Politics
Embattled manager of California water agency defends record, says complaints are unfounded
More than two months after he was placed on leave by the board of California’s largest urban water supplier, embattled General Manager Adel Hagekhalil defended his performance and insisted the accusations against him are unfounded.
The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California met in closed session Tuesday to discuss the status of investigations into multiple complaints and voted to extend Hagekhalil’s leave of absence until Oct. 23 as the investigation continues. The leave had been scheduled to end in September.
“We understand the desire for an expedited investigation, but as difficult as this is, we believe due process is paramount above all considerations, for all parties involved,” said Adán Ortega Jr., chair of the MWD board. “We are committed to ensuring a thorough, fair and impartial investigation.”
Hagekhalil spoke to the board publicly for the first time since the agency’s leaders announced they were placing him on leave on June 13.
“I can assure you, the board and all the Metropolitan employees, that I have not committed any misconduct,” Hagekhalil said. “Everything I’ve done has always been for the best interests of Metropolitan.”
Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science.
Some of the accusations surfaced in a letter to the board from Chief Financial Officer Katano Kasaine, who alleged Hagekhalil had harassed, demeaned and sidelined her and created a hostile work environment. Hagekhalil denied the accusations, saying he has always treated the staff with respect and professionalism.
“These complaints are nothing more than disagreements on management decisions,” Hagekhalil told board members. “Over 74 days ago, you unfairly placed me on leave, and as of today, I still have not been contacted about the investigation.”
Kerry Garvis Wright, a lawyer for Hagekhalil, said her client has been locked out of his email account and denied access to agency documents, “hampering his ability to prepare for his interviews in the investigations.”
“We have significant concerns about the investigative process, including but not limited to the lack of independence, lack of impartiality and the lack of confidentiality,” Wright said.
She urged the board to address the concerns promptly and reinstate Hagekhalil.
The sidelining of Hagekhalil has left in question the future leadership of the nation’s largest wholesale supplier of drinking water, which serves cities and agencies that supply 19 million people across Southern California.
In the more than three years that Hagekhalil has led the agency, he has sought to focus on adaptation to climate change, in part by reducing reliance on water supplies from distant sources and investing in local water supplies. His efforts to shift priorities at MWD have also included management changes that he and his supporters say have helped address problems of workplace harassment and retaliation.
“We have had many successes and accomplishments,” Hagekhalil said. “You tasked me to change this toxic culture and put the agency back on track. I’m proud to say we all did. We supported a culture of transparency and accountability.”
Hagekhalil said, however, that some within the agency have sought to undermine his reform efforts.
In a letter to the board, Hagekhalil said that “every action I took on your behalf and at your direction was faced with a frivolous complaint to undermine and stop the reform that you directed.”
He said when he was hired by MWD, he arrived “at a time of turmoil following harassment and retaliation complaints by employees, unhealthy workplace conditions” in desert outposts, and outdated human resources policies and hiring practices.
Hagekhalil noted that before he was hired, the Los Angeles Times had published an investigation about women’s complaints of harassment, discrimination and retaliation, and that some MWD board members had pushed for an independent investigation by Shaw Law Group, a Sacramento firm.
The full investigative report, which remains confidential, substantiated the women’s complaints, Hagekhalil said. A scathing state audit later determined that the district had failed to commit resources to properly investigate complaints of misconduct and had engaged in unfair hiring practices, among other problems.
“We wanted a healing and a reset to the organization. You charged me to do that,” Hagekhalil said. Those efforts, he said, included creating an independent office for discrimination complaints, creating an office of diversity, equity and inclusion, and reforming policies to address bullying and harassment, among other things.
But he said some within the agency “didn’t accept that and continued to try to undermine us by weaponizing the complaint process with bad faith claims.” He said that “a small number of people resisted change and accountability” and that “every action I took was faced with frivolous complaints.”
Hagekhalil said he has been subjected to other anonymous complaints that have been investigated and shown to be unfounded. In one case, he said, an anonymous complaint regarding the hiring of a chief of staff led to an investigation that ended on Aug. 15, when MWD’s ethics office notified him there was no violation and the matter was closed.
“I am very concerned about the fairness and objectivity of the investigation process. It is very clear that these are unfounded and frivolous allegations and complaints, leaks, lies being used to smear us with the goal to force the board’s hand,” Hagekhalil said in his letter, urging board members not to “fall for these tactics.”
About 20 people spoke in favor of Hagekhalil during the meeting, including employees, environmental advocates, residents and others.
