1
00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:03,600
Speaker 1: I am six forty. You're listening to the John Cobel

2
00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,480
Speaker 1: podcast on the iHeartRadio app. We are on every day

3
00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,639
Speaker 1: from three to six, now three until six. Conway's coming

4
00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:14,840
Speaker 1: on from six to ten and our podcast that's what

5
00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:17,560
Speaker 1: you listened to. After six o'clock, that's when it's released

6
00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,000
Speaker 1: and you get to catch up on whatever you missed

7
00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,800
Speaker 1: all right on the iHeartRadio app. Of course coming up

8
00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,840
Speaker 1: later in the hour. Yes, one of the big stories

9
00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,640
Speaker 1: of the day is Kristin Crowley, the LA fire chief,

10
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:37,200
Speaker 1: is suing over being demoted by Karen Bass, and she's

11
00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,400
Speaker 1: now saying in her court papers Karen Bass never told

12
00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:46,800
Speaker 1: her Kristin Crowley, that Karen was going to Ghana, that

13
00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,320
Speaker 1: she was leaving for Africa, and of course there were

14
00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:54,160
Speaker 1: lots of warnings about the fire, lots of warnings about

15
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:59,720
Speaker 1: the wind, and never never called up the fire chief

16
00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,520
Speaker 1: and said, hey, look I'm going to Africa, so can

17
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,080
Speaker 1: you handle things. We'll talk to we'll talk about it.

18
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,560
Speaker 1: Coming up after four thirty. Adam Houseley's coming on now.

19
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,800
Speaker 1: Adam is a long time journalist, worked for Fox News

20
00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,800
Speaker 1: for many years and is now independent and he posts

21
00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,839
Speaker 1: a lot of things online and He had a post

22
00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,320
Speaker 1: just yesterday about the COVID fraud in California is now

23
00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,920
Speaker 1: more than one hundred billion dollars. Adam, how are you?

24
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,280
Speaker 2: How are you doing? John? Good? Talking again?

25
00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,880
Speaker 1: Yes, it's been a while. How are you good? Good?

26
00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,480
Speaker 2: You know, enjoying the time away from the insanity that

27
00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:39,720
Speaker 2: has become the news industry.

28
00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,759
Speaker 1: I know you were, you were carving your own path industry. Yeah,

29
00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,920
Speaker 1: is carving your own independent path, which is which a

30
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:48,720
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of people are doing. And it's

31
00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:50,920
Speaker 1: exciting because you're in charge of what you're interested in,

32
00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,120
Speaker 1: how you want to present it exactly. You know.

33
00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:55,240
Speaker 2: I did it for a lot of reasons.

34
00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:55,559
Speaker 1: Family.

35
00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,120
Speaker 2: Obviously, I wanted to coach coach my kids while they

36
00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,280
Speaker 2: still were young enough and in baseball and other things,

37
00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:02,920
Speaker 2: and the figure, you know what, it was the right time,

38
00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,920
Speaker 2: and so I left on my terms andod it's been.

39
00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,400
Speaker 1: A great decision. You've been posting a lot about the

40
00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,959
Speaker 1: fraud in California. What do you know? What have you found?

41
00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,120
Speaker 2: So, John, I started this about four and a half

42
00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:17,000
Speaker 2: years ago, you know, because I was at Fox and

43
00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,639
Speaker 2: I still obviously have a profile online and do things

44
00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,839
Speaker 2: here and there independently. I get people to still reach

45
00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,080
Speaker 2: out to me and how the starter was funny enough.

46
00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,359
Speaker 2: You know, Gavin had dinner at the French laundry yat

47
00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,680
Speaker 2: Fills my hometown. We all know about that during COVID

48
00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:32,079
Speaker 2: and that was one of the guys who got a

49
00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,760
Speaker 2: lot of the information out about that. And as part

50
00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:36,600
Speaker 2: of that, someone reached out to me that knew me

51
00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,400
Speaker 2: from other stories when he saw me tweeting about that

52
00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:41,400
Speaker 2: and said, you know, you should look into the COVID

53
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:43,399
Speaker 2: fraud too, And I went, oh really, and he goes, yeah,

54
00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,800
Speaker 2: this happens to be a federal agent of one of

55
00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:50,000
Speaker 2: the agencies. And so I was like, sure, help me out.

56
00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,639
Speaker 2: So this is no joke. John Again, four years ago

57
00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,960
Speaker 2: we started talking about this. At first they denied everything,

58
00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,240
Speaker 2: Oh there's no fraud going on, which is completely belonging

59
00:02:58,280 --> 00:02:59,960
Speaker 2: after how well you run something if you're a govern

60
00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,720
Speaker 2: there's going to be fraud, And then you know they

61
00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,200
Speaker 2: I think they initially said the first time the California

62
00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,840
Speaker 2: even admitted it that it was like eight eight billion

63
00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,160
Speaker 2: or something or eight hundred million or something like that.

64
00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,680
Speaker 2: And my guys were telling me that. I eventually met

65
00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,240
Speaker 2: a few of them doing this in this investigation that

66
00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:18,120
Speaker 2: it was like twenty five billion. So I put that

67
00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,119
Speaker 2: out there. I had a couple of journalists in California

68
00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,280
Speaker 2: actually reached out to me and kind of bashed me

69
00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,400
Speaker 2: on Twitter, said, you're you know, you're running the Fox line.

70
00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,280
Speaker 2: I'm like, first of all, I'm not a Fox anymore.

71
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:29,480
Speaker 2: And second of all, you know, this is coming from

72
00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:31,960
Speaker 2: guys I trust and respect and know and the verified

73
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,560
Speaker 2: and validated. So over the course of these last four years,

74
00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,080
Speaker 2: they keep expanding those numbers, and I've been saying, you know,

75
00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,280
Speaker 2: I was saying thirty billion when they were saying ten.

