Trump HEADED for RUDE AWAKENING with INSTANT MISTAKE?!?

[0:00] Welcome to a special edition of Legal AF. During a slow news week, J.D. Vance popped up for air [0:07] and decided, well, it's time to hold a press conference about a fraud in Medicare and Medicaid [0:14] and other things that apparently only blue states are having a problem with. And then Dr. Oz, [0:21] I'm glad to see he's still around and still in the administration. I had forgotten about him, [0:25] but he was at a press conference and announcing that they're going after effectively blue states, [0:30] particularly California, throwing around $1.3 billion of deferred payments related to Medicare [0:39] and that states like California are not serious enough about fraud. And one of my favorite lines [0:45] during the press conference, we'll play in a minute, is when J.D. Vance effectively said that [0:49] Trump takes fraud seriously. Well, of course, we have a president who currently is under a court [0:59] ordered monitor still of the Trump organization related to persistent fraud in the state of New [1:05] York over 10 years. It wasn't allowed to bank in New York or to be a corporate officer in New York [1:13] because of the fraud. Here's a guy that's been pardoning fraudsters, convicted fraudsters, [1:20] not just the reality TV family, the Chrisleys or whatever it is, but like other ones, including in [1:26] healthcare and also wiping out with one pen in the pardon, the restitution amounts totaling hundreds [1:34] of millions of dollars to the taxpayers after these people were prosecuted and convicted. [1:39] And this is the guy, yes, who knows fraud that's now going after a state like California. [1:46] So, of course, we have Attorney General Rob Bonta of the great state of California, [1:51] a fraud fighter of the first order to talk about his response to that press conference [1:57] and things that the American people can expect next in California. Hi, Rob. [2:03] Hey, Michael. Great to be with you. Thanks for having me. [2:05] Absolutely. [2:05] I mean, it's really tough to see that press conference. You know, we're out here day in, [2:11] day out, heads down, sleeves rolled up, fighting fraud. We've had a anti-healthcare fraud unit up [2:17] since 1978, almost 50 years. We're bringing civil cases, criminal cases. And we were doing it before [2:26] Trump was ever, you know, elected, before Jaddy Vance was a U.S. senator or vice president. And, [2:32] you know, it might be new to them, but it's not new. You know, we've been doing this. And so they [2:38] are very hypocritical, as you pointed out, you know, at once, you know, claiming they care about [2:42] fraud, but pardoning fraudsters who've built taxpayers out of, you know, $2 billion, at least [2:48] in the healthcare space by our count. And they're politicizing and weaponizing fraud instead of [2:53] tackling fraud. And so we're here in California, we're tackling fraud. And it's very unfortunate that [2:58] they are being so political about it. California was always in the crosshairs of this administration. [3:02] It will continue to be. So it's no surprise, but it's still no less disappointing. [3:07] Well, let me show you, and I know, I mean, California has a long and illustrious history [3:12] of fraud fighting. I mean, your California Department of Justice, really one of the only [3:19] reliable departments of justice in the country right now, has been going after and recovering, [3:24] I saw a statistic, $2.7 billion worth of fraud recovery in 10 years in California. That's not, [3:31] that doesn't seem to be a state that doesn't take fraud seriously. [3:35] Exactly. And like, you know, unfortunately, it's an inconvenient fact for this administration. [3:41] How can they target and bludgeon California if they are actually fighting fraud and, you know, [3:48] protecting upwards of, you know, $3 billion. So, you know, it's an inconvenient fact that they [3:53] unfortunately ignore and they try to create a narrative that's completely devoid of the facts [3:58] and is very political. [3:59] Let me show our audience, and then you can respond. I know you saw it. There's a couple of clips from [4:04] the press conference. Here's J.D. Vance saying that this is a president who knows fraud. We'll, [4:10] I guess, be tough on it. Let's play the clip. [4:13] So let me just close with one final observation here. First of all, why are we doing this now? Why [4:18] weren't we doing this two years ago? And the simple answer is because we didn't have a president [4:22] and we didn't have an administration who took fraud seriously. So I want to thank the president [4:26] of the United States. So I know he's busy in China. All of these efforts, all of these things [4:30] that we're finding are because we have a president who has told us, take the fraud issue seriously, [4:36] get to the root of it and turn off the money when we find out that money is going to fraudsters. [4:40] So that's exactly what we're doing. [4:42] Unless the fraudsters are his cronies and buddies who he pardoned. And as you, you put up the number [4:48] on the board and pardoned worth $2 billion worth of, of restitution to taxpayers. It's just, [4:55] it's, you know, I was talking, uh, uh, yesterday to, um, uh, in another interview. And I said, [5:02] this is like Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. This is the firefighters who are burning books, [5:10] right? I mean, they, this is the group that's in charge of teaching you how to fight fraud. [5:15] Yeah. It, it, the hypocrisy is insane. And, um, you know, he, he, this is a president