said. “As of October 1, all SAMHSA grantees, including Vibrant, were required to certify that every federally supported activity complies fully with Title IX, Title VI, and Executive Order 14168.”

Meanwhile, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Phil Evans vowed to resist the administration when Trump took office, reaffirming the “company’s commitment to our ongoing DEl work as well as our unwavering support of our LGBTQ2SIA+ employees.”

“Here at Protocall, we will not retreat from the progress our organization has made, the diversity we’ve built, and the safe community we’ve sought to create for every single person we work with,” Evans wrote in an internal Jan. 27, 2025 email to staff.

Email from Protocall CEO affirming commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion after President Trump took office. (Credit: Daily Caller News Foundation)

“Here at Protocall, we full-throatedly reject this Administration’s efforts to roll back basic civil rights and DEl programs,” he wrote. “Here at Protocall, no executive order from this President, or any law this congress may eventually pass, will change how we choose to treat each other and the culture we seek to create. As a private company, our continued pursuit of these values is outside the purview of this Administration’s agenda.”

Evans did not respond to a request for comment.

Protocall’s website notes that its DEI committee, as well as its “BIPOC and LGBTQ2SIA” groups, help “create and review policies and initiatives.” In an end-of-year Leadership Q&A shared with staff, executives stated that affirming DEI commitments made them especially proud of Protocall in 2025.

“When we stood up and proudly reaffirmed our commitment to DEI when other organizations were forced, or chose, to shrink away from it, and when other organizations had to shut their doors, we were able to open ours even wider,” the internal document states.

Other company guidance recommends “normalizing” adverse impacts of minority stress, validating “unique strengths of LGBTQ people” and affirming “healthy, rewarding expressions of sexuality and gender.”

“Collaborate with the caller about how they want to be described in documentation (‘what would you like me to put down for your gender?’” counselors are told. “Protocall follows the nationally recognized standard that gender affirming care is an appropriate decision for minors and their families, and not in any way child abuse or reportable as such.”

Along with funding it receives through states and the national 988 administrator, Protocall is part of an ongoing federal grant project with a tech company, Lyssn.io, to develop an AI-based tool that helps assess the suicide risk of callers.

“Protocall serves a diverse clientele with an equally diverse community of call-takers,” Lyssn Co-Founder Dr. Zac Imel said in a 2023 statement. “It’s so important that Lyssn’s AI algorithms continue to advance in a way that reflects and honors all providers and clients across the spectrum. Partnering with Protocall to do just that is a step toward that kind of inclusion.”

While the Trump administration pulled the plug on the specialized LGBTQ+ hotline, several states are pursuing alternatives. In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro announced state officials would work with call centers to “facilitate LGBTQ+ clinical trainings.”

Trainings ensured centers can provide “a warm handoff to the Trevor Project,” Secretary Val Arkoosh wrote on X.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Dec. 9 to reinstate the “press 3” option locally.

“SAMHSA plans to issue a new cooperative agreement for its 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Administrator in early FY26 ensuring that anyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who will help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress,” Nixon told the DCNF. “Anyone who calls the Lifeline will receive compassion and help.”

AUTHOR

Katelynn Richardson

Investigative Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

DOGE WAS RIGHT: HUD Finds $5+ Billion in Fraud in One Year Under Biden—Dead Tenants, Fake IDs, Inactive Accounts Paid

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You can begin to understand why the swamp fought Elon Musk and DOGE so hard.

HUD officials say the majority of some $5 billion in fraudulent rental aid in 2024 went to New York, California and D.C. — though dead people from all 50 states got paid.

HUD just found $5 BILLION+ in FRAUDULENT payments in 2024 alone, under Biden.

Payment error of over 11% PERCENT.

  • $5.2 BILLION to inactive accounts
  • $77M to deceased tenants
  • $150M to nonexistent Social Security numbers
  • $288M to excessively high rent

A new HUD Agency Financial Report reveals more than $5 billion in potential fraudulent and improper rental-assistance payments in 2024 alone, underscoring why entrenched bureaucracies fought oversight efforts like DOGE so aggressively.

