Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass is facing a deepening political crisis following allegations that she personally directed the &#8220;watering down&#8221; of an official report into the 2025 Palisades fire to shield the city from legal liability.
Sources close to the mayor’s office revealed to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-04/bass-directed-watering-down-of-palisades-fire-after-action-report-sources-say">Los Angeles Times</a> that Bass pressured fire officials to remove or soften key findings regarding the Los Angeles Fire Department’s (LAFD) shortcomings. The most significant alteration involved the department’s failure to fully staff and pre-deploy engines ahead of the January 2025 disaster, which ultimately claimed 12 lives and destroyed more than 6,000 structures.
While the mayor has repeatedly denied involvement, two confidants told investigators they are prepared to testify under oath that Bass held onto an early draft of the report until the desired changes were made. One confidant reportedly warned the mayor that altering the document was a &#8220;bad idea&#8221; that would cause significant political damage.
The discrepancy between the drafts is stark. An initial version stated that pre-deployment decisions &#8220;did not align&#8221; with safety policy. However, the final version released in October claimed the department went &#8220;above and beyond&#8221; standard protocols —  a claim the report’s own author, Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook, refused to endorse, calling the final document &#8220;highly unprofessional.&#8221;
The controversy adds to a legacy of criticism regarding Bass’s handling of the blaze. At the height of the emergency, the mayor was traveling in Ghana for a presidential inauguration, leaving the city as firestorms erupted. Upon her return, she was filmed at the airport <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/karen-bass-ignores-questions-about-her-handling-of-devastating-fires">ignoring questions</a> about why she had approved a $23 million cut to the LAFD budget — the second-largest cut in her fiscal plan — just months before the catastrophe.
Public records and Times investigations previously revealed that the LAFD failed to keep firefighters on duty for a second shift despite forecasts of &#8220;catastrophic&#8221; winds. Furthermore, evidence suggests a smaller fire on New Year&#8217;s Day was improperly extinguished and left to smolder for six days before rekindling into the massive Palisades fire.
&#8220;The mayor didn’t tell the truth when she said she had nothing to do with changing the report,&#8221; one source told the Times.
Current Fire Chief Jaime Moore, appointed by Bass in November, has stated he will not investigate who was responsible for the edits, choosing instead to &#8220;focus on the future.&#8221; However, the revelation of the mayor&#8217;s alleged behind-the-scenes role has led some residents and former officials to label the incident a &#8220;cover-up.&#8221; As legal proceedings loom, the testimony of Bass’s own inner circle may prove to be the most damaging chapter of her administration.

Task force to investigate, apprehend andprosecute suspects of smash-and-grabs in recent weeks.

L.A.’s Democrat Mayor Accused Of Editing Palisades Fire Report To Hide Failures

L.A.'s Democrat Mayor Accused Of Editing Palisades Fire Report To Hide Failures

California

Karen Bass

Los Angeles

Palisades Fire

Politics

The Trump administration is suing California over “billions” in healthcare fraud, the elderly mother of &#8220;Today Show&#8221; host Savannah Guthrie vanishes from her home, and the Senate votes to keep a federal agency alive after its CFO confesses to taking bribes.
It’s Wednesday, February 4, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/californias-fraud-epicenter-guthrie-search-continues/id1576594336?i=1000747996745" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">CMS Probes Fraud In California</h2>
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz says Los Angeles County has become an “epicenter for health care fraud,” sparking a battle with California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Oz says his agency has identified billions of dollars in alleged Medicare and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dr-oz-blasts-minnesotas-deeply-insufficient-plan-as-feds-audit-medicaid-payments">Medicaid</a> fraud in California, largely tied to hospice and home care fraud. Scammers make fraudulent claims by enrolling people in hospice care when it&#8217;s unnecessary or is never actually provided. Fraudsters are billing the government for services such as grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning when these services are not provided. There appears to be a lot of coordination in Los Angeles County, specifically, essentially organized crime, to pull off these scams on taxpayers. Oz has suggested this is largely tied to the “Russian-Armenian mafia.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Nancy Guthrie Investigation</h2>
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show Host Savannah Guthrie, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bring-her-home-savannah-guthrie-pleads-for-mothers-return-after-abduction">disappeared</a> from her home in Tucson, Arizona, over the weekend, with investigators fearing the worst. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said he believes Nancy was taken from her home in a “possible kidnapping or abduction.” Meanwhile, Savannah spoke out on Instagram late Monday, asking for prayers to bring her mom home, as this troubling case unfolds. “We believe in prayer. We believe in voices raised in unison, in love, in hope. We believe in goodness. We believe in humanity. Above all, we believe in Him,” Savannah wrote.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Foreign Aid Official Admits Taking Bribes</h2>
The chief financial officer of a federal agency providing aid to Africa will <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-official-of-usaid-linked-foreign-aid-agency-to-plead-guilty-to-taking-bribes">plead</a> guilty to taking bribes. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak revealed back in May that the African Development Foundation was doing exactly what the Trump administration suspected its larger counterpart, USAID, of doing: Using foreign aid to enrich D.C. insiders. The foundation is a federal agency that not many people knew existed until it became a hero to Democrat politicians and some media outlets when its staff locked the doors to prevent DOGE from entering. According to <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.288886/gov.uscourts.dcd.288886.1.0_1.pdf">court papers</a> filed Friday, the foundation sent $800,000 to a Kenya-based company run by CFO Mathieu Zahui’s friend. The friend paid Zahui a $12,000 kickback, and the company retained $134,886 for no work. And that is just one of many examples connecting the foundation to fraud. And yet, after Zahui’s plea, the Senate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/corrupt-foreign-aid-agency-lives-on-after-11-republicans-vote-against-defunding">voted</a> against abolishing the agency with help from 11 GOP senators.