76
00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:42,680
Speaker 2: I was saying sixty billion when they were they finally

77
00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,720
Speaker 2: admitted thirty and my guys were saying, yeah, it's probably

78
00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:47,520
Speaker 2: going to be one hundred, you know. But that's been

79
00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,880
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago now because they a lot

80
00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,760
Speaker 2: of this investigation has stopped or it was slowed down

81
00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,200
Speaker 2: because Edd was not helping as you might imagine the

82
00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,800
Speaker 2: investigators trying to find out the fraud. I will know

83
00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,240
Speaker 2: that much of this fraud went overseas, and the organized

84
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,640
Speaker 2: crime didn't even stay in the state. You know, at first,

85
00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,080
Speaker 2: they tried to plan in the small businesses for PPP loans,

86
00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,400
Speaker 2: which is laughable. Yes, there, I'm sure are some out

87
00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:11,640
Speaker 2: there that did things, but I mean, you had people,

88
00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:14,280
Speaker 2: you know, I think it was Nancy Pelosi's name was

89
00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,880
Speaker 2: used like fourteen times to get money. Dianne Feinstein was

90
00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,880
Speaker 2: used like nine times to get money, you know, again

91
00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:22,600
Speaker 2: not by them, by other people, but they.

92
00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,400
Speaker 1: Would they would use those names on the applications. Absolutely.

93
00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:28,239
Speaker 2: I mean, so I was told this is what happened,

94
00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,640
Speaker 2: that what they've learned from ed D And of course

95
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:33,719
Speaker 2: the guys that people there won't go on record with it,

96
00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,800
Speaker 2: and that's the that's the they were handing out the

97
00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,919
Speaker 2: unemployment checks during COVID, correct California side. There's obviously the

98
00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,080
Speaker 2: federal ones too. This is just the California side of things.

99
00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,560
Speaker 2: And I believe this is one reason why we're in,

100
00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,120
Speaker 2: you know, having a major budget issue again, is because

101
00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:48,480
Speaker 2: if we gave away this kind of money and we're

102
00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,640
Speaker 2: still giving it away. But I was told what happened

103
00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,240
Speaker 2: was they were being somewhat scrutiny. There was some scrutine

104
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,440
Speaker 2: of a lot, but a little bit, and then some

105
00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,440
Speaker 2: TV stations in Los Angeles found, you know, a couple

106
00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,599
Speaker 2: of families who didn't get the money they'd asked for,

107
00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:02,560
Speaker 2: you know, when they needed it, and they were people

108
00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,480
Speaker 2: that were probably legitimate, but that doesn't look good on

109
00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:07,839
Speaker 2: the governor. And so I was told he literally walked

110
00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:12,719
Speaker 2: into ed ed and said approve everything. And that opened

111
00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,719
Speaker 2: the floodgates because there was no scrutiny anymore. Everything got

112
00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,400
Speaker 2: an approval stamp. It just knew because he didn't he

113
00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:23,360
Speaker 2: didn't like to look. I mean, you know, again, he's

114
00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,279
Speaker 2: all we know, he's all about image. Clearly, that's aly,

115
00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:28,040
Speaker 2: you know. I means there's a lot of substance there,

116
00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,599
Speaker 2: at least in my opinion. But that's another another problem

117
00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:33,599
Speaker 2: I have. But in any case, the issue I have

118
00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,279
Speaker 2: with this is I was told he was upset with

119
00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,720
Speaker 2: a couple of television reports on news agencies in la

120
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,159
Speaker 2: Uh and that a couple of the reports talked to

121
00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,640
Speaker 2: families who legitimately probably deserved the money and needed it,

122
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,000
Speaker 2: but somehow had gotten denied and it didn't look good.

123
00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,279
Speaker 2: And that's what the news media does, right, we go

124
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,000
Speaker 2: we find, we always go try to go find those

125
00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,240
Speaker 2: being harmed. In this case, they found whoever it was,

126
00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:57,960
Speaker 2: it was whatever, I'm not sure which networks. They were,

127
00:05:57,960 --> 00:05:59,560
Speaker 2: but there were two stories I was told that were

128
00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,160
Speaker 2: done and that that didn't look good in Sacramento and

129
00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:05,920
Speaker 2: didn't look on the governor and that he literally told,

130
00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,160
Speaker 2: you know, eded approve it all.

131
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,200
Speaker 1: And and they approved over thirty billion dollars of fraud.

132
00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,120
Speaker 2: I mean you had, you had fraud. I mean you had.

133
00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:19,360
Speaker 2: I mean we know about the inmates getting stuff.

134
00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:21,919
Speaker 1: We know that, of course, right, we know that.

135
00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,200
Speaker 2: I love you know this. The LA teachers, I think

136
00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,880
Speaker 2: like seventy five or seventy eight percent got got money

137
00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:29,640
Speaker 2: even though they were being paid full salary.

138
00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,799
Speaker 1: I know that seventy eight the teachers in Los Angeles.

139
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:36,920
Speaker 2: I was told something. It was like seventy eight. I

140
00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:38,640
Speaker 2: can I'll try to get the exact number. But it

141
00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,920
Speaker 2: was a significant percentage put in and got money. And

142
00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,919
Speaker 2: I believe they were being paid full salary. But that's

143
00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:46,880
Speaker 2: that's what what's crazy, John, is that's not even where

144
00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:48,640
Speaker 2: the massive fraud is. You can go after some of them,

145
00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:50,719
Speaker 2: you and go after some of these small businesses that

146
00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,119
Speaker 2: took advantage of it. I'm sure I've I've had people

147
00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,440
Speaker 2: tweet me and say, you know, well, so and so did.