According to HUD, payment errors exceeded 11% across federal housing programs under  Joe Biden’s administration. The findings include $5.2 billion paid to inactive accounts, $77 million sent to deceased tenants, $150 million tied to nonexistent Social Security numbers, and $288 million for excessively high rents. Fraudulent payments were concentrated in New York, California, and Washington, D.C., though improper payments were identified in all 50 states.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the losses were enabled by weak financial controls and process failures, calling the abuse “massive” and effectively incentivized by the prior administration’s lack of oversight. For the first time, HUD used advanced data analytics to review all Tenant-Based and Project-Based Rental Assistance payments, uncovering systemic weaknesses and triggering a formal disclosure of material financial risk.

The report covers just one year. If the error rate held across the full term, the total losses could be staggering. The findings reinforce calls to aggressively audit and overhaul federal housing programs—what critics summarize bluntly as the need to “DOGE housing.”

In short: billions vanished, accountability was absent, and only now—after leadership and oversight changed—has the scope of the damage come into view.

HUD Financial Report Finds Billions in Potential Payment Errors Occurred During Biden Administration

WASHINGTON — Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner released HUD’s Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Agency Financial Report (AFR) to Congress, which detailed significant misuse of taxpayer funds under the Biden administration including potential payment errors totaling more than $5 billion.

For the first time ever, HUD’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) used advanced data analytics to examine all Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) and Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) payments made in 2024. Through a series of internal management reviews, HUD identified significant potential improper payments, process gaps, and material weaknesses.

“A massive abuse of taxpayer dollars not only occurred under President Biden’s watch, but was effectively incentivized by his administration’s failure to implement strong financial controls resulting in billions’ worth of potential improper payments,” said Secretary Turner. “HUD will continue investigating the shocking results and will take appropriate action to hold bad actors accountable. Additionally, the Department is advancing efforts made under President Trump’s first administration to strengthen program integrity and ensure taxpayer-funded assistance serves the vulnerable communities it was intended for.”

INFOGRAPHIC: Total Payment Integrity Unknown Payment Estimate

After identifying process gaps and weaknesses, HUD disclosed a material weakness to be transparent about the inherent risks that existed under the Biden administration and to establish accountability for fixing financial oversight moving forward. HUD will continue to implement new processes to track how Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and HUD-funded grantees spend the funds they receive, ensuring efficiency, transparency, and accountability at every level.

Background:

The AFR is HUD’s annual report on how the department manages public funds.
HUD’s rental assistance programs provide critical housing support to deserving communities across the nation:
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program helps families afford safe housing through vouchers they can use in the private market.

Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) program provides rental subsidies tied to specific properties to ensure long-term affordability.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

California Gov Hopefuls Throw Newsom Under The Bus After He Skips A City Where Kids Were Shot

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Multiple Democratic California gubernatorial candidates called out Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday evening for not personally going to Stockton after a mass shooting killed three children and one adult.

A massacre erupted at a children’s birthday party Saturday evening in Stockton, killing two 8-year-old girls, a 14-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man, and injuring others. Despite the tragedy and media attention, Newsom did not go to the scene.

When asked by KCRA Political Director Ashley Zavala about the governor’s decision, three Democratic gubernatorial candidates and one Republican criticized Newsom’s absence.

“I believe the governor, he should have gone down to Stockton. I exchanged messages with the mayor of Stockton and she told me how horrible this is for her community and the fear of retaliation and what that was going to mean for her and her community. And this is an area in the Central Valley that already feels like their flyover country,” Democrat candidate Ian Calderon said.

“Nobody cares about us. You fly over us. You only come here when you’re campaigning. They can’t continue to feel like that. And they need to know that they can have a relationship with the governor and the state that when something significantly tragic like this happens,” Calderon added.

Democratic candidate Antonio Villaraigosa also answered Zavala’s question, saying he “showed up” during his tenure as mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013.

“I’ll tell you what I did when I was mayor. I always showed up. I showed up when a cop was shot. I showed up when families lost loved ones,” Villaraigosa said. “Actually, when I was a council member, I went to every single homicide in the two years that I was a council member in my district. When I was mayor, there were too many, but we reduced it to 1950 levels, as I said. But I think it’s important to show up. And I’m not criticizing anyone. I don’t know where he was at. But I could tell you for me, you show up.”

