California Attorney General Rob Bonta slammed claims that the state is awash in fraud on Thursday, accusing the Trump administration of peddling outright falsehoods for nothing more than “clicks,” “retweets,” and “eyeballs.” He stressed that the state Department of Justice has been on the ground rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, and claimed that California has a long record of holding fraudsters accountable.
"President Trump and his cronies are tossing around categorically false claims about fraud in California. I’m setting the record straight," Bonta posted on X, Thursday.
During his short address, he said that "While Trump, Asale, and Oz may like to pretend that they're riding in on their white horses to save the day, while they may toss around categorically false claims about rampant fraud in a desperate attempt to get clicks and retweets and eyeballs, while they gaslight the American people, telling them lies."
"The reality is, California DOJ, our law enforcement agents, our investigators, and our prosecutors have been on the ground, in our communities, fighting fraud, waste, and abuse for years," Bonta argued. "California has developed real expertise in identifying this type of fraud. We've got a track record of actually holding bad actors accountable, and we've successfully recovered, again, nearly $3 billion in stolen taxpayer dollars."
"This isn't a political game for us," he added. "This is about protecting taxpayer dollars, protecting our state, and protecting programs, sick and vulnerable Californians rely on."
While the Trump Administration gaslights the American public, the reality is California DOJ has been on the ground fighting waste, fraud and abuse for years.
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) February 6, 2026
Because this isn’t a political game for us. This is about protecting taxpayer dollars and vulnerable Californians. pic.twitter.com/x9pz3IFKcr
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Despite Bonta’s claims, California faces widespread, largely unchecked fraud across the state’s health care and welfare programs, compounded by persistently low detection rates. Medi-Cal fraud alone may cost the state billions annually out of its $40 billion budget, dwarfing Bonta's recoveries of only hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds. While Minnesota has faced a major welfare fraud scandal, California’s programs are far better funded, far more expansive, and hindered by an even more bloated bureaucracy.
Bonta went on later to reinforce his claims, posting on X:
"California is a national leader in tackling fraud on state programs and the numbers prove it," Bonta posted on X later. "My office has recovered nearly $2.7 billion in the last 10 years. Claims that California is overrun with fraud and doing nothing about it are simply false. My office has been aggressively tackling this challenge head-on for decades and will continue to do so."
California is a national leader in tackling fraud on state programs and the numbers prove it: My office has recovered nearly $2.7 billion in the last 10 years.
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) February 5, 2026
Claims that California is overrun with fraud and doing nothing about it are simply false.
My office has been… pic.twitter.com/ZbvrbiTfFn
President Trump has accused California of rampant fraud across welfare programs, including child care and Medi-Cal, describing the state as “more corrupt than Minnesota” and announcing a federal investigation into the issue.
In January 2026, he linked California to Minnesota’s high-profile scandals and threatened to freeze $10 billion in federal child-care funds over alleged misuse. In February, he moved to issue an executive order creating a California anti-fraud task force, led by VP JD Vance, aimed at rooting out abuses in hospice care, unemployment benefits, and other state programs.
🚨Vice President JD Vance to lead anti-fraud task force targeting California. pic.twitter.com/ck5GwIhbyh
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 4, 2026
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