148
00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,960
Speaker 2: This is my neighbors did this, and I know, yes,

149
00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,240
Speaker 2: that absolutely happened. And I believe that they were some

150
00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,200
Speaker 2: frausters out there that you know, we're business people here

151
00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:04,920
Speaker 2: in California. Is gonna You're going to have people to

152
00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,120
Speaker 2: do that, especially when everything's being approved. But these these

153
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,600
Speaker 2: federal investigators told me, and have been saying this for

154
00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,200
Speaker 2: a long time, that the majority of the money, the

155
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,679
Speaker 2: mass majority of the money, didn't even stay in the state.

156
00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:17,400
Speaker 2: Like I said, I went to organized crime and a

157
00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:17,640
Speaker 2: lot of.

158
00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:21,320
Speaker 1: It and a lot of it went overseas and is

159
00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,840
Speaker 1: not recoverable. Your money, of my money, yeah, I know, yeah,

160
00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:29,960
Speaker 1: and they're never going to get it back. We've got

161
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:31,960
Speaker 1: so much money lost.

162
00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:33,040
Speaker 2: It's still going out.

163
00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,440
Speaker 1: Yeah. They're still paying unemployment funds to fraudsters. Still.

164
00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,920
Speaker 2: Yes, So I'm told they haven't. They haven't closed the loopholes.

165
00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:42,560
Speaker 2: I mean, I got, I mean all the way. And

166
00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,680
Speaker 2: then I was told what's crazy is I was told

167
00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,120
Speaker 2: that they even backdated it. I think it was twenty

168
00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,440
Speaker 2: twenty three. Forgot. I kind of look at my notes,

169
00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,960
Speaker 2: but they actually backdated it. You could say, you know,

170
00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,520
Speaker 2: actually I didn't. I didn't work last year as much

171
00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,200
Speaker 2: as I thought I was going to and you would

172
00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,320
Speaker 2: go in and put in for like eighteen months prior

173
00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,360
Speaker 2: and still get money. It was insane, the ability to

174
00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,640
Speaker 2: get cash. I mean, I'm not going to allow you.

175
00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:09,920
Speaker 2: It's you're going, dang, everybody else getting paid?

176
00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,000
Speaker 1: What about me? But and you right, you don't even

177
00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:14,200
Speaker 1: have to submit to an interview.

178
00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:16,600
Speaker 2: Was it was nothing. So I'll tell you, and I

179
00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,480
Speaker 2: know how little it works because we know we have

180
00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:23,080
Speaker 2: a little I'm I'm not dropping this for purposes of business,

181
00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,120
Speaker 2: but we have a small winery that I run up here.

182
00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,560
Speaker 2: I have a few kids that work in my tasting room,

183
00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,080
Speaker 2: and you know I'm paying. I'm going, damn. You know,

184
00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:32,120
Speaker 2: the governor will want us open up the doors and

185
00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:33,560
Speaker 2: I'll have to pay them, paying everybody. I want to

186
00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,440
Speaker 2: put the ladies kids off, and they still work for me.

187
00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:36,400
Speaker 1: Most of them do it.

188
00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,360
Speaker 2: I say kids. They are in their twenties. And that's

189
00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,360
Speaker 2: when the PPT came out. Well, the PPP loan was

190
00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:44,880
Speaker 2: supposed to be a conduit. So as a business owner,

191
00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,040
Speaker 2: if you get it right and you did it fairly,

192
00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,200
Speaker 2: you did it, you're a conduit. So the money would

193
00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,480
Speaker 2: come to me. But I wouldn't keep it. I would

194
00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,640
Speaker 2: pass it along to pay the employees so they would

195
00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,360
Speaker 2: continue to get to money. They're not working, no money's

196
00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,960
Speaker 2: coming in, right, so they would be able to still

197
00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,439
Speaker 2: get their salary. So if Joe Smith made four hundred

198
00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,120
Speaker 2: dollars a week whatever, you know what a four hundred

199
00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,920
Speaker 2: and eighty dollars a week with the PPP alone, he

200
00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:11,520
Speaker 2: would still get I think it was it was close

201
00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:13,240
Speaker 2: to that. It was like three seventy five or I

202
00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,840
Speaker 2: forgot what the exact percentage was, but I was basically

203
00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:17,440
Speaker 2: to come to it so the money would come to me,

204
00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:19,320
Speaker 2: and that I would just pay them like I normally

205
00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,720
Speaker 2: would once a week, so they continued to get paid

206
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,120
Speaker 2: so they can still pay their bills, right and go on.

207
00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,319
Speaker 2: That's what the whole idea of the PPP you loan

208
00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,959
Speaker 2: was for small businesses to pass it along so your

209
00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,000
Speaker 2: staff and your landlord if you had one, wouldn't go

210
00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,800
Speaker 2: bankrupt or wouldn't. And so it's funny most businesses, at

211
00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:38,920
Speaker 2: least the people that I know, did that right. Were

212
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,520
Speaker 2: we followed the rules, We were honest, and we passed

213
00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:43,600
Speaker 2: that money along. Yes, I'm sure there are ways you

214
00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:47,320
Speaker 2: could take that money and keep it and be and

215
00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,080
Speaker 2: with corruption. But the state at first when they first

216
00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,959
Speaker 2: were sent with agreed admitting to this these fraud A

217
00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,199
Speaker 2: couple of years ago, they were starting to put this

218
00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,880
Speaker 2: on small businesses, trying to blame small businesses in California

219
00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:03,000
Speaker 2: for taking money, when in reality, again the investigators tell

220
00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,800
Speaker 2: me that's that's a very small percentage that the mass

221
00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,280
Speaker 2: majority was done somehow organized crime gun in there and

222
00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:11,040
Speaker 2: they were, I mean there was there's there are people

223
00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,080
Speaker 2: that were doing, you know, two hundred and three hundred

224
00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,840
Speaker 2: applications for money, and one guy if I remember right,

225
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,040
Speaker 2: and again there's so many of these instances just trying

226
00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,360
Speaker 2: to remember all the facts on a on an interview,

227
00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:25,600
Speaker 2: it makes it a little bit more tedious. But one guy,

228
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,679
Speaker 2: I remember, I had like two hundred and seventy applications

229
00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:30,600
Speaker 2: and he used the same picture every time and got

230
00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:31,160
Speaker 2: them all a group.

