Staff Reports
The State of California is blaming Donald Trump for the fraudster who stole over $30 billion from the EDD.
In 2021, the State Auditor of California reported that the EDD had been mismanaged.
The EDD is a division of the State of California that handles unemployment compensation and payments for maternity leave. Unfortunately, mismanagement and fraud have led to numerous losses. The agency has also sent checks to prison inmates.
The report states that the EDD did not take adequate action to address the issues related to its fraud detection efforts during the pandemic. As a result, it has paid out over $10.4 billion in fraudulent claims.
After receiving an inquiry from Congressman James Comer, R-Ky., the State of California blamed Trump for the EDD's problems.
The state's response to the investigation has been criticized by the San Francisco Chronicle.
In response to the investigation, Nancy Farias, the head of the EDD, stated that the Trump Administration did not want to establish a coordinated response to the issue when the emergency unemployment programs were launched in 2020. She also noted that various international criminal organizations were working to steal from the state.
It was Democrats who insisted on distributing the coronavirus relief through the state unemployment systems instead of relying on the federal government. Doing so was in response to liberal economists' advice, who believed that unemployment should be expanded as a welfare program.
According to the New York Times, Democrats urged Congress to focus on short-term solutions to address the issue instead of trying to implement a comprehensive program.
During a press briefing, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi noted that Democrats asked economists what other measures could stimulate the economy. Many of these included food stamps and tax credits. She noted that the coronavirus crisis was the reason why the emergency measures were being implemented.
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York, accused Republicans of targeting Democratic-governed states, such as New York and California, for their investigations instead of conservative areas.
AOC: .. In Kentucky, state employees applied for unemployment benefits while still employed by the state and were able to hack the state’s system and remove holds on their accounts and none of these states have been put under investigation by this committee pic.twitter.com/pZRMUSqgEy
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 1, 2023
Although many states experienced similar fraud, California was the most affected by it. Critics believe that the state's dysfunctional bureaucracy is responsible for the fraud.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on BREITBART.