MW_260204_V1

Morning Brief: California Healthcare Fraud, The Search For Nancy Guthrie, & Foreign Aid Corruption

Morning Brief: California Healthcare Fraud, Nancy Guthrie Disappearance, And Foreign Aid Corruption

Arizona

Bribery

Dr. Oz

Morning Wire

Savannah Guthrie

California health officials are warning of potential measles exposure after a resident who traveled internationally visited several high-traffic locations in the state before the case was confirmed.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has caught several <a href="http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/ip/diseases/measles/index.htm">confirmed</a> cases of measles from international travelers in recent days. In one of the cases, the traveler visited several high-traffic locations, risking potential exposure of hundreds or thousands of others before the case was caught, according to Fox News.
The high-traffic locations include the Los Angeles International Airport and Disneyland. Both locations are visited by thousands of people daily who often travel from distant regions inside and outside of the United States.
The infected person was in the Los Angeles airport’s B terminal around midnight on the night of January 26. The traveler was at the Disneyland hotel and the Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure on January 28.
Regarding another case of measles confirmed by the Los Angeles County health department, an infected person <a href="http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/phcommon/public/media/mediapubdetail.cfm?unit=media&amp;ou=ph&amp;prog=media&amp;cur=cur&amp;prid=5243&amp;row=25&amp;start=1">visited</a> the Mardi Gras Tuesday restaurant on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks north of Los Angeles on January 24.
Another infected person <a href="http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/phcommon/public/media/mediapubdetail.cfm?unit=media&amp;ou=ph&amp;prog=media&amp;cur=cur&amp;prid=5240&amp;row=25&amp;start=1">visited</a> a Dunkin’ Donuts on Ventura in Woodland Hills on January 30.
“Measles is extremely contagious and can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death,” Los Angeles County health officer Muntu Davis warned in a statement.
“With cases rising, it is critical that everyone ensures they are protected. The MMR vaccine remains the strongest and most effective way to protect yourself, your family, and your community,” he continued. Before traveling, confirm your immunity and get the MMR vaccine if needed. It’s a simple step that makes a meaningful difference for your health and the health of those around you.”
Absent protective steps, measles is a highly contagious disease that can infect the vast majority of people who come into contact with it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Some people think of measles as just a little rash and fever that clear up in a few days. But measles can cause serious health complications, especially in children younger than 5 years old,” the CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/index.html">says</a>. “Measles is highly contagious. If one person has it, up to 9 out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not protected.”
The CDC has confirmed hundreds of cases of the disease in the United States so far this year.
“As of January 29, 2026, 588 confirmed measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026. Among these, 585 measles cases were reported by 17 jurisdictions: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. A total of 3 measles cases were reported among international visitors to the United States,” the agency states.

Measles test

Los Angeles Is In Panic Mode Over A Measles Outbreak

Health

Infectious Disease

U.S.