231
00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,240
Speaker 1: Would he put two hundred and seventy different names? Yep?

232
00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:40,000
Speaker 2: I mean, dude, I think it was Nancy Pelosi got

233
00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,000
Speaker 2: a nine and not Nancy Pelosi, but someone using Nancy

234
00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,719
Speaker 2: Pelosi's name using her photo too, by the way, he

235
00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,120
Speaker 2: got it nine times, or different people use their name

236
00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,360
Speaker 2: Dianne Feinstein. I mean it was almost laughable but sad

237
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,880
Speaker 2: at the same time. And it's what's wrong with government, honestly,

238
00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,400
Speaker 2: it's that it's it's bloated, you know, and we we

239
00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,679
Speaker 2: don't we don't have we don't have the ability. And

240
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:02,760
Speaker 2: thinking about this for a second, John, if I did

241
00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,440
Speaker 2: that with a if with our little business here in Napa,

242
00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,920
Speaker 2: you know, I would be out of business. Yeah, I'd

243
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:11,600
Speaker 2: be out of business if I didn't keep track of

244
00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:13,680
Speaker 2: where the money was going, you know. And I said, oh,

245
00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,240
Speaker 2: give wine to everybody. It sounds great. Everybody would be happy,

246
00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:17,760
Speaker 2: and in a week and a week I'll be out

247
00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:18,400
Speaker 2: on the street.

248
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,559
Speaker 1: With ye and nobody in government cares. Nobody, No, no.

249
00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:25,280
Speaker 2: Well it's because all about image. Again, there's no substance there.

250
00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,920
Speaker 2: But when the governor told him to prove everything, that's

251
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:30,640
Speaker 2: exactly the way it was explained, I said, I said,

252
00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,520
Speaker 2: in those words, yep, we were told at him by

253
00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:35,840
Speaker 2: someone in the office. I'm not sure if you walked

254
00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,160
Speaker 2: in there and said it in person, although that's the insinuation,

255
00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,400
Speaker 2: but literally. When those twos keep saying literally for some reason,

256
00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,400
Speaker 2: sorry about that. But when these two fired up about decisions,

257
00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,920
Speaker 2: you can tell when those two stations in LA showed

258
00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,160
Speaker 2: the people who probably can probably deserved the eded. They

259
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,520
Speaker 2: probably did deserve that that that money, but for some

260
00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,520
Speaker 2: reason they slipped through the cracks, which does happen when

261
00:11:56,559 --> 00:12:00,240
Speaker 2: they showed those people, you know, Joe and me, he

262
00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:02,680
Speaker 2: didn't get the money this month, and because the government

263
00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,440
Speaker 2: promised him and again Pobby deserved it. It looked bad

264
00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:08,800
Speaker 2: in Sacramento because it'll showed me the governor look bad.

265
00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,440
Speaker 2: So the governors had approved it, all all right, and

266
00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:12,760
Speaker 2: that's what.

267
00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,880
Speaker 1: I gotta go. We got news to do. Thank you, Adam,

268
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,080
Speaker 1: and when you have more stuff, please let us know.

269
00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:19,640
Speaker 1: All right, we'll do.

270
00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:20,880
Speaker 2: Hey, graduations, welcome back.

271
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,679
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you Adam Housley, who's an independent journalist now

272
00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,760
Speaker 1: and there isn't a soul in the California government that

273
00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,960
Speaker 1: cares about these tens of billions of dollars, one hundred

274
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,080
Speaker 1: billion dollars, Adam says he's hearing that has been lost

275
00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,880
Speaker 1: to fraud, just over the COVID programs.

276
00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:42,960
Speaker 3: You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM

277
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:43,520
Speaker 3: six forty.

278
00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,000
Speaker 1: Kristen Crowley is suing the City of Los Angeles and

279
00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,360
Speaker 1: she's saying Karen Bass never told her that she was

280
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,720
Speaker 1: going off to Africa with all those dire fire and

281
00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,400
Speaker 1: wind warnings. And we'll talk about that coming up after

282
00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,760
Speaker 1: Debra's four thirty news. We're gonna have Richie Greenberg on

283
00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:06,640
Speaker 1: the San Francisco Journalist and commentator. He'll be on after

284
00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,280
Speaker 1: five o'clock. But I wanted to spend a few minutes

285
00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,920
Speaker 1: now on this story. We've got another massive fraud story

286
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:19,800
Speaker 1: involving a phony nonprofit that was getting millions of dollars

287
00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:26,120
Speaker 1: for the homeless. Gwendolyn Westbrook. She's seventy one years old.

288
00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:30,360
Speaker 1: She'd been investigated for years. She up until a few

289
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,360
Speaker 1: years ago, was the CEO of something called United Council

290
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:39,840
Speaker 1: of Human Services. Well, it turns out that she stole

291
00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,520
Speaker 1: over one million dollars in tax buddy that was funneled

292
00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:50,000
Speaker 1: to this phony, boloney nonprofit. This is from the San

293
00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,920
Speaker 1: Francisco District Attorney. You know what she bought with the money.

294
00:13:54,520 --> 00:14:00,400
Speaker 1: What's she buy? Oh, you'll appreciate this? Luxury vehicles and jewelry. Yeah.