A third Democratic candidate, Betty Yee, emphasized the importance of demonstrating support for a community that has “lost loved ones and lost community members” and starting a conversation about why the incident happened. When Zavala pressed Yee on whether she would have gone to the scene if she were governor, Yee immediately responded yes.

Newsom’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Riverside County Sheriff and Republican gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco also criticized the governor, questioning why Newsom has not called for an end to the violence or demanded accountability.

“Why isn’t the leader of the state there saying that this absolutely must stop and that the perpetrators will be held accountable? As the governor of California, I absolutely would make sure that I was there. I would make sure that I’m there for the families and we will be doing everything we can to make sure that California is the safest state in the country,” Bianco said.

“This selfishness of our elected officials that they only do things that benefit themselves, and sometimes they don’t have the ability to sacrifice or sacrifice their own ambitions, his vacation or his political speech that he was going to give in another part of the country, because a community in California was suffering, it says a lot,” Bianco added.

According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, authorities received reports of a shooting shortly before 6 p.m. and confirmation that 14 people had been struck by gunfire and four were deceased. By Tuesday, the four killed were confirmed as 8-year-old Journey Rose, 8-year-old Maya Lupian, 14-year-old Amari Peterson and 21-year-old Susano Archuleta, with the total number of injured rising to 17, according to CBS News.

AUTHOR

Hailey Gomez

West Coast Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

DOJ Warns Pelosi, Other California Democrats To ‘Stand Down’ Or Face Consequences For Threats To Arrest Feds

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Department of Justice (DOJ) Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche warned California Democrats on Thursday to “stand down or face prosecution” amid threats to arrest federal agents.

The warning comes after California Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi suggested Wednesday that San Francisco police could potentially arrest federal agents if they were found violating state law during U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. In response, Blanche posted a letter on X that he had sent to Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, Pelosi and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

“California politicians want to arrest federal agents for enforcing federal law. We just sent them a letter: Stand down or face prosecution. No one threatens our agents. No one will stop us from Making America Safe Again,” Blanche wrote in his post.

Within the letter to the California Democrats, Blanche wrote that instead of “supporting and working” with federal officials, the lawmakers have called for state and local law enforcement to “arrest” officers “enforcing federal laws enacted by the U.S. Congress, including federal immigration laws.”

Blanche added that any attempt to arrest federal agents would be considered by the DOJ as “both illegal and futile.”

“Accordingly, you are hereby directed to preserve all written and electronic communications and records related to any attempts or efforts to impede or obstruct federal law enforcement officials,” the letter continues. “We urge you and other California officials to publicly abandon this apparent criminal conspiracy, to stop threatening law enforcement, and to prioritize the safety of your citizens.”

“In the meantime, federal agents and officers will continue to enforce federal law and will not be deterred by the threat of arrest by California authorities who have abdicated their duty to protect their constituents,” Blanche’s letter concludes.

In Pelosi’s press release regarding the potential arrests, the California lawmaker wrote that “reports of a planned mass immigration raid” in the San Francisco area represent an “appalling abuse of law enforcement power.”

“While the President may enjoy absolute immunity courtesy of his rogue Supreme Court, those who operate under his orders do not. Our state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law — and if they are convicted, the President cannot pardon them,” Pelosi wrote.

The lawmaker added that San Francisco residents will “continue to stand with the patriotic immigrants who are the constant reinvigoration of America.”

The comments from the former House Speaker came the same day Jenkins reportedly stated in an interview that she developed the strategy after observing federal agents allegedly acting aggressively in Los Angeles and Chicago, according to The New York Times (NYT).

Jenkins had already spoken with the San Francisco Police Department about the potential of arresting federal agents for “clear, excessive use of force,” and the department reportedly agreed with the concept, the outlet said.

According to the NYT, Jenkins’ plan would involve local law enforcement reviewing camera footage of federal interactions, identifying agents if excessive force was used, and then seeking a judge to sign warrants to arrest and prosecute the officials.

The suggestion from Jenkins and Pelosi follows legislation signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, which largely bans face coverings for ICE agents and other law enforcement officials operating in the state. Despite the law, which takes effect in January, the Trump administration announced it does not plan to comply with the new requirements.

