JUST IN: Whistleblower claims Newsom was AWARE of alleged $3.5B California fraud

Fox News covers a House Oversight Committee investigation into alleged massive hospice fraud in California, with particular focus on Los Angeles County. According to the network’s report, Committee Chairman James Comer claims a whistleblower has come forward alleging that Governor Gavin Newsom was aware of the alleged fraud scheme.

According to Fox News, Chairman Comer states that a state audit confirmed at least $3.5 billion in alleged hospice fraud, primarily concentrated in Los Angeles County. In the video, Comer alleges this represents over 10% of the total federal bill for hospice care across all 50 states. Fox News reports that Comer describes this as “a very similar scenario to what we had in Minnesota,” indicating the committee is shifting its investigative focus from Minnesota to California.

The report features claims that the alleged fraud involved nearly 2,000 hospice providers registered to a single commercial building. According to Fox News, Comer characterizes this as implausible, stating it’s “not possible to have that many patients” or “that big of a claim in one county.” The chairman alleges in the video that this has been ongoing for several years.

Fox News includes commentary from independent journalist Nick Shirley, who according to the report, suggests Governor Newsom retaliated against those exposing the alleged fraud rather than addressing it. In the video, Comer alleges that Newsom “retaliates against a reporter for bringing this to light” and draws a comparison to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, whom he accuses of similarly retaliating against state employees who allegedly blew the whistle on fraud in that state.

The network’s report also features a clip of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who according to Fox News, claims that the Biden White House ordered agency personnel not to enforce against fraud, instead focusing solely on enrollment. Fox News presents Comer’s response, in which he alleges that government agencies tasked with preventing fraud “are not doing their job” and that “we are losing a significant percentage of our tax dollars to fraud every day.”

According to Fox News, Governor Newsom’s office responded with a statement claiming that “California is leading the nation in preventing fraud, waste, and abuse,” though the network notes the statement contained nothing specific to address the state audit findings.

In Fox News’s Own Words

“There is a whistle-blower that’s come forward that alleges that Gavin Newsom knew about this.”

“You are talking about three and a half billion dollars of fraud in one county, in California where there are clearly hundreds of people registered to one address.”

“They were ordered by the Biden White House not to do program integrity and not to enforce against fraud.”

This investigation matters because it involves alleged fraud in hospice care, a federally-funded program serving vulnerable patients at end of life. According to the Fox News report, the House Oversight Committee views California as potentially “the tip of the iceberg” for similar alleged fraud schemes nationwide, with implications for how taxpayer dollars are protected and how state and federal officials respond to alleged fraud when it is exposed.