295
00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,200
Speaker 1: In fact, I read in one story she had a

296
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,040
Speaker 1: whole trunk full of jewelry. Maybe she sold some of

297
00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:10,160
Speaker 1: it on the street. She would shop at Louis Vuitton,

298
00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:16,640
Speaker 1: Neiman Marcus, and the spending far exceeded her salary, and

299
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,520
Speaker 1: everybody in the office knew she was buying all these

300
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:29,840
Speaker 1: extravagant things. Her nonprofit ran a soup kitchen. She stole

301
00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,640
Speaker 1: millions of dollars running a soup kitchen, and she also

302
00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,680
Speaker 1: got millions of dollars she was supposed to provide homeless shelter.

303
00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,720
Speaker 1: Now it's nine felony charges of misappropriation of public funds,

304
00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:46,600
Speaker 1: grand theft, false invoice, false state tax returns. She ran

305
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,400
Speaker 1: the United Council of Human Services for almost twenty years,

306
00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:57,880
Speaker 1: and she was finally fired three years ago because of

307
00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:02,600
Speaker 1: these suspicions, and finally indicted this week.

308
00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:04,480
Speaker 4: Does she have to give back all the jewelry in

309
00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:05,920
Speaker 4: the Louis Vuitton versus?

310
00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,560
Speaker 1: You know? It doesn't say? Do you know what the

311
00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:16,360
Speaker 1: thing is? Her troubles go back to nineteen ninety seven.

312
00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,680
Speaker 1: She was accused in nineteen ninety seven of stealing thousands

313
00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,920
Speaker 1: of dollars from a cash box at a parking lot

314
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,920
Speaker 1: that her employer owned. She worked for the San Francisco Port.

315
00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,360
Speaker 1: In twenty fifteen, in the city of Richmond. They found

316
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,840
Speaker 1: unsanctioned blackjack tables in the back of a charity bingo

317
00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:46,000
Speaker 1: hall that her nonprofit operated. She was running blackjack tables

318
00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:56,000
Speaker 1: in addition to the soup kitchen. What a character. Oh

319
00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,080
Speaker 1: you know remember the woman in San Diego I told

320
00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,080
Speaker 1: you about the other day. Remember I told you that

321
00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:07,640
Speaker 1: she'd previously stolen a half a million dollars from another organization.

322
00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:09,880
Speaker 4: The one that got the boob job.

323
00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. It turns out that her her

324
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:16,800
Speaker 1: her new nonprofit that she got a job with, they

325
00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,600
Speaker 1: knew that she'd stolen a half million dollars from the

326
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:20,400
Speaker 1: old organization.

327
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,720
Speaker 4: How could anybody hire somebody knowing that? I mean, that

328
00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:25,120
Speaker 4: is ridiculously And then.

329
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:30,960
Speaker 1: She stole more so she could have new boobs. She

330
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:36,920
Speaker 1: paid herself a hidden double salary. She was paid four

331
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:42,640
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars through an unusual compensation method.

332
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:48,280
Speaker 1: It's all from the DA it had like her. Her

333
00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,000
Speaker 1: agency was called United Council of Human Services. They got

334
00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:57,920
Speaker 1: their money from Helluna Health, so Heluna Health gave it

335
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:03,880
Speaker 1: to United Council, and then United Council transferred the money

336
00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:08,280
Speaker 1: to Westbrook's private accounts. This is money. This is money laundering.

337
00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:12,320
Speaker 1: All these nonprofits in the homeless industry, these are massive,

338
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:19,399
Speaker 1: complicated money laundering operations. She also paid herself three hundred

339
00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:25,480
Speaker 1: and eighty seven thousand dollars without anybody from the organization

340
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,520
Speaker 1: or its board signing the checks. That's over four years,

341
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:33,359
Speaker 1: ending in twenty twenty three. So she had two sources income,

342
00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,280
Speaker 1: one four hundred and sixty seven thousand, the other three

343
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:42,920
Speaker 1: hundred eighty seven thousand. And she's she's been a known

344
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:47,639
Speaker 1: criminal for twenty what is that twenty nine years? Twenty

345
00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:55,240
Speaker 1: nine years, and she would openly flaunt the stuff she

346
00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,200
Speaker 1: was buying with all the stolen money or our tax money.

347
00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,280
Speaker 1: By the way, it gets me so mad, Kristin, I

348
00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:03,520
Speaker 1: don't know why you're working for a living.

349
00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:05,440
Speaker 4: I should either, John, I need to come up.

350
00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,440
Speaker 1: With a scheme open an homeless nonprofit. You'll have millions

351
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,040
Speaker 1: of dollars and you could have all the all the

352
00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:11,720
Speaker 1: shoes you want.

353
00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:12,800
Speaker 5: That'd be amazing.

354
00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:18,399
Speaker 3: You're listening to John cobelts on demand from KFI AM

355
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:18,960
Speaker 3: six forty.

356
00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,479
Speaker 1: Follow us at John Cobelt Radio on social media at

357
00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:26,520
Speaker 1: John Cobelt Radio, and keep sub Go and subscribe on

358
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,399
Speaker 1: YouTube if you haven't done that yet a lot of

359
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,480
Speaker 1: people are subscribing. Our numbers are going up YouTube dot com,

360
00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:36,040
Speaker 1: slash at John Cobelt Show, and we post videos all

361
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,800
Speaker 1: the time of the program. YouTube dot com, slash at

362
00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:43,640
Speaker 1: John Cobelt Show. Subscribe to this. Oh all right, now

363
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,760
Speaker 1: you probably heard big news of the day Kristin Crowley,

364
00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,600
Speaker 1: the former fire chief who was fired by Karen bass

365
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,720
Speaker 1: after the Palisades fire. There's a lot of fire there.

366
00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:00,320
Speaker 1: She's filed a lawsuit in La Superior Court claiming she

367
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:05,600
Speaker 1: was illegally retaliated against. She was removed as fire chief

368
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:11,800
Speaker 1: on February twenty first of last year, and she's still

369
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,439
Speaker 1: with the department. She's an assistant chief in the Valley Bureau.