Bonta, Newsom, Pelosi and Jenkins did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

Hailey Gomez

General Assignment Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

EXCLUSIVE: Acting U.S. Attorney Points Out ‘Bizarre’ Trend In California Anti-ICE Rioter Cases

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A top federal prosecutor in California says most suspects his office has charged in anti-deportation riots are U.S. citizens, calling the trend “bizarre.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli noticed the trend among the more than 50 suspects charged with crimes stemming from violent protests against federal immigration enforcement in California, he told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Trump appointee said the mob violence that brought national attention since June shines a light on a political culture favoring illegal immigrants under Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

“I find it very fascinating that U.S. citizens are fighting so hard to prevent the deportation of illegal immigrants. It’s quite bizarre, to be honest with you,” Essayli told the DCNF. “And one thing that’s been very shocking to me — whether it’s the defendants or the politicians — I’ve never seen people fight so hard for foreign nationals.”

“I wish these politicians like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass fought this hard for American citizens,” said Essayli, a former California state lawmaker. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been in the legislature, I’ve been in the political world, I’ve never seen them fight this hard or aggressively for Americans. So you have to ask yourself, what’s really going on here?”

Newsom and Bass have criticized local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids as targeting innocent people, with Bass declaring that ICE is waging a “reign of terror” in her city. Newsom’s administration also blamed President Donald Trump for anti-ICE riots in the state, saying he “deliberately sowed chaos” through immigration raids and sending National Guard troops to stop disorder.

Essayli said he expects some of his cases to go to trial and that he will work to prevent potential courtroom bias.

“The government’s entitled to a fair trial just as much as the defendant is, so we will be fighting for that, but at the end of the day, you know, our jury pool here does draw from the community,” Essayli said. “So, we want to make sure that we have a robust voir dire [jury selection] process, and we’ll be screening jurors … making sure they can be fair and impartial, which is what we’re entitled to.”

Essayli said the American public has learned much more about political violence since deadly Black Lives Matter riots erupted in 2020, including how mob violence is sometimes organized and premeditated. The Small Business Administration said in July that the anti-ICE riots caused an estimated $1 billion in damage to Los Angeles.

“That’s what we’re going to be looking into,” Essayli said about any evidence of orchestration. The presence of union leaders or activist groups at recent chaotic protests is another indicator of that trend, he said.

During the June riots, protesters reportedly handed out protective face shields, ear plugs, gas masks and water bottles to one another and shot fireworks at police, painting a picture of coordinated civil unrest. Federal officials have also accused a man of purchasing mortars and fireworks in New Mexico with plans to travel to Los Angeles and kill law enforcement during the June demonstrations. In July, people defending a cannabis farm from an ICE raid in Camarillo, California, allegedly threw a tear gas canister near federal agents’ heads and fired shots at them during a demonstration encouraged by leftist groups.

A federal probe into potential funding behind the violence is “ongoing,” Essayli told the DCNF. Potential charges could include conspiring to assault or impede agents or wire fraud.

The 2020 riots also showed that America “can’t tolerate political violence, and it has to be rooted out and stomped out quickly,” Essayli said.

AUTHOR

Hudson Crozier

DCNF Crime and Extremism Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

JD Vance Lays Out How Democrats ‘Tried To Rig’ Census, Redistricting

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Vice President JD Vance said Democrats were rigging the American political system by welcoming illegal immigrants and enacting “crazy gerrymanders” during an interview that aired on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Democrats in the Texas state legislature fled to Democrat-controlled states like New York and Illinois in order to thwart a GOP redistricting proposal that could net Republicans up to five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, while President Donald Trump called for a new census that would not include illegal immigrants in a Thursday morning post on Truth Social. Vance told host Maria Bartiromo that the effort to redistrict in Texas and other red states is a matter of Republicans showing “some spine.”

“Thankfully, under President Trump’s leadership we finally see some spine. You finally see some backbone in the Republican Party to fight back against these very aggressive Democratic dirty tricks,” Vance said. “But the only way for us to do it is to actually go and do the hard work to reset the scales a little bit. We want to redo the census, but importantly, we want to redistrict some of these red states, and we want to make the congressional apportionment fair in this country. Again, you cannot do it unless Republicans actually take some very decisive action in the months to come.”