WASHINGTON—The Department of Education has found the California Department of Education guilty of violating the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act for its policies pressuring school officials to conceal information about student gender identity.
The news marks the latest instance of Gavin Newsom&#8217;s California defying federal guidance from the White House on the issue of transgenderism. Posied for the next presidential election, Newsom has attempted to present himself as a moderate on the issue, but his state continues to be a radical outlier.
An investigation conducted by the Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) found that California&#8217;s polices, laws, and practices created &#8220;powerful state directed pressure&#8221; for schools to adopt policies that led to FERPA noncompliance, effectively forcing schools to withhold information from parents, violating FERPA, which gives parents the right to access their children&#8217;s educational records.
For example, one California law explicitly bans schools from requiring parents to be informed of their child&#8217;s &#8220;gender transition.&#8221;
“Our investigation found that the California Department of Education egregiously abused its authority by pressuring school officials to withhold information about students’ so-called ‘gender transitions’ from their parents,&#8221; explained Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
McMahon blames California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and his &#8220;failed leadership&#8221; for the matter, saying that under his watch, school personnel have even bragged about facilitating ‘gender transitions,’ and shared strategies to target minors and conceal information about children from their own families.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1035013" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/news/california-violated-federal-law-by-hiding-childrens-gender-transitions-education-department-finds/president-elect-trumps-nominees-for-upcoming-administration-meet-with-lawmakers-on-capitol-hill-7" rel="attachment wp-att-1035013"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1035013" class="wp-image-1035013 size-large" src="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>U.S. President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee to be Secretary of Education Linda McMahon arrives in the Russell Senate Office Building on December 09, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;While the Biden Administration turned a blind eye to this deprivation of parental rights and endorsed the irreversible harms done to children in the name of radical transgender ideology, the Trump Administration will fight relentlessly to end it,” she promised. “Children do not belong to the state — they belong to families. We will use every available mechanism to hold California accountable for these practices and restore parental rights.”
During a press call with reporters, a senior Education Department official shared that the investigation found a systemic problem of schools maintaining secret records of child gender support plans. That official told The Daily Wire that the investigation also uncovered that a number of administrators were soliciting AERIES, a student information software system, to find ways to hide gender information from parents via the parent portal used to register children for classes.
California has been offered the opportunity to &#8220;voluntarily resolve its FERPA violations&#8221; by sending a notice to all school administrators and superintendents. That notice should, among several items, let school officials know that &#8220;gender support plans&#8221; and similar documentation are education records under FERPA and subject to parental inspection, that there is no &#8220;unofficial records&#8221; exception to FERPA and none of the state&#8217;s laws should be interpreted to undermine federal law — and that violations of FERPA may cause the California education system to risk loss of federal financial assistance.
Emails dating back to 2022 show staff in California discussing changing students&#8217; names without their parents&#8217; knowledge, using different names for children in front of their parents, and even overriding the &#8220;Parent Portal&#8221; to choose what parents could or could not see, according to the Education Department.
<div id="attachment_1035017" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/news/california-violated-federal-law-by-hiding-childrens-gender-transitions-education-department-finds/day-three-of-world-economic-forum-wef-2026-4" rel="attachment wp-att-1035017"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1035017" class="wp-image-1035017 size-large" src="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Gavin Newsom during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
At least 300 students in the state were put on &#8220;Gender Support Plans&#8221; in 2025, <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/04/15/exclusive-blue-state-schools-facing-trump-admin-investigation-helped-hundreds-of-kids-change-their-gender-last-year/">The Daily Caller News Foundation reported,</a> and many of those children were put on these plans without parental knowledge or consent.
In one particularly alarming case that the Education Department shared, a mother sued her daughter&#8217;s school after she found out that school officials had convinced her young daughter to identify as a transgender boy. School officials told the girl not to tell her mother and helped the girl to learn how to make chest binders, restricting her chest so that she would look flat-chested.
School administrators told the mother that they could not tell her about all of these goings-on due to their &#8220;parental secrecy policy,&#8221; the Education Department said.
Schools that followed FERPA and refused to hide gender issues from parents were &#8220;aggressively targeted&#8221; by California, the Education Department investigation found. When Chino Valley Unified School District’s school board adopted a parental notification policy in July 2023, state officials acted quickly to put an end to the policy, saying that children have a constitutional right to &#8220;privacy from their parents&#8221; — and that telling parents about their child&#8217;s gender identity issues might cause the child to suffer.
The Education Department has repeatedly asked the California Department of Education to issue guidance clarifying that parents have a right to see “gender support plans” under FERPA, but the California Department of Education has repeatedly refused these requests, though it says in grant agreements that it will follow federal law.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 BREAKING: Ben Shapiro grills California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) over whether he believes that girls cannot become boys and boys cannot become girls
Newsom refuses to answer the question
Newsom says: &#8220;Yeah, I just, well, uh, I think, uh, I&#8217;m for the grace of God. Yeah.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/w0Gc7cKvec">pic.twitter.com/w0Gc7cKvec</a>
— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanSaavedra/status/2011956634466099656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
The move comes only two weeks after Newsom sat down for an interview with The Daily Wire&#8217;s Ben Shapiro, one in which Shapiro grilled the governor about whether he believes that girls can actually become boys, or boys can actually become girls.
Newsom refused to directly answer the question, ultimately telling Shapiro: &#8220;Yeah, I just, well, uh, I think, uh, I&#8217;m for the grace of God. Yeah.&#8221;

Day Three Of World Economic Forum (WEF) 2026

California Violated Federal Law By Hiding Children’s Gender Transitions, Education Department Finds