370
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,879
Speaker 1: But now she's filing a lawsuit. And here's what she

371
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:23,200
Speaker 1: says about bass because Bassett fired her, saying Crowley did

372
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,639
Speaker 1: not tell her about the fire danger connected to the

373
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:32,479
Speaker 1: Santa Anna wins, Huh. She actually I keep forgetting she

374
00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:38,000
Speaker 1: actually said these things. And of course we know because

375
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,879
Speaker 1: we were broadcast. It's like, you don't lie to the

376
00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:47,360
Speaker 1: news media. Our own business is about broadcasting weather warnings. Here,

377
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:52,320
Speaker 1: fire warnings, wind warnings, storm warnings. Have you ever noticed

378
00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:56,320
Speaker 1: the local news media goes hits into hysterical fits whenever

379
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,320
Speaker 1: there's some kind of weather threat they do. It's like

380
00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:01,000
Speaker 1: continuous coverage from four in the.

381
00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:04,480
Speaker 4: Morning because that was I mean, the wind was ridiculous.

382
00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,679
Speaker 4: That was crazy. I mean we yes, I remember for

383
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,800
Speaker 4: days I was talking about that. That was my lead story,

384
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:12,840
Speaker 4: talking about the wind that was expected.

385
00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,440
Speaker 1: Well, Karen Bass is lying her ass off here because

386
00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,600
Speaker 1: she still insists she didn't know what was coming. So

387
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:30,200
Speaker 1: Crowley in her lawsuit says that that she says, let

388
00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:40,720
Speaker 1: me get this right here. She says that Crowley is

389
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,640
Speaker 1: claiming that Bass orchestrated a campaign of retaliation against her

390
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,320
Speaker 1: to conceal the extent to which Bass undermined public safety

391
00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:54,959
Speaker 1: and transparency. She sought to avoid accountability by shifting blame

392
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:59,560
Speaker 1: and lying. This is in her lawsuit, including falsely claiming

393
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:04,440
Speaker 1: that she was not aware of the nationally anticipated weather event,

394
00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:09,639
Speaker 1: falsely claiming that the La Fire Department's budget was not cut,

395
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,760
Speaker 1: and falsely claiming that the fire Department's resources would have

396
00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,920
Speaker 1: supported another thousand firefighters to fight the blaze. These are

397
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,520
Speaker 1: claims contributed by public records and Bass's own prior statement. Now,

398
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:26,200
Speaker 1: get this, The lawsuit claims that Bass did not tell

399
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,000
Speaker 1: Crowley she was leaving the country. How often have we

400
00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:35,000
Speaker 1: been talking about what should have been done is they

401
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,080
Speaker 1: should have had all hands on deck staff meetings repeatedly

402
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:41,640
Speaker 1: that whole week, several times a day. And I got

403
00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 1: you know, We've talked with Roger Bailey, the planiffs attorney

404
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,160
Speaker 1: in the Palisades, and we've come to realize they didn't

405
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,560
Speaker 1: have any meetings. Roger Bailey can't find any evidence that

406
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,560
Speaker 1: Karen Bass or Kristen Crowley had any meetings with any

407
00:21:55,080 --> 00:22:02,440
Speaker 1: officials in city Hall at all. And Bass didn't tell

408
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,359
Speaker 1: Crowley she was leaving the country. And by time she

409
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,280
Speaker 1: left the country, they already had four days worth of warnings.

410
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:13,280
Speaker 1: In fact, the Lockman fire had already burned and was

411
00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,960
Speaker 1: still smoldering, and LA Fire Department was trying to put

412
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:18,880
Speaker 1: the rest of it out, and then they got kicked

413
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,919
Speaker 1: off by the state and then it reignited. It reignited

414
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,200
Speaker 1: by the seventh. But all the other components that all

415
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:30,040
Speaker 1: happened January first, second, third, fourth, that's when Bass left.

416
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:35,000
Speaker 1: Bass disappears, doesn't tell Kristin Crowley. Of course, Kristin Crowley

417
00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,679
Speaker 1: hasn't explained why she didn't send a cru to the

418
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 1: Lockman clean up fire. I don't care if the state

419
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:49,920
Speaker 1: parks wrecked dweebs kicked you off. It's an emergency public

420
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 1: safety issue. I would think that any fire department, when

421
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,400
Speaker 1: you have what was still an act of fire, can

422
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:03,439
Speaker 1: overrule a bud of office tweeds. Who remember, we're trying

423
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,639
Speaker 1: to save the milkweed plant. That's what they were upset about.

424
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 1: That the milkweed plant was getting trampled. I'm not making

425
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,959
Speaker 1: that up. If you hadn't heard, how is that plant?

426
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:22,400
Speaker 1: Well it's gone now, it's it's gone to milkweed heaven. Yeah,

427
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:27,959
Speaker 1: the astrologus plant. That's the that's there's your milkweed plants.

428
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 4: So we weren't able to save it.

429
00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 1: No, in the end, they all they all incinerated those

430
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 1: milkweed plants. I mean, any any day now we're going

431
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,520
Speaker 1: to get the In fact, I think it's March fifth,

432
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:45,840
Speaker 1: we're gonna I believe that's Roger Bailey said. Some of

433
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,480
Speaker 1: the depositions are going to start getting released unless the

434
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 1: city pulls another legal trick. She says, Bass and her

435
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:57,320
Speaker 1: administration cut the fire department operating budget for the fiscal

436
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 1: year twenty twenty four twenty five by seven teen and

437
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: a half million dollars and eliminated positions critical to maintaining

438
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,359
Speaker 1: fire engines, trucks and ambulances. And this is true. She

439
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:14,680
Speaker 1: defunded the fire department. She doesn't tell Crowley she's leaving

440
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,720
Speaker 1: for Africa. She's got four days worth of warnings. By then,

441
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:24,800
Speaker 1: the Lockman fire had already burned. Wow, so that's in

442
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:31,520
Speaker 1: the lawsuit. When the Palisades fire erupted. According to the suit, Bass,

443
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:36,160
Speaker 1: then out of the country, initially praised the department's preparedness,

444
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 1: even issuing a press release highlighting its deployment strategy.

