1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Truth with Lisa Booth, we'll get to 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: the heart of the issues that mattered to you today. 3 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: I'm joined by Chris Rufo, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. 4 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,240 Speaker 1: He's done some really interesting reporting in this City Journal, 5 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: and we're going to dig into it. He is exposing 6 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: some major woke waste in California, including a one hundred 7 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:25,159 Speaker 1: and fourteen million dollar wildlife overpass for mountain lions and 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: butterflies that's overdue and overbudget as expected in a state 9 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: like California, particularly under a Gavin Newsom. Plus, we'll talk 10 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,560 Speaker 1: about San Francisco's revival of a one hundred and twenty 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: million dollar program that diverted police funds police funds, and 12 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 1: the questionable DEI initiatives now potentially facing legal risks as well. 13 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: We're going to break down the facts, follow the money, 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: and explore the patterns under Gavin Newsom, his patterns of failure, 15 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: and also what does it mean for twenty twenty eight 16 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: in his presidential ambitions. Stay tuned for conversation about wilk 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: waste with Chris Rufo. Well, Chris Rufo, it's great to 18 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: have you back on the show. You always do such 19 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,279 Speaker 1: great reporting. So appreciate you making the time. 20 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 2: It's great to be with you. 21 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: So we've heard a lot about fraud, particularly in Minnesota 22 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: now California as well. You've done some original reporting that 23 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: we're going to get into in just a moment. But 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: why do you think all of this fraud gets overlooked 25 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: so frequently? 26 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 2: Well, there are two reasons why the fraud gets overlook 27 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 2: The first reason is pretty simple. Oftentimes fraud is difficult 28 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 2: to detect. You have sophisticated criminal networks that are exploiting 29 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 2: the government. There's billions of documents and kind of an 30 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 2: infinite number of paper trails, and so the enforcement is 31 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 2: not always as successful. It's hard to find. The second 32 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 2: reason is more interesting, though. The second reason is that 33 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 2: California's political class benefits from the fraud. And so I'll 34 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 2: give you an example for medical which is the state 35 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 2: Medicaid program. It spends something like two hundred billion dollars 36 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 2: a year, and a lot of that money goes towards 37 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 2: the salaries and then the union dues for healthcare workers. 38 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 2: The healthcare union in California is one of the most 39 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 2: powerful unions in the state, huge backer of Democrats and 40 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 2: so everyone is getting their cut and federal taxpayers are 41 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 2: footing the bill, and so it really feeds into this 42 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:36,119 Speaker 2: cycle of corruption that doesn't incentivize actually enforcing the law, 43 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 2: but in fact, it creates an incentive to just let 44 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 2: the fraud happen. 45 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, and we saw that even in Minnesota with the 46 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: Attorney General Keith Ellison meeting with some of the fraudsters. 47 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: You know, there is a meeting that the contents of 48 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: the meeting leaked and they're basically like, you know, we 49 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: need friends, and then shortly thereafter they donated to him. So, 50 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: you know, unfortunately, it seems that, you know, so much 51 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: of this fraud here point is about enriching donors or 52 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: giving kickbacks to you know, politically aligned groups and friends 53 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: and allies. So let's dig into some of the work 54 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: that you've done recently in California with some of this 55 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: rate woke waste that we've seen. So there's this one 56 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: hundred and fourteen million dollar Wildlife project Walk Us Through. 57 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: You know, what is it? What should people know? 58 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's kind of an amazing project where California 59 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 2: environmentalists in partnership with the Annenberg Foundation Annenberg Family very 60 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 2: wealthy family in the state and the state taxpayers who 61 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 2: kicked in the majority of the funding. They want to 62 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 2: build a bridge connecting two areas of Los Angeles across 63 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 2: a ten lane freeway so that cougar's other critters, even 64 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 2: monarch butterflies, can successfully cross the road. And look, actually, 65 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 2: wid life bridges are not a bad idea. They do 66 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 2: help the kind of environmental concerns. They help reduce actually 67 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 2: roadway accidents because you have the animals that learn how 68 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 2: to cross the bridge rather than go into traffic. But 69 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 2: what's scandalous about this project in particular is that other 70 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 2: states and other countries have completed these bridges for between 71 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 2: five and ten million dollars, but in California, it costs 72 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 2: one hundred and fourteen million dollars to build this bridge 73 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 2: for cougars and butterflies and other small animals. And we 74 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 2: really dug into the question why is this happening? Why 75 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 2: does this bridge cost an order of magnitude more than 76 