WATCH:

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday that he has asked a court to declare the seats of the fleeing Democrats vacant, accusing them of carrying out an “out-of-state rebellion.” A political action committee founded by former Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Powered by People, has helped fund the Texas Democrats who fled to blue states, as has a different organization backed by left-wing activist George Soros.

Vance outlined some of the reasons that Republicans were seeking to redraw congressional districts in red states.

“I didn’t realize this until a couple of years ago, you know for apportioning representatives, you actually count illegal aliens. Even though they’re not… supposed to vote, they still sometimes do,” Vance told Bartiromo. “California has way more House seats than it should because they have such a high population of illegal aliens, so they get rewarded for welcoming illegal aliens into their state, actually asking the taxpayers of states like Ohio to subsidize them.”

“And then those same taxpayers in Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere, they have fewer congressional representatives because of what California has allowed to happen,” Vance continued. “That’s ridiculously unfair, and the only real way to fight back against us is for us to redistrict in some ways as aggressively as these hard blue states have done.”

New York re-drew its congressional districts after the 2022 midterm elections, creating a map that endangered as many as six out of the 11 Republicans elected to the House of Representatives. Illinois Democrats re-drew their congressional districts to take out two Republicans, including then-Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a prominent outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, prior to the 2022 midterm elections.

AUTHOR

Harold Hutchison

Media Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PODCAST: California wildfire victims left wondering where $100M went following FireAid benefit concert

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GUEST:

LEO ZACKY

Leo Zacky is a Candidate for California Governor in 2026. Farmer, Businessman, and unapologetic champion for “We The People”.

Leo is very respected in the agricultural industry and by statewide business owners. He is not a career politician who can be controlled by special interests.

As a teenager, Leo would accompany his grandmother to Sacramento and Washington, D.C. as she lobbied for the agriculture industry. Later, he would become a lobbyist as a member of the California Poultry Federation (CPF).

TOPIC: California wildfire victims left wonde ring where $100M went following FireAid benefit concert

©2025 . All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: Federal agents hid in back of rental truck at start of raid outside LA Home Depot

ROOKE: Democrats Roll Out Sneaky Playbook Year After Year. Now They’ve Met Their Match As Governor Lays Out Threat

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As the 2026 midterms quickly approach, Democrats and Republicans are searching for ways to increase their chances of winning control of Congress, making the addition of House seats through redistricting a top priority.

The Texas state legislature announced that it will introduce a bill to redistrict its U.S. Congressional districts, adding six House seats that would seemingly benefit Republican candidates.

Democrats across the country, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, criticized the move, claiming that Republicans were canceling Democratic voters by gerrymandering their district map. Democrat Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett claimed that Republicans were harming minority voters with the move.

Despite criticism and threats from blue states to redistrict their congressional districts, Texas state Republicans plan to move forward with their redistricting bill. That’s when all the drama started. News spread Saturday that state Democrats had once again fled the state to avoid giving the Texas state House a quorum to vote on the bill.

This is not new from Texas Democrats. Since 2020, state Democrats have made the same move three times. On May 30, 2021, Democrats walked out of the House at midnight to break the quorum and avoid voting on Texas SB 7, which focused on election integrity and security.

In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session to force Democrats back into the chamber. However, when the bill came up for another House floor vote, state Democrats broke quorum again by jumping on a chartered flight to Washington, D.C., on July 12, 2021. It took over a month before Democrats were forced to give Republicans a quorum in the Texas House.

Democrats are trying to do this again. On Aug. 3, at least 51 Democrats flew to Illinois to prevent the Texas House from reaching a quorum to vote on the new redistricting bill.

But this time is different. Abbott doesn’t seem willing to allow state Democrats the month-long publicity stunt before requiring them to come back to work. Instead, on Sunday, the Texas governor released a fiery statement notifying delinquent Democrats of the consequences should they refuse to attend the House vote at 3:00 p.m. Monday.

“This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025. For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House,” Abbott warned, adding that he has the power to “swiftly fill” their empty seats.

“In addition to abandoning their offices, these legislators may also have committed felonies. Many absentee Democrats are soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules. Any Democrat who ‘solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept’ such funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote may have violated bribery laws. See TEX. PENAL CODE § 36.02,” Abbott stated.