445
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,800
Speaker 4: Remember that night, we all thought, because it didn't Bass

446
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,560
Speaker 4: call Crowley in from meeting. It was maybe six o'clock

447
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,000
Speaker 4: at night, we all thought that she was going to

448
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,560
Speaker 4: be fired, but she wasn't. She was probably disciplined, right. Yes,

449
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 4: everybody was speculating she was going to be fired.

450
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,240
Speaker 1: There was a leak news story claiming that she was

451
00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:58,440
Speaker 1: going to get fired, and that was.

452
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,800
Speaker 4: Probably why she wasn't fired that time, because everybody was

453
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:03,199
Speaker 4: up in arms over that.

454
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:10,000
Speaker 1: The lawsuit says Bass changed her mind about Crowley and

455
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:15,119
Speaker 1: the department's preparedness because the criticism kept growing over Bass's

456
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:19,480
Speaker 1: absence and the fire department budget cut, so she had

457
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,600
Speaker 1: to do a one point eighty and use Crowley as

458
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,040
Speaker 1: the scapegoat, used the fire department as the scapegoat for

459
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:31,280
Speaker 1: her own stupid incompetence. Who the bleep would vote for

460
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:35,800
Speaker 1: Karen Bass? Who would do this? Every single story that

461
00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,040
Speaker 1: comes out about this fire over the last year has

462
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:46,919
Speaker 1: made her look worse and worse and worse. Incompetent, stupid, dishonest, stubborn.

463
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,320
Speaker 1: I can't stand the sound of her voice anymore. I

464
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 1: can't stand looking at that stupid, fake smile. I can't

465
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 1: stand looking at that groundcover that passes for a hairstyle.

466
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,440
Speaker 1: What is that on her head? You know, when you

467
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,159
Speaker 1: can't grow grass, you plant some groundcover and it kind

468
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 1: of spreads. Lads, Well, that's the fake grass. That's a

469
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 1: fake grass. But groundcover is natural. Oh you know, it's

470
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:16,399
Speaker 1: like clover or something.

471
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,640
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, there's lots of different There's there's lots off.

472
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, most like she's got like red groundcover on her head.

473
00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:24,959
Speaker 4: John, You know, we don't need to talk about her

474
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 4: appearance that's what I'm just.

475
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:28,400
Speaker 1: I'm just intrigued by her hair.

476
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,919
Speaker 3: You're listening to John Cobbels on demand from KFI six.

477
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 1: We're on from three to six, Conway on after six,

478
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,920
Speaker 1: and our podcast gets released after six. John Cobelt's show

479
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,639
Speaker 1: on demand. That's all on the iHeart app. Told you

480
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,480
Speaker 1: about a month ago that large month larch Bunch, which

481
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 1: is a pretty nice neighborhood near Hancock Park just before

482
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:58,600
Speaker 1: you get to uh, Korea Town and then downtown Los Angeles.

483
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,879
Speaker 1: Large Month's nice, uh and then it got overrun by

484
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 1: prostitutes recently and criminals, and everybody in Larchmont is shocked, appalled, angry.

485
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,640
Speaker 1: This is a month ago, but this is another massive

486
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 1: Karen Bass failure. And here we go five weeks later,

487
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,479
Speaker 1: and we're gonna play you a report from Fox eleven

488
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:26,560
Speaker 1: reporter Matthew Sheedorf because there was a public meeting and

489
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:32,760
Speaker 1: you'll hear how people are are so frustrated over nothing

490
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:34,639
Speaker 1: being done. Play cut one.

491
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,880
Speaker 6: Angry erupting at a Los Angeles town hall. Residents from

492
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,760
Speaker 6: Marchmont to Korea Town fed up with seeing prostitution outside

493
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:45,400
Speaker 6: their homes, even schools.

494
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,160
Speaker 2: On our way to school around eight am, these women

495
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,159
Speaker 2: who barely have on clothes.

496
00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:52,399
Speaker 3: Sometimes.

497
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 6: Last month, Fox eleven first exclusively exposed the issue in Marchmont,

498
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:58,120
Speaker 6: not far from Western Avenue.

499
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 1: We're having sex right here on the.

500
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 6: Neighbors felt so ignored by city leaders. They posted warning

501
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 6: signs for prostitutes and John's that cameras are in use,

502
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,440
Speaker 6: but say still nothing has changed.

503
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,159
Speaker 2: Not just me picking up used condoms on my street,

504
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 2: it's seeing literally fifteen year old girls on the corner.

505
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 4: We've had over just over twenty crisis clients.

506
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 6: Victim advocates, LAPD and council member Hugo Soto Martinez here

507
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 6: taking questions from frustrated residents.

508
00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,719
Speaker 1: Can we at least have a police officer drive by

509
00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 1: the intersection?

510
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,960
Speaker 6: Officials say their goal is to get women off the

511
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,600
Speaker 6: streets and into support of services, So.

512
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 1: Lack of policing and I understand we're short handed, But

513
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:41,520
Speaker 1: if I go down there and you tried to get

514
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:43,280
Speaker 1: some help, they'll give me a number. Would you like

515
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 1: to see more police out there?

516
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,480
Speaker 5: I think everyone is playing a role to make sure

517
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,200
Speaker 5: that the sex chapter is eliminated. We brought different partners

518
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 5: today journey out, which I think is the most important one,

519
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,320
Speaker 5: because that's how we're gonna get them that Alice working

520
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,040
Speaker 5: with La sand Bureau street lighting.