Department of Education

Linda McMahon

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the federal government to take over home rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles County, aiming to &#8220;cut through bureaucratic red tape and speed up reconstruction&#8221; more than a year after the devastating wildfires in Southern California.
On Tuesday, the White House released a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-addresses-state-and-local-failures-to-rebuild-los-angeles-after-wildfire-disasters/">fact sheet</a> explaining that the order requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to &#8220;preempt&#8221; state and local permitting requirements. California Democrats have been accused of slowing down the rebuilding process by requiring people who lost their homes to abide by burdensome standards.
“I want to see if we can take over the city and state and just give the people their permits they want to build,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/01/27/us-news/trump-orders-feds-to-take-over-californias-wildfire-rebuilding/">told</a> The New York Post.
The Palisades and Eaton fires, which erupted last January, destroyed around 13,000 homes and other residential properties in Los Angeles County. In the past year, fewer than a dozen homes in those areas have been rebuilt, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/year-la-area-wildfires-destroyed-thousands-homes-fewer-dozen-rebuilt-rcna252751">reported</a> earlier this month. Delayed insurance payouts are also slowing some rebuilding efforts, and many residents are finding that their payouts won&#8217;t be enough to cover construction costs. California building permits and regulations only add to the high costs.
&#8220;Despite billions of dollars in Federal recovery awards and the fastest Federal debris removal in American history, only about 2,500 of the tens of thousands of homes and businesses destroyed have received permits to rebuild. Now a year after the fires, less than 10 homes have been rebuilt,&#8221; Trump&#8217;s order states. &#8220;Overly burdensome, confusing, and inconsistent permitting requirements, duplicative permitting reviews, procedural bottlenecks, and administrative delays have effectively stalled recovery efforts.&#8221;
The Environmental Protection Agency moved quickly last year to clear debris after the fires, an effort Trump said impressed him. He praised EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin&#8217;s leadership and told The Post that he plans to put Zeldin in charge of the new push to cut California&#8217;s rebuilding red tape. Pacific Palisades resident Nina Madok, whose home was destroyed, told The Post that she was impressed by the federal government&#8217;s &#8220;ability to expedite everything&#8221; after the fires.
&#8220;Having the federal government, especially with somebody like Donald Trump who is Mr. Let’s-Get-It-Done — who moves at the speed of light — makes a huge difference,&#8221; Madok added.
Shortly after the fires, Trump traveled to Los Angeles County to survey the damage alongside California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in what was the first trip of Trump&#8217;s second term. During a press conference alongside L.A. Mayor Karen Bass last year, Trump urged California leaders to allow residents to immediately return to their properties and begin cleanup and rebuilding.
&#8220;You shouldn&#8217;t have any [permits] at this point. You should just let them build,&#8221; Trump said.
Bass replied, saying, &#8220;We are going to do everything we can, slashing regulations, expediting everything so that people can begin the process right away.&#8221;
More than a year later, however, California residents are still frustrated with the state and local government.
“We need capital. We need resources. We need a real plan to get people back home and rebuild the infrastructure,&#8221; Mike Furnari, who lost his home in the Palisades fire, told The Post. “Why haven’t we learned from past fire rebuilds? The capital is here. The infrastructure is here. Look at where we are, this is one of the most incredible places in the world. Highest value per square foot, highest land value per square foot in the country.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s order also requires FEMA to investigate whether California complied with the law, after his administration made more than $3 billion available to people and businesses affected by the fires. The order directs FEMA &#8220;to determine whether any of California’s nearly $3 billion in unspent Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds were awarded arbitrarily or contrary to law, and to conduct a full audit of California’s use of those funds.&#8221; Most of that $3 billion is in the form of low-interest disaster loans for homeowners and business owners.
Last year, Trump also signed executive orders to address wildfire response and mitigation, and said last January that he directed the Army Corps of Engineers to release billions of gallons of water to Southern California to support the firefighting effort. The move was criticized by local California officials, who warned that releasing that much water could flood farms and have no impact on fighting or preventing fires.

Scenes from the Palisades fire zone on the one year anniversary

Trump Orders Federal Takeover Of L.A. Home Rebuilds As Red Tape Drags On After Fires

Donald Trump

Fires

A Customs and Border Protection officer was injured Wednesday morning in Compton, California, after an illegal immigrant human smuggler with a rap sheet &#8220;rammed&#8221; federal agents with his vehicle, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire.
The ramming happened as officers were trying to arrest Salvadoran national William Eduardo Moran Carballo, who is involved in a human smuggling operation and has two prior arrests for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, DHS said. Carballo has had a final order of deportation since 2019.
One of the officers responded by firing &#8220;defensive shots,&#8221; DHS said. Carballo, who was not hit, tried to run from the officers before he was eventually nabbed.
“In a dangerous attempt to evade arrest, this criminal illegal alien weaponized his vehicle and rammed law enforcement. Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired defensive shots,&#8221; DHS said in a statement.
“These dangerous attempts to evade arrest have surged since sanctuary politicians, including Governor Newsom, have encouraged illegal aliens to evade arrest and provided guides advising illegal aliens how to recognize ICE, block entry, and defy arrest,&#8221; the agency added.
DHS said the &#8220;situation is evolving, and more information is forthcoming.”
The latest ramming incident comes just two weeks after a woman, reportedly part of an anti-ICE watch group in Minneapolis, allegedly hit an ICE officer with her car as she tried to block federal authorities.
A week later, an illegal immigrant in a nearby neighborhood hit an ICE officer with a snow shovel and broom handle as he tried to evade arrest. The target was previously convicted for driving without a license and arrested for two counts of giving a false name to a peace officer.
He was previously released from a local jail by local authorities before ICE could arrest him.
ICE is currently facing a more than 1,300% surge in assaults and a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks, according to DHS.