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 2: other bridges that are comparable, And the answer was twofold 77 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 2: one is that a lot of the firms, these big 78 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 2: California contractors, have no incentive to complete projects on time 79 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 2: and under budget. But they also showered millions of dollars 80 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 2: in public and private funds towards it theological projects. So, 81 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 2: for example, in this case, they were spending money. The 82 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 2: private side was spending money to have Native Americans perform 83 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 2: sacred rituals and to create offerings of human hair, native tobacco, 84 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 2: to collect seeds to bless the bridge. I mean stuff 85 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 2: that if you were running a major infrastructure project you 86 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 2: probably wouldn't put a priority on. They were just loading 87 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 2: this project with this kind of ideological nonsense, and that's 88 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 2: why it takes. It's a year behind, it's tens of 89 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 2: millions of dollars over budget, and really there's no end 90 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 2: in sight. 91 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 1: Like our taxpair is even aware that this is where 92 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: some of their money's going to. 93 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 2: They're not. Actually, one of the most interesting bits of 94 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 2: feedback we got on this piece, which was kind of 95 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 2: driving the headline certainly in California for a couple of 96 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 2: days last week, many people contacted me. They said, you 97 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 2: know what, I drive under this bridge every day to 98 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 2: and from work, so I'm seeing this bridge ten times 99 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 2: a week for the last three years, and I didn't 100 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 2: know what they were doing. I didn't know how much 101 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 2: it cost I didn't know, you know how ridiculous this 102 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 2: waste of money turns out to be. And this is 103 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 2: what's so interesting is that in California, it's a left 104 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 2: wing dominated state. The local press has been left wing 105 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,359 Speaker 2: dominated for many years. And even though this is a 106 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,359 Speaker 2: publicly accessible project, even though the documents are hidden in 107 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 2: play in sight, nobody had actually taken the time to 108 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 2: look into it, to figure out what was going on, 109 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 2: to do the homework, to do the digging, to follow 110 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 2: the paper trail. And so California residents have been shocked 111 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 2: and scandalized by this news, but we really what's shocking 112 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,359 Speaker 2: and scandalous is that nobody was looking. And what I 113 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 2: think is certainly happening is that there are dozens, if 114 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 2: not hundreds, if not thousands, of these projects that are 115 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:58,799 Speaker 2: happening all over the state. And simply the graft, the fraud, 116 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 2: the abuse, the way is happening at a colossal scale 117 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 2: because nobody is trying to hold the public officials in 118 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 2: the political class in California accountable. 119 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: And is this state funded or is there money coming 120 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: in from federal or where's the money coming from. 121 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 2: In this particular case, it was a public private partnership 122 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 2: between California State, which put in seventy seven million dollars 123 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 2: and a private donor who put in the remainder of 124 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 2: the money. And so in one sense, that's good, right. 125 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 2: It's good if you can get private donors to help 126 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 2: with public projects or conservation work, et cetera. But what's 127 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 2: not good is that even just the public portion, which 128 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 2: was seventy seven million dollars, is still about ten times 129 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 2: greater expenditure than comparable bridges in other states. So as Californias, 130 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 2: you should have to be wondering why is everything so expensive? 131 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 2: Why are the tax rates so high? And the answer 132 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 2: to both of those questions seems to be that a 133 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 2: massive amount of California state budget is frittered away in 134 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 2: fraud and abuse. 135 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: And do we know these groups that are involved the firms? 136 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: Are they connected to the Newsome administration? Is it you know, like, 137 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: is it political nature? Is he sort of enriching a 138 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: friends here? Or what do we know about that? 139 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 2: In many cases yes, And so if you just zoom 140 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 2: out and you try to ask you who are the 141 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 2: largest state contractors, who are the largest beneficiaries of state funds? 