who might [5:21] know fraud, um, and who might politicize fraud and weaponize fraud, but, um, you know, he's not, [5:28] doesn't seem serious about seriously interested about fighting fraud. I will say that the enforcement [5:34] unit that we have that tackles fraud in California, it is a federal state partnership. And so, you know, [5:40] this is below the white house where they're politicizing it, uh, where they've been a partner [5:44] with us to, uh, root out fraud and, um, uh, fight it and bring, you know, protect federal, [5:50] uh, and state tax dollars. And my guess is Trump probably doesn't know who they are and what they [5:58] do. Uh, doesn't even, might not even know that they exist. Uh, and it certainly is not acknowledging [6:03] in a fair way, uh, the success that we've had together cracking down on fraud here in California. [6:08] And for our audience to understand the, the, the, it starts with federal funding, but it gets [6:14] administered by state programs, right? And you have your own inspectors general, department of [6:20] justice, in this case, civil units, criminal units that are constantly trying to root out fraud [6:26] as the administrator of the fiduciary of the program, right? [6:30] Thousand percent. Exactly that. It's like a 75, 25, uh, percent split for funding. So the federal funding [6:35] carries the load on the 75%, but they're funding our work, our teams, our investigators, our prosecutors, [6:41] our attorneys. Um, you know, we're, we're door knocking in communities, um, you know, to see if [6:46] hospice, um, facilities are, are really hospice facilities and not defrauding, uh, the, the American [6:53] people and the, and the people of California. And, and, uh, you know, a lot of other work that we've [6:57] done, uh, both civilly and criminally. So yes, they, they provide the funding. We do the work. [7:02] And you anticipated this, A.G. Bonta, because I read your press release in February where you called [7:08] it the political weaponization of fraud against blue states. And you hit the nail on the head. [7:16] In fact, before we get to your, uh, your, um, basis for that observation, for that, uh, for that [7:23] observation, it got sort of proven today because a reporter asked J.D. Vance about a comment that [7:30] Trump had made, you know, sort of a fatigued out of gas Trump on his way to getting his butt kicked [7:35] in China. Um, by the way, PS, no trade deals announced with all those business people, [7:41] not one trade deal, nothing on Taiwan, nothing on Iran, nothing on it. And then a scrum, I don't [7:47] know if you saw it, Rob, a rugby scrum that broke out that left the white house insiders either [7:52] trampled or cursing out loud on a hot mic. That was China. Okay. I just summarized the entire trip for, [8:00] for our audience. And that's important to your state because of the Pacific Rim issues. [8:04] But, but here's J.D. Vance having to respond on the fly to something that Donald Trump said about [8:10] which States are going to be targeted with this fraud investigation. [8:15] You've emphasized a lot, how you want this not to be partisan and you want, you're going to look [8:20] at red and blue States. The president, when he posted about you becoming the fraud czar last month, [8:25] he wrote, uh, will folk, the focus will be everywhere, but primarily in those blue States [8:30] where crooked Democrat politicians have had a free for all. I'm curious, as you guys have been [8:35] trying to interact with these States, do you worry that the president's remarks like that [8:39] undercut the efforts for this not to be partisan and that could lead to resistance? [8:43] No, I don't worry about that because he's talking about crooked governors. And of course, [8:46] if you have a crooked governor, they're not going to work with us and we're going to have to use [8:49] other tools to ensure that they do. But I think that there are a lot of governors, [8:53] Democrat and Republican who recognize that this is a very serious problem that we're offering [8:57] resources to try to help solve that problem. And I think a lot of them recognize that, yeah, [9:02] they've got maybe a few crazy people in very far left States, but most people, most Americans want [9:07] to solve this problem. And I've actually been gratified by the fact that we've gotten a lot [9:11] of cooperation from across the political spectrum. One other point about cooperation, [9:14] we're not there yet, but one of the things we're going to do on the fraud task force is look, [9:18] we're learning. We're learning a lot about the way the government operates. I mean, Andrew is, [9:22] is I almost feel bad for him sometimes because he comes to me once a week and says, here's this [9:28] bureaucratic hurdle, or here's a wall that I'm running into that I would have never known even [9:33] existed until we started to take this fraud stuff very seriously. Yeah. I mean, that's just an [9:38] admission also that back end of it, that they don't understand the federal state relationship. [9:44] These are basic concepts that a government that's in control would understand and, and right. And, [9:51] and under, right. And everything that you outlined about your insider inspectors and prosecutors and [9:59] investigators who, I mean, what is the incentive for California not to root out fraud? I mean, [10:05] it's ridiculous. And it's even, it's the supposition of it, but you hear this bumbling amateurish, [10:13] you know, until we got into office, uh, we look, they've had, I I've been on the other side defending [10:19] healthcare