Untitled design – 2026-01-21T131158.725

Immigration Officer Injured After Vehicle Ramming Involving Human Smuggler In California

Border Patrol

illegal immigrant

Shooting

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent fired back at California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom after Newsom mocked him for being “smug.”
In a Fox Business interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Bessent was discussing the Trump administration’s plan to limit or ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes to ease supply shortages and keep housing more affordable for individual buyers.
The administration has floated measures to restrict big institutional investors (such as private equity firms and large corporate landlords) from purchasing single-family homes, since these entities have been accused of buying up large numbers of houses and reducing supply for regular buyers.
Bessent was explaining that any guidance on this policy would need to distinguish between true small “mom and pop” investors and large investors.
He used an example of a hypothetical small investor, saying, “We’re going to give guidance, at some point, to see, what is a mom and pop. Someone, maybe your parents for their retirement have bought 5, 10, 12 homes. So we don’t want to push the moms and pops out; we just want to push everyone else out,” meaning larger, institutional buyers.
Newsom mocked Bessent, writing on X, “Could this smug man be more out of touch?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Could this smug man be more out of touch? <a href="https://t.co/GUqqi5KoNB">https://t.co/GUqqi5KoNB</a>
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) <a href="https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/2013744283136991407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bessent fired back:
<blockquote>
Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris. He&#8217;s here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros, and Davos is a perfect place for a man who, when everyone else is on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church. &#8230; Shame on him. He is too smug, too self-absorbed, and too economically illiterate to know anything. &#8230; Let me know if you need any further clarification.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the Treasury Secretary smug. Today in Davos the Treasury Secretary responded.. and I have to quote this: &#8220;Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics…
— Edward Lawrence (@EdwardLawrence) <a href="https://twitter.com/EdwardLawrence/status/2013916326801068099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Newsom never lived a middle-class financial life as an adult; his career wasenabled by elite patronage, not grassroots entrepreneurship, as his father, William Newsom, a judge and political insider, was close friends with Gordon Getty, heir to the Getty oil fortune. Getty bankrolled Newsom’s first major business ventures, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in startup capital.
Earlier this month, AP <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-budget-gavin-newsom-last-year-deficits-6811fe4519bac5145f4002959690a280">pointed out</a>, “California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the state faces a $2.9 billion budget deficit this year &#8230; It’s the fourth year in a row that the nation’s most populous state faces a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. This year’s shortfall comes despite growing revenues fueled by stock market gains and investments in artificial intelligence.”
Bessent came from a working family; his father was a real estate developer who experienced financial ups and downs. Bessent later earned a B.A. in political science from Yale University in 1984, then moved into finance.

MixCollage-21-Jan-2026-08-46-AM-5567

Bessent Fires Back At Newsom After ‘Smug’ Jab

Gavin Newsom

Scott Bessent

Treasury Department

Former vice president and failed presidential hopeful Kamala Harris may have just proved she doesn’t believe her own rhetoric.
According to multiple reports, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, recently purchased an $8.15 million home in Point Dume, an exclusive oceanside neighborhood in Malibu. The purchase is raising eyebrows after Harris spent years as a senator and vice president warning the public about climate change and coastline erosion.
The 4,000-square-foot property includes four bedrooms and six bathrooms situated on about three-quarters of an acre, per <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/01/13/real-estate/kamala-harris-buys-8m-mansion-in-malibus-celeb-packed-pt-dume/">the New York Post</a>. One real estate listing describes the home as “perched in a prime coastal location” with “breathtaking ocean views.” The house is located near Point Dume State Beach, a ritzy area that was identified as having a high risk for flooding and erosion.
A climate model previously endorsed by the Biden-Harris administration projected that Point Dume State Beach <a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/#/layer/slr/1/-13224965.709481182/4029006.643276096/16.000/satellite/none/0.8/2050/interHigh/noAccretion/NOS_Minor">could suffer significant damage</a> from rising sea levels. That model was discontinued in June 2025 under the Trump administration, as noted by The Free Beacon. Also, a 2023 Interior Department study <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022JF006936">concluded</a> that up to 75 percent of California’s beaches could be eroded by the year 2100.
The Point Dume area also suffered significant damage during the 2018 Woolsey Fire and some damage during the 2025 Palisades Fire.
Harris has been sounding the alarm on climate change for years. “Glaciers are melting. Sea levels are rising. Climate change is real and we must act before it&#8217;s too late. That’s why I support a Green New Deal,” she tweeted in 2019. The same year, Harris sponsored the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1730">Living Shorelines Act</a>, which called for $50 million annually in federal funding to help address rising sea levels.
While serving as vice president, Harris was named the administration’s lead spokeswoman for the Climate-Ready Coasts initiative, a multibillion-dollar federal program. In April 2023, she announced $562 million in grants to benefit communities “on the front lines of the climate crisis.”
&#8220;The climate crisis represents a profound threat &#8212; as we all know &#8212; to our nation and to the world,” she said during a <a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/04/21/vice-president-kamala-harris-climate-change-florida-sargassum/6561682032174/#">speech</a> at the University of Miami, claiming that &#8220;we still have time to make a difference.&#8221;
The home reportedly purchased by Harris and Emhoff includes features that the Biden-Harris administration found problematic, including a gas stove and fireplace, plus a tankless water heater. While serving as vice president, Harris advocated for <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO05/20230718/116246/HHRG-118-GO05-Transcript-20230718.pdf">energy efficiency regulations</a> that would have restricted certain gas stoves and tankless water heater models.
Point Dume is one of Malibu’s most exclusive neighborhoods, known for its privacy and gated access to Little Dume Beach. The area has attracted celebrities and tech moguls including Sean Penn, Gerard Butler, and Julia Roberts, as the New York Post noted.