142 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 2: There appears to be in many industries, in construction, in healthcare, 143 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:42,479 Speaker 2: government employment, in other parts of the economy. This circular 144 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 2: pattern where Gavin Newsom will award a contract to a firm, 145 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 2: or favorable terms to a kind of regulated utility, or 146 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 2: a sweetheart deal for the unions, and then those entities 147 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,959 Speaker 2: will follow money back into the state Democratic Party, back 148 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 2: into the governor, you know, campaign funds, and then they 149 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 2: will yield the benefit on the other side. And so 150 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 2: we see that all over and as I've looked into 151 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 2: fraud in California, in all of these industries, it really 152 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 2: is the same pattern. And look, can you conclude therefore 153 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 2: that it's a quid pro quo, that it's direct corruption. No, 154 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 2: But is it a form of legalized quasi corruption that's 155 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 2: not in the best interest of taxpayers? The answer is 156 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 2: a resounding yes. 157 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: Got to take a quick commercial break more with Chris 158 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: on the other side. If you like what you're hearing, 159 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: please share on social media or send it to your 160 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: family and friends. As we look ahead to twenty twenty eight, 161 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: I mean, Stevie Wonderer can see that, you know, Gavin 162 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: Newsome is preparing for a presidential run. How much does 163 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:51,679 Speaker 1: this waste in this fraud. You know, there's obviously a 164 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 1: lot of other instances in California besides just this one. 165 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: How much of this do you think would haunt him 166 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: heading into twenty twenty eight? Like, do voters care if 167 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: things are being done efficiently or not? 168 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,080 Speaker 2: You know, California voters, it appears that they do not 169 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 2: care if things are being efficiently run. It appears that 170 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,559 Speaker 2: they do not care if fraudsters steal tens of billions 171 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 2: of dollars of their money. So the question is do 172 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 2: national voters care more than Cafornia voters care? I think 173 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 2: the answer is, at least at the margins, certainly, yes, 174 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 2: voters in cost conscious states like Iowa and New Hampshire 175 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:36,440 Speaker 2: and Florida and Texas certainly have prioritized fiscal issues more 176 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 2: than California voters have in the past. But the real question, 177 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,559 Speaker 2: I think is whether Gavin Newsom's kind of Bill Clinton 178 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 2: likeability and Donald Trump like ability to skate through accusations 179 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 2: and scandals and baggage that would sink any normal political candidate, 180 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:59,679 Speaker 2: is that ability greater than the total fraud that has 181 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 2: been emitted under his watch. And as much as I 182 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 2: would like to believe that voters would look at this rationally, 183 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 2: they would see this fraud and they would say this 184 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 2: person is not a reliable steward of the public trust. 185 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 2: You know, Crazier things have happened, and I think we 186 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 2: should not underestimate that Gavin Newsom does have political talent. 187 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 2: He does have a set of political skills, and he 188 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,080 Speaker 2: has that kind of teflon quality that you find in 189 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 2: politicians on both sides of the aisle. That is a 190 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 2: major asset in running a political campaign. 191 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: You know what you'd mentioned, and then we'll get into 192 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: San Francisco, I promise, But you had mentioned, uh, you know, 193 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: with some of these more like red states or fiscally 194 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: conscious states like Iowa, that you know they'll care. I 195 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: guess why do you think voters in blue states don't 196 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: seem to care? I mean, they do keep electing these 197 00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: leftists who then just squander their money and then keep 198 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: raising taxes and then drive rich people away, and then 199 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: there's a depleted, you know, revenue base. So it's like, 200 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: I don't why do Blue voters not seem to care 201 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: as much about you know, they seem to care about affordability, 202 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: but they don't seem to care about their money being 203 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 1: you know, their money being you know, politicians lighting their 204 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: money on fire. 205 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 2: I think there's one kind of deep reason why that 206 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 2: is the case, and California Democrats exploit it. And the 207 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,680 Speaker 2: reason is this, voters are committed to all of the 208 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 2: associated feelings, impression, symbols, and attitudes around being a good 209 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 2: progressive or a good liberal or a good Democrat, and 210 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 2: they're willing to turn a blind eye to an extremely 211 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 2: large sum of Malfeasan's because they really truly want to 212 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 2: believe that they are a good liberal and if they 213 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 2: were to actually question the ruling party of their state, 214 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 2: they would it would be like, you know, leaving your religion, Well, 215 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 2: why do people you know stick with their religion if 216 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 2: something you know, X, Y and Z happens, Well, those 217 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 2: bonds are actually really strong, and so they've clung to 218 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 2: that identity and Democratic politicians exploited. And so even in 219 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 2: the case of this bridge story, Gavin Newsom's Comm's team 220 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 2: was feeling some heat for it, other kind of state 221 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:24,600 Speaker 2: Democrats are feeling heat for it. And one thing I 222 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 2: noticed was that they didn't address the substance of the 223 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,199 Speaker 2: critique at all. They didn't say, we're going to look 224 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 2: into this, We're going to crack down on fraud. We're 225 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 2: going to make sure that the next bridge is you know, 226 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 2: under budget and on time. All they did was say, 227 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,080 Speaker 2: you know, Donald Trump is an evil person dragging us 228 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 2: into war with Iran, and he's covering up for you know, 229 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 2: Jeffrey Epstein and other you know, elite pedophiles. Like a complete, 230 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:55,079 Speaker 2: non sequitur, complete, you know, internally inconsistent and incoherent argument. 