Staff Reports
Conservative commentator Benny Johnson says he has been flooded with tips — more than a thousand, he claims — about alleged, mind-boggling fraud siphoning billions from California taxpayers, and he announced he was traveling to the state to investigate what he calls systemic theft. This isn’t some random YouTuber’s fever dream; major outlets are reporting his public posts and the reaction they provoked from Sacramento.
Johnson’s own posts list jaw-dropping figures — billions tied to homelessness programs, high-speed rail failures, COVID relief losses, and SNAP abuses — and he invited whistleblowers to come forward as his team heads into the Golden State to follow the paper trail. Whether all the numbers hold up under scrutiny is for investigators to determine, but the volume of tips and the specificity Johnson says he’s received demand a full and transparent look.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office responded not with answers or an offer to cooperate but with taunts, reportedly posting a crude quip about Grindr servers — a juvenile, personal attack aimed more at distracting than addressing the substance of the allegations. That kind of sneering deflection is exactly what Americans distrust: when the facts get hot, the left turns to personal smears instead of accountability.
This is not the first time Newsom has tried to weaponize the press and lawsuits instead of meeting critics head-on; his well-publicized legal fights with conservative outlets and a long record of political theater suggest he prefers courtroom spectacle and ginned-up outrage to real reforms. Californians who are fed up with out-of-control spending, broken projects, and opaque contracting deserve answers — not barbs about a reporter’s private life.
Conservatives have precedent for exposing corruption — recall the fallout in Minnesota that toppled careers after fraud revelations — and that’s why Johnson’s promise to dig into California resonates with millions who watch their tax dollars vanish into bureaucratic black holes. If there really is criminality on the scale being alleged, Democrats and their allies cannot be allowed to cover it up. The people who run Sacramento must be held to the same standard as everyone else.
Let’s be clear: allegations are not convictions, and any responsible journalist or investigator should avoid grandstanding. Still, when claims come with names, documents, and hundreds of tipsters, the default should be transparency and immediate investigation, not censorship or mockery from the governor’s team. Americans deserve a forensic audit and criminal probes where appropriate — anything less is a hollow gesture from a state that talks big about accountability but practices the opposite.
Patriots tired of one-party rule in California should rally behind anyone willing to lift the rug and show the rot underneath; silence and insult from the governor’s office only confirm what many have suspected for years. If Benny Johnson’s team finds even a fraction of what he’s alleged, it will be proof that the left’s version of governance has been a con on hardworking taxpayers. The time for excuses is over — demand the records, demand prosecutions where warranted, and demand a government that serves the people, not special interests.