Kamala Harris

Kamala ‘Climate Change Crisis’ Harris Just Bought Beachfront Property In Malibu

Kamala 'Climate Change Crisis' Harris Just Bought Beachfront Property In Malibu

Climate Change

General

Real estate

Attorney General Pam Bondi fired a warning shot Thursday after a federal three-judge panel <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-redistricting-prop-50-allowed-to-use-a0c801e8c8c50700f71ab7f4c44f244f">ruled</a>, by a 2–1 margin, that California may use its newly minted congressional map — a voter-approved redraw designed to juice Democrats’ prospects in the 2026 midterms. Bondi made clear the fight is far from over, writing on X that California “impermissibly drew its new congressional map based on race,” calling the move unconstitutional and pledging that the Justice Department is reviewing “all legal options.”
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We disagree with yesterday’s 2-1 ruling on California’s redistricting map. California impermissibly drew its new congressional map based on race. That’s unconstitutional. We are reviewing all legal options.
&mdash; Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/2011786293659717863?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The ruling rejected challenges from state Republicans and the DOJ, both of which argued that the map violated the Constitution by using race — particularly to favor Hispanic voters — as a driving factor in redrawing district lines. The panel instead accepted California Democrats’ insistence that the map was drawn for nakedly partisan purposes, a distinction that has become legally decisive since the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that partisan gerrymandering presents a “political question” beyond the reach of federal courts.
Proposition 50, pushed aggressively by California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and approved decisively by voters in November, could hand Democrats as many as five additional House seats. Newsom, widely viewed as eyeing a 2028 presidential run, framed the effort as retaliation for a Texas mid-decade redistricting plan backed by President Donald Trump. Republicans currently hold just nine of California’s 52 House seats, making the Golden State a tempting battlefield in the escalating national map war.
Democrats celebrated the ruling as a win for voters, with Newsom dismissing the lawsuit as a “weak attempt to silence” them. Republicans were less sanguine. California GOP chair Corrin Rankin vowed an appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that the dissenting opinion — authored by Trump-appointed Judge Kenneth Lee — more accurately reflected the law and the facts. Lee warned that at least one district was drawn using race “to curry favor with Latino groups and voters,” undercutting the majority’s claim that the map was purely partisan.
The decision lands amid an increasingly brazen, state-by-state arms race over redistricting. Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have moved to redraw maps mid-decade, while a judge forced Republican-run Utah to adopt a Democratic-leaning district. Notably, the Justice Department has sued only California.
The stakes are unmistakable. House Democrats need just a handful of seats to flip control of the chamber, potentially grinding Trump’s agenda to a halt and opening the floodgates to congressional investigations. With Republicans holding a razor-thin majority, California’s maps may prove decisive — or become the next front in a Supreme Court showdown over whether “partisan” gerrymandering is simply racial gerrymandering by another name.

Department of Justice 12/4/25

Bondi Vows To Fight After Court Greenlights California’s ‘Unconstitutional’ Redistricting Map

Bondi Vows DOJ Fight After Court Greenlights 'Unconstitutional' California Redistricting Map