The Texas governor didn’t end with threatening state Democrats with felonies and removal from office. He added that any person who funds this charade will also be subjected to felony charges and promises to use his “full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons.”

There is no reported claim that Abbott received a call from the White House or U.S. House Republican leadership to end this Democrat power play immediately. Last time, it took over a month for Abbott and Texas Republicans to get their Democrat counterparts back to work.

Whatever the cause, Republicans seem to have found their backbone and have no issue using the power given to them by the voters to get important legislative work done.

AUTHOR

Mary Rooke

Commentary and Analysis Writer. Follow Mary Rooke on X: @MaryRooke. Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Double Victory: Lawsuits to Clean Up Voter Rolls Advance in Two States

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In a double win for Judicial Watch and clean elections, federal courts in California and Illinois separately ruled this week that our lawsuits may proceed against those states to force them to clean up their dirty voter rolls.

Our lawsuits allege that both California and Illinois violated the National Voter Registration Act, which requires states to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove” from the official voter rolls “the names of ineligible voters” who have died or changed residence.

In California, Judicial Watch and the Libertarian Party of California sued after uncovering a broad failure to clean up voter rolls in dozens of California counties. The amended complaint details that, in correspondence with us, California admitted that 21 counties removed five or fewer registrations in a two-year period pursuant to a key provision of federal law. Sixteen counties removed zero such registrations during that period (Judicial Watch Inc. and the Libertarian Party of CA v. Shirley Weber et al. (No. 2:24-cv-03750).

In Illinois, Judicial Watch and two political organizations, Breakthrough Ideas and Illinois Family Action, and registered voter Carol Davis, sued after alleging 23 counties, with a combined 980,089 registered voters, reported removing a combined total of just 100 voter registrations under a key provision of federal law over the past two-year period (Judicial Watch Inc. et al. v. Illinois State Board of Elections et al. (No. 1:24-cv-01867)).

In both cases, the judges allowed the lawsuits to continue.

The voter rolls in Illinois and California are a mess, and these court decisions allow our legal team to proceed in court to clean them up. The stakes are high—as there are potentially millions of ineligible names on the voter rolls in these two states.

Judicial Watch is a national leader in voting integrity and voting rights. As part of our work, we assembled a team of highly experienced voting rights attorneys. Robert Popper, a Judicial Watch senior attorney, leads our election law program. Popper was previously in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, where he managed voting rights investigations, litigations, consent decrees, and settlements in dozens of states.

We announced in May that our work led to the removal of more than five million ineligible names from voter rolls nationwide.

Recently, the Commonwealth of Kentucky reported that 735,000 ineligible voter registrations had been removed from its voter rolls since 2019 by the State Board of Elections as part of its 2018 consent decree settling a lawsuit by Judicial Watch.

As part of its 2022 settlement, New York City alone has removed 918,139 ineligible names from its rolls. Recent data show 477,056 removals between March 2023 and February 2025, which is in addition to the 441,083 previously reported removals.

In July, we filed an opening brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in a case filed on behalf of Congressman Mike Bost and two presidential electors, who are before the court to vindicate their standing to challenge an Illinois law extending Election Day for 14 days beyond the date established by federal law (Rep. Michael J. Bost, Laura Pollastrini, and Susan Sweeney v. The Illinois State Board of Elections and Bernadette Matthews (No. 1:22-cv-02754, 23-2644, 24-568)).

In June, we announced that the U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in our lawsuit that calls on Oregon’s secretary of state to make “a reasonable effort to remove” the registrations of ineligible registrants from the voter rolls as required by federal law (Judicial Watch, et al. v. The State of Oregon et al. (No. 6:24-cv-01783)).

EDITORS NOTE: This Judicial Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE: Meet The Chinese ‘Congressman’ Accused Of Abusing 21 Kids In U.S. Surrogacy Scheme

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The man who recently caught police attention for allegedly abusing his 21 children in the U.S. previously served as a high-level Chinese government official for at least two decades in the region at the heart of the communist nation’s ongoing genocide, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation.