231 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 2: But what I noticed is that that's actually persuasive for 232 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 2: a lot of Democrats because the threat is quite simple. 233 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 2: If you look into this fraud too closely, if you 234 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 2: lose your faith in Democrats, that means you love Donald Trump. 235 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 2: That means you love Jeffrey Epstein. That means you're, you know, 236 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:17,079 Speaker 2: an enabler for pedophiles, whatever stupid argument they're they're proposing. 237 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 2: And look, you can say this is a stupid argument rationally, 238 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 2: but irrationally, California Democrats are so committed to that that 239 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 2: self identity that you can easily herd them back into 240 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 2: the into the gates, into the into the corral, just 241 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 2: by you know, dangling that talisman Donald Trump. It's quite effective, 242 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 2: and I think that's why you see Democrats that just 243 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 2: kind of give up, they say, yeah, whatever, you know, 244 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 2: it's one hundred billion dollars here, one hundred billion dollars there. 245 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 2: You know, at least we you know, at least we're 246 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 2: not Donald Trump. 247 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: Really bizarre, all right. So San Francisco's you reported that 248 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty million was diverted from law enforcement 249 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: into d EI initiatives. Walk us through that. 250 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 2: Why did they do that? 251 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,479 Speaker 1: And then what were these DEI initiatives? 252 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 2: So this is an interesting story that's developed over time. 253 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 2: It begins right after the death of George Floyd in 254 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 2: twenty twenty and then Mayor London Breed was under a 255 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 2: lot of pressure to do something, and what she came 256 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 2: up with was a program called the Dream Deeper Initiative. 257 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 2: And this would basically take one hundred and twenty million 258 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 2: dollars out of the police budget and shower it onto 259 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 2: black nonprofits. And this, you know, turned into an immediate debacle. 260 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 2: There was fraud, there was misuse. The director of this 261 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 2: program at the time is now under criminal indictment for 262 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 2: potential misuse of funds, you know, alleged misuse of funds. 263 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 2: Rather and in her last election campaign, which she lost 264 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 2: under this media scrutiny. She paused the program, and her 265 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 2: opponent at the time was the heir to the Levi 266 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 2: Strauss fortune, a man and Daniel Lurie, who said, you know, 267 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 2: London breed opened up this figot of wasteful funding. It's 268 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 2: a complete scam. She's got to shut it down. And 269 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 2: he won the election in part because he presented himself 270 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 2: as the reasonable moderate. But now that Daniel Luriy is 271 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 2: in office, he quietly restarted this program which he formerly condemned, 272 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 2: and now he's showering funds on these nonprofits. And so 273 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 2: what we did was he looked into some of the 274 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 2: funding and he was funding one nonprofit with a massive 275 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 2: grant that specializes in what they call Mayat healing, which 276 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 2: is an ancient Egyptian healing ritual that they provide only 277 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 2: and exclusively for black residents of San Francisco. There was 278 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 2: another nonprofit that received some funding that specializes in providing 279 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 2: healing services for intergenerational black female criminals and includes providing 280 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 2: massage therapy for black female criminals. And then finally a 281 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 2: nonprofit that create it's documentaries about black transgender people and 282 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 2: including one documentary about two black jet transgender men going 283 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 2: through their first pregnancies. And so these are the kind 284 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 2: of things that are being taken away from the police 285 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:20,479 Speaker 2: budget and then redirected towards. Look what I think, if 286 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 2: you want to do this stuff on your own time 287 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 2: and your own dime, fine, do whatever you want. It's 288 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 2: a free country. But I don't think it's a good 289 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 2: use of public funds. And moreover, because many of these 290 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 2: nonprofits restrict services explicitly and exclusively to black individuals, this 291 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 2: program is actually illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 292 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:41,120 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty four. 293 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: You know, well, so then, you know, do you think 294 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: there'll be any ramifications for that? 295 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 2: You know, the story hit. It generated some coverage locally 296 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 2: in San Francisco, but then disappeared into the ether, and 297 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 2: I was asking myself this question, you know, what are 298 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 2: we doing. We're taking money away from getting cops on 299 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 2: the streets enforcing the law, and we're redirecting it towards 300 