California Risks Repeating Minnesota's Billion-Dollar Fraud Disaster as Whistleblowers Expose $250 Billion in Alleged Waste

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton has unveiled findings from the CALIFRAUDIA tip-line alleging $250 billion in fraud across California's welfare programmes. (Credit: Gage Skidmore/WikiMedia Commons)

California could be haemorrhaging a staggering $250 billion in taxpayer funds through rampant fraud, waste, and abuse, according to Republican-backed analysis of whistleblower tips that draws alarming parallels to Minnesota's multibillion-dollar COVID-era scandal that has already forced Governor Tim Walz to abandon his re-election bid.

Steve Hilton, who is running for California governor, and Herb Morgan, who is seeking the state controller position, unveiled findings from their CALIFRAUDIA tip-line investigation on Monday—a damning review of the Golden State's bloated welfare system that they allege has become a piggy bank for scammers and political hacks. Governor Gavin Newsom's office has dismissed the claims as 'MAGA made-up numbers'.