In May 2025, police in Arcadia, California, arrested Xuan Guojun, 65, and his wife, Silvia Zhang, 38, for child endangerment after their two-month infant was brought to a hospital suffering from a traumatic head injury, The Associated Press reported. Police reviewed security footage from the couple’s $4 million, 10,000 square-foot mansion and allegedly discovered that their nanny, Li Chunmei, 56, had verbally and physically abused their 21 children, 17 of whom are toddlers, the New York Post reported.

Xuan and Zhang have not been charged, Arcadia police told the DCNF, but authorities removed the children from their custody and are now working with the FBI to investigate the couple and their former company, Mark Surrogacy Investments LLC, which allegedly failed to disclose that surrogates were carrying the couple’s embryos, according to the New York Post.

While the scope of Xuan’s alleged surrogacy scheme remains unclear, translated Chinese government and state media reports reveal that he has held multiple Chinese government positions, including serving as a representative to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) People’s Congress, which has enacted increasingly repressive policies contributing to China’s ongoing genocide against Uyghur and other ethnic minorities, according to U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists.

Salih Hudayar, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the East Turkistan Government-In-Exile, told the DCNF that “millions of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples were torn from their families, sent to concentration camps, psychologically destroyed, tortured, or even killed” due to the actions of members of the XUAR People’s Congress and related Chinese government bodies.

“Their hands are fully stained with the blood of the Uyghur and other Turkic peoples,” Hudayar said. “They must be held accountable.”

Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined in January 2021 that the Chinese government was committing genocide against Uyghurs and other minorities.

Xuan, Zhang and Li could not be reached for comment.

‘Repression And Bloodshed’

Xuan served as a representative to both the Urumqi Municipal People’s Congress and the XUAR People’s Congress, Chinese media and state media reports reveal.

“[T]he history of the CCP in the region has been one of repression and bloodshed, beginning in 1949 with the forcible annexation of East Turkistan by Mao Zedong,” New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith told the DCNF. Smith serves as co-chair of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), which Congress created to “monitor human rights and the development of the rule of law in China.”

Xuan joined the Urumqi Municipal People’s Congress in 1997, according to a 2012 interview published by Chinese media outlet Sina, which features Xuan’s photo. The article identifies Xuan as a representative to the XUAR People’s Congress and as the “general secretary” of Xinjiang Chuang Da Refrigeration Co. Ltd., which sells frozen goods and other food products, according to Chinese business filing platform Qichacha.

While still serving in the Urumqi Municipal People’s Congress, Xuan joined the XUAR People’s Congress in 2008, according to Chinese academic journal platform Xueshu.

Both bodies are subnational cousins of China’s National People’s Congress, which functions as a “‘rubber stamp’ legislature” under CCP control, according to a CECC report.

By 2012, Xuan had submitted over 200 proposals to the two congresses — more than any other representative, Sina reported.

When asked about himself in the interview published by Sina, Xuan laughed and described himself as “a person who loves to meddle in others’ affairs and provoke others” because he feels compelled to act when others need help, according to a DCNF translation.

“This individual did not join a democratic or independent legislature,” Hudayar told the DCNF. “Anyone who served in the so-called Urumqi or Xinjiang People’s Congresses between 1997 and 2012 was fully complicit in genocide.”

Hudayar cited seven regulations passed by the XUAR People’s Congress between 2008 and 2012 that upheld “policies central to the ongoing genocide,” including the Ethnic Unity Education Regulation, the Regulation On The Comprehensive Management of Social Order, the Revised Population and Family Planning Regulation and the Bilingual Education Promotion Regulation, which collectively criminalized expressions of Uyghur identity, initiated mass surveillance and expanded coercive reproductive controls.

The Chinese government goes to great lengths to recruit loyalists, doubly so when appointing representatives to sensitive bodies like the XUAR People’s Congress where members are implicitly, if not explicitly, expected to advance the CCP’s ethnic and demographic control agenda by enforcing existing laws, Hudayar said.

Hudayar pointed to the 2002 Xinjiang Population and Family Planning Regulation as an example of a law contributing to genocide that Xuan, as a XUAR People’s Congress representative between 2008 and 2012, would have been “complicit in upholding.”