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 2: organizations that provide free massage therapy for black criminals. This 301 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 2: doesn't seem to be rationally defensible. But I think what's 302 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,199 Speaker 2: happening is that it's San Francisco voters have become so 303 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,919 Speaker 2: desensitized to this. It's become ingrained in their way of 304 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 2: thinking that even a relatively moderate Democrat mayor like Daniel Lurie, 305 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 2: feels that voters really want this, they expect this, and 306 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:40,640 Speaker 2: he's going to get a lot of criticism, a lot 307 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 2: of pressure, and maybe he'll be accused of being a 308 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,439 Speaker 2: racist if he doesn't go along with the program. And 309 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 2: so he criticized it during the campaign. He's backing it 310 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 2: to the hilt. Now, this is just the way things are. 311 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 2: I think it's exportant for us to expose it nationally. 312 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 2: But the idea that we're going to change it locally, I. 313 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:03,920 Speaker 1: Mean, maybe if the criminals get massages, they'll be more 314 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: relaxed and not want to commit crimes. 315 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,479 Speaker 2: That's a theory. I think we should probably test it 316 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 2: see if that's actually true. In my experience, a massage 317 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 2: feels great, it relaxed for a couple hours afterwards, but 318 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,640 Speaker 2: fundamentally you are who you are, and so I don't 319 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,679 Speaker 2: see it as a durable strategy for reducing criminality. But 320 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 2: you know, crazier things have happened there enough. 321 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: Now has Laurie given any reasoning as to why he 322 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: restarted this program? 323 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 2: He has and so you know, they have some statements 324 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 2: to the press, some materials that is his administration has released, 325 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 2: and it's the same boilerplate. San Francisco wants to make 326 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 2: sure that we're taking care of the black community, San 327 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 2: Francisco wants to take steps towards reparations, San Francisco wants 328 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 2: to be a pioneer, and transgender black causes. I mean, 329 00:19:54,880 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 2: all of those. The mindless repetition of progressive sloganeering ends 330 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 2: up in the official materials of the Lurry administration. And look, 331 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,160 Speaker 2: do I think that Danie Leary himself, if you talk 332 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 2: to him privately, you said, hey, taking money from the 333 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 2: police and then you know, transgender black criminal massages. Is 334 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 2: this a good idea? My suspicion is that he would 335 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 2: actually say no. But politics is politics, and this is 336 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 2: just what people expect. If he really shut down this 337 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 2: program forever, he would be immediately barraged by local black 338 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:36,920 Speaker 2: elected officials, by the local NAACP, by the local Black 339 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 2: nationalist organizations. And so I think what a lot of 340 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 2: times this comes down to is a pragmatic calculation. You 341 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,880 Speaker 2: know what, I give up on this because I want 342 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 2: to make progress on other issues. Released the funding to 343 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 2: the ancient Egyptian healing rituals. It's not all going to 344 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 2: get caught. Some waste is just part of doing business. 345 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: And people can go find all this in the City 346 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: Journal or anything else you'd like to leave us with 347 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:01,880 Speaker 1: before we go. 348 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:07,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, some upcoming stories. So, look, we're looking into this 349 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 2: California fraud in all facets of governance, and what we're 350 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 2: finding is that the total fraud under the Newsome administration, 351 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:21,679 Speaker 2: the minimum floor is likely AE hundred billion dollars. And 352 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 2: so some of these some of these things are one 353 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 2: hundred million here, one hundred million there, but on some 354 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 2: of the programs like state Medicaid, state unemployment insurance, state 355 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:38,480 Speaker 2: welfare services, the numbers start aggregating and adding up into 356 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 2: you know, greater than the GDP of most of the 357 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 2: countries around the world. Is just stolen from California taxpayers. 358 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 2: And so this stuff is coming. We're reporting on it. 359 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 2: It's important and I hope that it changes the political calculus, 360 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 2: not just in the state of California, but as you said, 361 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 2: the political calculus for twenty twenty eight, so that the 362 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 2: voters are totally informed of what's happening. But when they 363 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:03,639 Speaker 2: go back to the ballot box. 364 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: Well, we will see, and it will certainly be interesting 365 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: as we get closer to twenty and twenty eight. Chris 366 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 1: Rufo as always amazing work, always so interesting. Having gone, 367 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,920 Speaker 1: really appreciate you making the time. Thank you that was 368 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,959 Speaker 1: Chris Rufo. Appreciate him for making the time to come 369 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: on the show. Appreciate you guys at home for listening 370 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:25,640 Speaker 1: every Tuesday and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. 371 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: I was wanted to think John Cassio, my producer, for 372 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: putting the show together until next time.