521
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,360
Speaker 1: How would you always do inter poee out there. I

522
00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:03,959
Speaker 1: think we have a really great team, right he's talk

523
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 1: going tout Hugo Soda Martinez, the councilman there will not

524
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: there's nothing you could. You could send Hugo Soda Martinez

525
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 1: to Guantanamo Bay and have him water boarded, and he

526
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,840
Speaker 1: will never agree to have police to solve any problem

527
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:23,400
Speaker 1: because he's one of these democratic socialist communists creeps that

528
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 1: wants that really wants the police force abolished. That's what

529
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,200
Speaker 1: the the DSA is about. Nathey Raman is one of

530
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:35,240
Speaker 1: these crazy people as well. We have a team. It

531
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,280
Speaker 1: is not hard to arrest the pimps and the johns

532
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 1: and the prostitutes. Put him in the back of a

533
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 1: police van and card him out of there, and just

534
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,320
Speaker 1: keep doing it and doing it and doing it until

535
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:47,880
Speaker 1: they stop going there because it's too much trouble to

536
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 1: set up business. Roll it back just a little bit.

537
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 1: I want to hear Hugo Soda Martinez again. Boy want

538
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:53,600
Speaker 1: a loser.

539
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,280
Speaker 5: I think we have a really great team right now.

540
00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,160
Speaker 6: Doesn't work for all of us resident's tired of sending

541
00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 6: pictures like the to police, feeling like nothing happens.

542
00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 1: Start with the.

543
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 2: Little stuff broken windowners, graffiti.

544
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,120
Speaker 6: Now hopeful this meeting is the first step to change.

545
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 1: For times.

546
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,240
Speaker 6: Meeting you like it's gonna get fixed.

547
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:13,440
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be a it's not going to be

548
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:14,280
Speaker 1: an overnight fix.

549
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,880
Speaker 6: A lot of people ty leaving here, anxious to see

550
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:18,280
Speaker 6: if this all helps.

551
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,640
Speaker 1: Why is this such a struggle for these people? How

552
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 1: many taxes do they pay? How much property tax do

553
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,400
Speaker 1: they pay? In large bond village, it's a lot, and

554
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,320
Speaker 1: the sales taxes and the income taxes, and it's a

555
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:34,640
Speaker 1: nice neighborhood. And now a bunch of prostitutes and their

556
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 1: pimps and their idiot John's all move in and and

557
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 1: suddenly the town's on the defensive. And Hugo Sarda Martinez

558
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,520
Speaker 1: has has diarrhea dripping out of his mouth about the

559
00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 1: great team that they have. He would even say the

560
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:56,160
Speaker 1: word police. This is crazy. Everybody there is way too polite,

561
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,680
Speaker 1: all those homeowners. Honest to God, you've got to stop

562
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,280
Speaker 1: being so polite. Well, you know, I know there's a

563
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 1: shortage of cop I don't know there's no shortage of

564
00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,880
Speaker 1: cops when you have a when you have a prostitution

565
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,720
Speaker 1: ring in a nice neighborhood, No, you pay more than

566
00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 1: your share. Believe me, the pimps and the prostitutes aren't

567
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 1: paying an income tax on their profits out Honestly, that

568
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,520
Speaker 1: shouldn't be tolerated for even ten seconds. It wouldn't be

569
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 1: tolerated in almost any other town in California, just LA

570
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:42,240
Speaker 1: and San Francisco and Oakland. Why, I mean people have

571
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 1: to I don't get it. They're obviously upset. They're going

572
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,640
Speaker 1: to the meeting. They sound distraught, they're frustrated. It's been

573
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,360
Speaker 1: a month. You don't walk in there and go, well,

574
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:57,760
Speaker 1: I understand, No, don't understand. Don't understand, because if you say, oh,

575
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,680
Speaker 1: well I understand, they're gonna they're gonna use against you.

576
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 1: They're going to say, well, they did acknowledge that we

577
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 1: have a shortage of shortage of police because why because

578
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 1: we blow a billion dollars plus a year on homeless people,

579
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: which is stolen by all the friends and relatives of

580
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 1: the politicians you elect. Do people not understand what's going on,

581
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,160
Speaker 1: that things are the way they are for a reason,

582
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,920
Speaker 1: and the reason is being increasingly documented, and you still

583
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:28,960
Speaker 1: have your head up your ear end and you're not

584
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 1: connecting the dots. Ear They tax you heavily. They steal

585
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,520
Speaker 1: the money, claiming they're helping the homeless. They don't help

586
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 1: the homeless because they steal the money. And your representatives

587
00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,200
Speaker 1: have friends and relatives who started the nonprofits, and the

588
00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 1: representatives right laws to steer the money to their friends

589
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,480
Speaker 1: and relatives, and then maybe they get a kickback at

590
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:52,560
Speaker 1: the end, and then they claim there's no money for

591
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:58,440
Speaker 1: the police. You don't see this. It's sit right in

592
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,640
Speaker 1: front of your eyes in color. All right, Deborah Mark

593
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,640
Speaker 1: coming up, we're gonna have Richie Greenberg gown up in

594
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,360
Speaker 1: San Francisco, and we'll give you an example right here

595
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:10,880
Speaker 1: of a woman who's been able to steal homeless money

596
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,480
Speaker 1: now for almost thirty years working for a nonprofit in

597
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:18,320
Speaker 1: San Francisco. You've been listening to the John Cobelt Show podcast.

598
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:20,920
Speaker 1: You can always hear the show live on KFI AM

599
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,080
Speaker 1: six forty from three to six pm every Monday through Friday,

600
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 1: and of course anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app

601
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:31,440
Speaker 1: KFI AM six More stimulating talk