Pam Bondi

Redistricting

A Trump-hating American Indian tribe with a powerful lobbying arm has wielded its influence to push California Attorney General Rob Bonta to issue a controversial ban on fantasy sports betting, a watchdog group said.
In the months leading up to Bonta’s <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/23-1001.pdf">decision</a> to ban fantasy sports betting in California, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians repeatedly lobbied his office. And in the days leading up to the ban, one prominent tribe member boasted that they were “coming for” fantasy sports betting companies and “we’re bringing our friends.”
The lobbying was flagged in a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Analysis-Shows-Extent-of-Pechanga-Tribes-Political-Influence.pdf">memo</a> shared with The Daily Wire by the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative watchdog group founded by former Republican congressional staffer Tom Jones. 
“Since 2001, Pechanga has contributed almost $120 million to political causes, most notably on ballot measures and powerful political figures like Attorney General Rob Bonta,” the memo said. “In return for their money, Bonta has acquiesced to tribal demands, even going as far as declaring fantasy sports websites illegal in California.”
Lobbying reports <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2wrlfowtgr5nm19cwvblt/Pechanga-Lobbying-History.xlsx?rlkey=e1equ24rq9wm2s6swucj4i61e&amp;e=1&amp;st=1cujp73w&amp;dl=0">compiled</a> by the American Accountability Foundation show that Pechanga has spent over $1.8 million on political lobbying since Bonta took office in April 2021. In every single lobbying report filed by Pechanga, Bonta’s office was listed as one of the targets. The reports did not disclose the purpose of the lobbying or the specific amount directed toward Bonta’s office. 
Listed on the lobbying reports was Chief Mark Macarro, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-hating-native-american-tribe-gets-millions-in-taxpayer-dollars-as-leaders-hobnob-with-dems">who has given</a> thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and has been pictured aboard Air Force One with former President Joe Biden.
After being asked by State Assemblyman Tom Lackey to issue a legal opinion on fantasy sports betting, Bonta vowed not to take money from the industry’s supporters; he did not do so for its opponents. The opinion was first requested by Senator Scott Wilk, and Lackey had no position on the final call, his office said. 
Bonta&#8217;s office previously maintained that the money did not impact his decision. 
“The donors were not parties to the opinion — they neither requested it nor were its subject,” spokesman Dan Newman <a href="https://archive.ph/Ees2F#selection-1947.11-1947.155">told</a> POLITICO. “They simply expressed a point of view, and of course an elected official cannot reject support from everyone who holds an opinion on their work.”
However, prominent members of the Pechanga tribe appeared to take credit for the opinion and celebrated it. Victor Rocha, a member of the Pechanga and an official with the Indian Gaming Association, <a href="https://capitolweekly.net/the-nuanced-politics-of-bontas-daily-fantasy-opinion/">told</a> the Capital Weekly that the tribes had requested an opinion on fantasy sports betting. “You have to fight ‘em or you’ll get rolled over,” he said. 
Two days before Bonta’s opinion was issued on July 3, Rocha <a href="https://archive.ph/FiVgh">posted</a> on X that daily fantasy sports companies were in trouble. 
“We&#8217;re coming for you, and we&#8217;re bringing our friends. Politically speaking, there are many ways to skin a rat,” he <a href="https://x.com/VictorRocha1/status/1940119360041033975">wrote</a>. 
On the day the opinion was issued, Rocha posted a meme depicting a person labeled “California tribes” posing in front of a grave of a fantasy sports betting company. The meme was captioned, “Just saw the California AG&#8217;s opinion.”
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Just saw the California AG&#8217;s opinion. <a href="https://t.co/Poa02j1zMq">pic.twitter.com/Poa02j1zMq</a>
— Victor Rocha (@VictorRocha1) <a href="https://twitter.com/VictorRocha1/status/1940855643717644680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Jones said that the ruling and donations were not a “coincidence.” 
&#8220;When a single tribe and its allies spend over $400,000 into an attorney general&#8217;s campaigns, spend nearly $2 million on lobbying which includes his office, and then walk away with favorable legal rulings, that is not a coincidence,” Jones told The Daily Wire. “It is a glaring conflict of interest that reeks of corruption. Pechanga&#8217;s political power in California is dangerous, and the money trail to Rob Bonta is clear.&#8221; 
Throughout his political career as both attorney general and state assemblyman, Bonta has received $400,000 from the Pechanga and other tribes. In fact, both Bonta and his wife have also been the recipients of tens of thousands in political donations over the years, according to <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/z965rb714zavqpq16a5d8/Pechanga-Contributions.xlsx?rlkey=2e1xgo78dcrj8hr7nuqwoygkf&amp;e=1&amp;st=skw9bsdj&amp;dl=0">donor records</a> compiled by the American Accountability Foundation. 
As noted by the watchdog group, Pechanga and its employees have given $49,800 to Bonta since his political career began in 2013 as a member of the California State Assembly. Mia Bonta, his wife, has also received $34,500 since 2021. She was elected to the assembly in 2021. 
Since 2001, Pechanga and its employees have contributed $117,089,903 to political causes. 
<div id="attachment_1026499" style="width: 1153px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1026499" class="size-full wp-image-1026499" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-07-at-1.36.25-PM.png" alt="" width="1143" height="909" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-07-at-1.36.25-PM.png 1143w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-07-at-1.36.25-PM-300x239.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-07-at-1.36.25-PM-724x576.png 724w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-07-at-1.36.25-PM-768x611.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1143px) 100vw, 1143px" />American Accountability Foundation.</div>
At the same time, it has raked in tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, all while operating a lucrative casino. Since 2008, the tribe — which has around 1,823 members — has taken over $13.4 million in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services, around $6.9 million from the Environmental Protection Agency, $2.4 million from the Department of the Interior, $2.2 million from the Justice Department, and hundreds of thousands more from the Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, and others.
At the same time, it has taken legal action against those critical of the tribe. In November, it issued a cease-and-desist letter to the makers of a documentary called “You’re No Indian.” 
The documentary highlights allegations from former tribal members who say they were kicked out of their tribe to boost the casino profits shared with other members. Back in 2012, it was <a href="https://indianz.com/IndianGaming/2012/024919.asp?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reported</a> that the average casino profit per month for Pechanga members jumped to $30,000 per month after 250 people were kicked out. 
The tribe <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/filmmakers-defend-no-indian-demand-202307754.html">said</a> that the film contained “numerous inaccuracies” when explaining why the cease-and-desist letter was sent. The film&#8217;s director, Ryan Flynn, gave a different story. 
“We interviewed families, reviewed records, spoke with experts,” Flynn said. “We reached out to Chairman Macarro multiple times during production. Mark had every opportunity to participate, and he chose not to.”
The film screened last weekend at three sold out theaters in Temecula, California, where the Pechanga tribe is located.
The American Accountability Foundation said that the letter was an effort to “stifle” free speech. 
Jones previously told The Daily Wire that Pechanga should lose its taxpayer funding over its political activism. 
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to bankroll the Pechanga tribe’s lavish lifestyles and radical views, especially when individual tribe members are raking in tens of thousands a month from casino profits. That’s not an ‘impoverished community,’ it’s a corrupt one,” Jones said. “Time to shut the spigot off and stop subsidizing them!”