companies that have been on the receiving end of an investigation related to [10:23] potential Medicare and Medicaid fraud back in the early part of my career, uh, state and federal working [10:29] together. And we were defending the company at the time. So I don't know what this guy's talking [10:33] about about, well, every day somebody comes to me and says, Hey, there's a new thing I got to learn. [10:38] I don't really understand it. Do you Rob? Um, just from this perspective that it's political [10:44] and it's, it's not real policy. It's not a sincere good faith effort to work, to tackle fraud. They [10:50] just want to use fraud as a political weapon to bludgeon and to use it as a cudgel to hurt blue states. [10:59] And, you know, Trump's, uh, statement was very revealing. It's, it's exactly the way he's thinking [11:04] about it. Like, can we beat up the blue states with this? Then let's do it. Uh, are they already [11:09] tackling fraud? Not important to me. I just want to beat them up. And so it's very dangerous and very [11:13] irresponsible. And, and, you know, one of the very dangerous suggestions that has been made is that [11:18] this fraud that they are talking about, they are suggesting that instead of California, uh, uh, [11:26] which it is in cases of fraud being the victim of bad actors, often organized, sophisticated groups [11:32] that are trying to defraud, um, our state and wherever you see a lot of money moving, like in [11:37] federal programs, state programs, you'll see bad actors trying to, uh, secure ill gotten gains and, [11:42] and, and, and get to that money. But, but we are the victim in these fraud cases and we're protecting, [11:46] uh, what is ours. We're protecting the hard, uh, earned and, and, uh, money of our, of, of taxpayers. [11:53] But Trump has suggested that somehow elected officials are, are, are in on it, that we want the fraud [12:00] so that, and, and that we're somehow personally benefiting from it, which is completely outrageous, [12:06] dangerous, and irresponsible. Um, but those, those are the kinds of narratives that he tries to [12:12] advance to his base. And, um, you know, the dancing there by vice president Vance was, [12:18] you know, to, to, to cover up, I think, and, and try to smooth over some of that, that really [12:23] irresponsible and dangerous talk by Donald Trump. And if one of the leading opponents for the [12:28] presidency wasn't the, the outgoing governor of California, I doubt they'd be holding a press [12:33] conference. I'll just say it about California. You know, let's be frank. They went after Minneapolis [12:38] because they wanted to stabilize the leadership there because the national guard and the ice [12:43] had to distract from assassinating Americans on the streets of Minneapolis. So they went after, [12:48] you know, your colleague and our friend, Keith Ellison and the governor and Tim Walz, and he was [12:53] vice presidential candidate. So then we can do that too, as Donald Trump tries to tear down the icons [12:58] and the state's people of the democratic party. Um, you know, in his, as a hobby of his, which is all [13:06] that we're watching. Listen, I don't know. I know it must be tough, um, a tough, hard sled to be [13:12] working in the Trump administration, but like Dr. Oz looks like what, you know, those pictures of [13:19] presidents over four years, he looks terrible. He started 17 months ago, the time warp, you know, [13:28] it's like many, many years in just a few months. When I first saw, I saw a thumb, a very small [13:35] version of that, of that video conference. I thought Jay Powell was giving a, uh, a much older [13:42] federal reserve chair was giving us some sort of lecture. That's Dr. Oz. Wow. Wow. So give our [13:50] audience a taste of, of, I mean, I'm not trying to have you show your hands, but they're trying to [13:55] hold back money that's needed for Californians, um, uh, under a false claim of, of fraud issues in [14:03] California. And, you know, you've, you've, you and the other democratic attorneys general have sued [14:08] the Trump administration. It's got to be calling on a hundred suits by now. And you've saved billions [14:12] and billions of dollars for your constituency. Uh, what, what would it look like? What would a [14:17] response to this look like? Yeah. I mean, it's hard not to see this deferral as more of the same, [14:24] of more of the Trump administration trying to wrongfully, unlawfully withhold funding, uh, to [14:29] California that we deserve. They've come after California time and time again, 67 lawsuits for [14:33] California, $200 billion protected that, that the Trump administration has tried to take away from us. So [14:38] here they're saying there, there was a, uh, they're engaged in this, what they're calling a deferral. [14:43] It could, it could last multiple months. It could kind of be, you know, unlimited in time, really. It [14:48] could turn permanent, um, if it goes that far. Uh, but they have no, they have no basis for it. They [14:55] have shared no reason except for an increase in funding in own in-home, uh, support services, uh, which [15:02] provides dignity and is an appropriate, um, type of care to provide for people who are aging and who are [15:07] disabled, um, to keep them out of institutional settings like nursing homes. And, um, they haven't [15:13] been able to say that there's anything wrong with that. And, and, and so we're going to share more [15:18] information with them. We've already provided quite a bit. They said that their deadline was later this [15:23] month to review