“The 2002 regulation remained in full force during [Xuan’s] time in office and was further revised in 2011,” Hudayar said. “[The 2002 regulation] targeted Uyghur and other Turkic women and their unborn babies, resulting in the forced abortion of over 3.7 million babies by 2009 and the continued forced sterilization of hundreds of thousands of Uyghur and other Turkic women.”

‘Must Be Investigated’

Xuan has also held leadership positions within multiple organizations controlled by a CCP influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD) as well as within Chinese civic associations cooperating with Chinese law enforcement, according to Chinese government and media reports.

A UFWD “subordinate unit” called the All-China Federation Of Industry And Commerce (ACFIC) has identified Xuan as an official for several Xinjiang branches, including as an “executive committee” member for the XUAR ACFIC branch, according to a January 2017 announcement concerning that organization’s annual conference in Urumqi. Photos show Xuan on stage during the conference, and the announcement also identifies Xuan as the “executive deputy chairman” of a related Xinjiang-Zhejiang ACFIC branch.

United Front arms often utilize a so-called “two nameplates” system in which an organization, like ACFIC, will masquerade as a “chamber of commerce” to conceal Chinese government-ties, according to The Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. Xuan has served as the president of the California-based U.S.-Xinjiang Chamber of Commerce since at least 2019, according to an announcement by the Chinese American Federation, which itself has identified Xuan as its “executive deputy chairman” since at least 2018.

Xuan also serves as the “honorary deputy chairman” of the Wenzhou Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, according to a 2023 Chinese American Federation announcement. The Wenzhou Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce is one of several Chinese civic associations operating an unsanctioned Chinese government satellite court on U.S. soil, the DCNF reported in January 2025.

Another California-based Chinese civic association called the U.S.-Zhejiang General Chamber of Commerce also identifies Xuan as its “executive chairman,” according to an announcement from that organization. The co-chairman of that civic association is both a mediator for the Wenzhou People’s Court and also a Zhejiang Ministry of Public Security (MPS) supervisor, the DCNF’s January 2025 investigation found.

“Anyone with these type of Chinese government and United Front-ties must be investigated by the FBI and thoroughly prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” Hudayar said.

AUTHOR

Philip Lenczycki

Senior Investigative Reporter

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Leftist Outrage Erupts At California Plan To Stop Paying Criminal Illegals’ Legal Bills

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Deep blue California has barred illegal immigrants with felony convictions from receiving taxpayer-funded legal aid in immigration cases, sparking outrage from some activists in the state.

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the measure as part of his 2025 budget, emphasizing in his Feb. 7 signed note to the state Senate that no taxpayer money in the budget should support “immigration-related legal services for noncitizens convicted of serious or violent felonies.” The change is set to take effect starting in 2026 and will be the first change regarding who is eligible for California’s Equal Access Fund since the program’s creation in 1999, The Latin Times reported.

Over 70 organizations in June issued public statements and sent letters to Newsom and state lawmakers demanding a reversal, CalMatters reported.

“This prohibition would have a devastating impact on low-income Californians seeking immigration legal assistance, likely stoking fear and creating a chilling effect on client communities in need of vital legal services,” Doan Nguyen, the California State Bar’s director of the Office of Access & Inclusion, told CalMatters in June.

Bruno Huizar of the California Immigrant Policy Center said the policy signed by Newsom “rolls back” progress, CapRadio reported.

“Now is not the time to add restrictions excluding people from access to life-changing services,” Huizar said. He also claimed that the present time is one “when federal agents have arrested over 1,600 people in Southern California, separating families, violating constitutional rights and terrorizing neighborhoods.”

Huizar’s comments came weeks after a series of violent riots opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) erupted in Los Angeles.

Lorin Klein of the Legal Aid Association of California warned that California’s policy change “just creates fear in communities that are already afraid,” according to CapRadio.

“The more we scare people, the more they go underground and don’t seek help,” she added.

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Equal Access Fund alone paid for more than $8 million in immigration-related legal services in 2024. Another $10 million — also exclusively for immigration legal aid — was recently added to a separate program run by the California Department of Social Services, which does not serve felons, according to FAIR.

However, the amount of money doled out by these programs is dwarfed by the over $30 billion burden illegal immigration placed on California taxpayers in 2023, according to FAIR.

AUTHOR

Krrishh Kamal

Contributor

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.