MixCollage-12-Jan-2026-11-39-AM-271

Watchdog Warns Of ‘Dangerous’ Alliance Between Trump-Hating Tribe And Top California Official

Watchdog Warns Of 'Dangerous' Alliance Between Top California Official and Trump-Hating Tribe

gambling

Pechanga

sports betting

Actor Kiefer Sutherland was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting a ride-share driver on Monday night, according to the LAPD. 
The 59-year-old was arrested at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood. The LAPD responded around 12:15 a.m. to a suspected assault, Los Angeles Police Officer Kevin Terzes told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kiefer-sutherland-arrested-allegedly-assaulting-ride-share-driver-l-po-rcna253933">NBC News</a>.
“The investigation determined that the suspect, later identified as Kiefer Sutherland, entered a rideshare vehicle, physically assaulted the driver (the victim), and made criminal threats toward the victim,” Terzes said via email.
The driver did not require medical treatment, police said, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/entertainment/kiefer-sutherland-arrest-assault-allegation-hnk">CNN</a>.
Sutherland was arrested and released several hours later on a $50,000 bond, the outlet noted. His first court appearance is scheduled for February 2.
Reps for Sutherland did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sutherland’s career took off in the 1980s and 90s as he starred in films like “Stand by Me” (1986), “The Lost Boys” (1987), “Young Guns” (1988), “A Few Good Men” (1992), and “The Three Musketeers” (1993). 
The actor found enduring success on the Fox drama series &#8220;24&#8221; (2001–2010, 2014), in which counterterrorism officials attempt to stop imminent threats to the United States. That role earned Sutherland an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe. His father is the late actor Donald Sutherland.
During Donald Trump&#8217;s first presidential campaign, Sutherland <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/269866-kiefer-sutherland-trump-recalls-segregationist-george-wallace/">compared</a> the Republican candidate to former Alabama Democratic Governor George Wallace, who was a vocal segregationist.
Sutherland has previously gotten into trouble with the law, including multiple DUI incidents and an assault charge. The actor was accused of head-butting a fashion designer in 2009, but the charges were later dropped.

Kiefer Sutherland

Kiefer Sutherland Arrested, Accused Of Assaulting Rideshare Driver

Kiefer Sutherland Arrested For Allegedly Assaulting Rideshare Driver

Assault

Celebrities

Crime

LAPD

The National Republican Congressional Committee is targeting Democratic Rep. Adam Gray of California in a new ad campaign.
The NRCC released its first ad targeting Gray on Tuesday. The ad targets Gray’s record on immigration.
“Adam Gray voted to give criminal illegal aliens driver&#8217;s licenses. He voted against funding to deport dangerous criminals. Adam Gray is dangerously radical on immigration,” the ad states.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Democrat Adam Gray Is Dangerously Radical" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0OQmq2m8uVs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Gray currently represents California’s 13th congressional district, a seat <a href="https://rollcall.com/2025/05/08/most-vulnerable-house-members-2026-election/">identified</a> last year as one of the most vulnerable of the upcoming midterm elections. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s efforts to redistrict ahead of midterms may have <a href="https://www.insideelections.com/news/article/a-detailed-analysis-california-redistricting-new-map-texas-gerrymandering">given</a> Gray some room to breathe, however.
Immigration has been a top issue for Republicans since President Donald Trump returned to office in January. Immigration <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker">remains</a> one of Trump’s most popular issues, though Americans’ approval of Trump’s handling of immigration has slipped since he effectively ended massive amounts of illegal immigration that poured into the country under the Biden administration.
That ad hits Gray over a couple of votes on his record regarding immigration, one of them from over a decade ago. In 2013, while Gray was serving in the California assembly, he <a href="https://legiscan.com/CA/votes/AB60/2013">voted</a> in favor of a bill that would allow illegal aliens to receive a California driver’s license.
Last year, Gray voted against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which, in part, provided funding for finishing the border wall along the United States’ southern border. It also provided a surge of funding for hiring thousands of federal immigration agents.
The One Big Beautiful Bill <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/07/president-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-is-now-the-law/">included</a> a slate of other Trump priorities, as well. The bill made permanent the 2017 tax cuts from Trump’s first term in office, secured $12.5 billion for the national air traffic control system, and funded development of the Golden Dome missile defense system.
Gray is in his first term as a U.S. congressman, having flipped California’s 13th district from Republican control in 2024. Gray beat then-incumbent Republican Rep. John Duarte by less than 200 votes.
Gray’s strongest opponent this cycle is Kevin Lincoln, the Republican former mayor of Stockton, a city added to California 13 under the new congressional map pushed for by Newsom.
“From Assemblyman to Congressman, Adam Gray’s out of touch, radical immigration votes put criminal illegal immigrants first and the safety of California families dead last. Californians deserve a Congressman who will put their safety first,” NRCC spokesman Christian Martinez told The Daily Wire in a statement.

Adam Gray

‘Dangerously Radical On Immigration’: GOP Ad Campaign Targets Vulnerable California Dem

GOP Ad Campaign Targets Vulnerable CA Dem: ‘Dangerously Radical On Immigration’

2026 Midterms

Immigration

Republican Party

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