what we have already provided to them. And then they would take an action, but they [15:28] jumped the gun, uh, presumably in order to meet the timing of the press conference yesterday and, [15:33] and sent this deferral, um, letter. And, you know, if there's, if there's no, you know, [15:38] this is congressionally appropriated funding. If there's no appropriate reason, uh, and they can't [15:42] justify why they're withholding it. It's our money. We deserve it. We, we get it. It's California's [15:46] money. So we will, you know, potentially a lawsuit always lingers, um, in, or, and looms over, um, the [15:53] discussions that we're having. That could be where we go ultimately, but we will fight tooth and nail [15:58] for our money and not allow, you know, BS political weaponization to keep, you know, vulnerable people, [16:04] seniors, disabled people who need care, who deserve care, um, who are, who are, you rely on safety net [16:10] services, uh, we'll fight to get a tooth and nail to get that money for them. You'll pull out that [16:15] well-oiled successful template of yours to get some money to the people of the state of California. [16:21] How is one last question, A.G. Bonta, how is this working in reality? I mean, before there was a press [16:27] conference and there was an announcement primarily when Pam Bondi was on the ropes that the, that the, [16:34] uh, vice president was going to take over. They had to give him something to do, uh, on fraud. [16:39] Normally it would come out of the department of justice. It would come out of, uh, Medicare and [16:43] Medicaid, uh, health, human services, you know, come out of there. Uh, I guess department of labor [16:49] is going after certain types of insurance. But, but what, how is this run through the vice president's [16:54] office? Who's the point person for you guys when, in your discussions with them? [17:00] Not the vice president, um, you know, uh, inspector general is, is, is part of it. Um, you know, we, [17:07] we, that we got some recent letters, um, from, um, referencing the vice president's task force. [17:13] And that's kind of like they're, what they're sort of referencing as their North star. They're [17:16] under marching orders, I think, to credit him and his, um, and, and, you know, his new task force. [17:22] But it's, it's, you know, the folks in, in, who, who are more in the bowels of the government, [17:28] who are, who are managing it, whether it be, you know, CMS, you know, Medicaid, Medicare, [17:33] uh, or, or, or others. Um, you know, there's a relationship that for who we connect with for [17:39] the, for the funding. And it's, you know, it's, it's staff level, uh, department of healthcare [17:44] services on our side in California is who receives and manages the federal Medicaid dollars. [17:49] Um, but you know, it, it, it, that's why it all seems performative. It's just kind of like, [17:54] you know, that they're, um, it's political, it's performative, it's not serious. Um, and if they [18:00] really, uh, cared to, and actually did look under the hood, they'd see that we've been doing real [18:05] work for years, delivering, um, as successful anti-fraud fighters, you know, fraud fighters and, [18:11] um, you know, delivering for the people. [18:12] That's a very interesting point that below the, the, this, um, this, uh, performative art piece [18:19] that's going on and the signaling thing is just civil servants, federal and state that are doing [18:27] what they did yesterday and are going to do tomorrow, uh, long after the Trump administration [18:32] leaves the, leaves earth. It's going to be like the same people, except, you know, like you said, [18:37] they got a, they've been under orders to like credit, uh, the VP and Dr. Oz for whatever, [18:43] whatever success they might have. Um, I really appreciate you being here because that's the [18:47] insider stuff that our audience craves to hear because, you know, they're stuck with, otherwise [18:51] they're stuck with these, these video clips about, you know, about, oh, California must be doing [18:56] terrible things. Why are there so many centers in Los Angeles? It's like, I don't know. There's a lot [19:00] of medical centers. It's a lot of people in Los Angeles, a lot of people, a lot of top flight [19:07] health care and medical centers in Los Angeles. Maybe that's why, but, uh, you know, to hear [19:12] it from you and, and to hear about, um, just sort of, you know, bursting the bubble here of, um, [19:19] of purported fraud or the, as you said, the political weaponization of fraud, always, always [19:24] refreshing to hear from you, A.G. Bonta, and we wish you well, and I'd love to have you back as this [19:29] thing, and it's going to develop as this, this develops, but thank you for being here to, uh, to [19:34] brief our audience. Of course. We'd love to come back anytime. And thank you for having me as [19:38] always, Michael. Absolutely. And thank our audience for being here and helping us to continue to grow [19:43] this pro-democracy channel. Take a minute and hit the free subscribe button. If you like this kind [19:47] of content. In the meantime, I'm Michael Popak until my next report. Can't get your fill of Legal AF? [19:53] Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF Substack. Every time we mentioned something in a [19:58] hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the Substack. You'll find [20:03] the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call, wait [20:08] for it, Morning AF. What else? 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