Bruce Reznik, executive director of the group Los Angeles Waterkeeper, called for reinstating Hagekhalil while the investigations are completed “with as much transparency as is possible.”
“My experience with Adel has always been extremely positive,” Reznik said, calling him a “thoughtful, inclusive, transparent leader.”
Caty Wagner, water campaign manager for the Sierra Club, said that there appears to be a group at MWD “who want to take the district back in time,” and that Hagekhalil is being targeted for standing against them.
“I am shocked by what I heard from Adel’s lawyer this morning — that he has not yet been contacted by investigators and did not know what today’s meeting would be about,” Wagner said. “The public is watching and we are appalled.”
Others who voiced support included Marty Adams, the former general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, who said Hagekhalil has “brought the water community together throughout the whole state.”
Some praised Hagekhalil’s efforts to have better communication with communities and tribes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, where water is pumped to provide a portion of Southern California’s supplies.
“We need more California water leaders like Adel, not less,” Krystal Moreno of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians said.
Others were critical of Hagekhalil and said the investigations should get to the bottom of the complaints.
“I’m here today speaking for those who cannot speak because of fear of retaliation and harassment,” said Trish Gonzales, a retired employee who worked in the human resources department. She said some employees are “fearful for speaking up and have been harmed and traumatized by Adel and his people.”
Gonzales said the general manager has engaged in “unethical practices” and urged the board to “do the right thing.”
John Vrsalovich, president of the Management and Professionals Employees Assn., which represents some MWD employees, urged the board to “continue methodically investigating the allegations and not be swayed by the clearly solicited support coming from inside and outside the agency today and over the past few months, which we believe was orchestrated to sow doubt across the various investigations.”
Vrsalovich said the serious allegations “demand a thorough investigation to fairly resolve issues for all parties so the organization can move forward.”
The board has temporarily appointed Assistant General Manager Deven Upadhyay, who has been at the agency for 29 years, as the interim general manager.
Several union members and leaders of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1902 said employees have continued to face unfair treatment, harassment and retaliation.
Gonzalo Pantoja, an electrician, said one manager recently “felt comfortable enough to shove an employee to the ground and, to this day, has received little to no discipline for his actions.”
Alan Shanahan, president of Local 1902, said that Hagekhalil brought positive efforts toward change, but that since his removal “we have seen a complete disconnect of HR and management from collaboration.”
Ellen Mackey, a senior ecologist and leader of the MWD women’s caucus, said the attitude of the manager who shoved the employee is “indicative of the abusive attitude towards employees that Adel sought to change.”
Mackey said she believes “some middle, upper and retired managers have colluded to oust Adel.”
“We’re still unsure of the number of sides involved in this ‘Game of Thrones’ farce,” she said. “The investigation should follow the lines of evidence wherever they go.”
new video loaded: Senate Republicans Block Limits to Trump’s War Powers
transcript
transcript
Senate Republicans Block Limits to Trump’s War Powers
Senate Republicans voted against a Democratic bill that would have required President Trump to obtain congressional authorization to continue waging war against Iran.
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“The yeas are 47. The nays are 53. The motion to discharge is not approved.” “President Trump decided to attack Iran. That decision was profound, deliberate and correct. The president understands the weight of war.” “Why is Donald Trump hellbent on making history repeat itself? Why is he plunging America headfirst into a war that Americans do not want, and which he cannot even explain? The American people deserve a say, and that is what our resolution is about.”
By Shawn Paik
March 5, 2026
Politics
DHS defends McLaughlin against allegations husband’s company profited millions from ad contracts: ‘Baseless’
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EXCLUSIVE: Newly obtained financial statements shed light on claims that former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s husband’s company made millions from a DHS advertising campaign.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem faced intense questioning during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., specifically called out the agency for contracting a public relations firm headed by McLaughlin’s husband, Benjamin Yoho.
“I have personally reviewed the allegations against Ms. McLaughlin, and I find them to be baseless,” DHS General Counsel James Percival told Fox News Digital. “Nothing illegal or unethical occurred with respect to these contracts. Ms. McLaughlin was not involved in selecting any subcontractors.
“She is, however, a superstar in the public affairs world, so I am not surprised that she married a successful businessman whose services were attractive to these outside firms.”
Newly obtained financial statements address allegations that former Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s husband’s firm improperly profited from a multimillion-dollar DHS ad campaign. Lawmakers pressed Secretary Kristi Noem over the contracts during a heated Senate hearing. (Jack Gruber/USA Today)
Kennedy alleged that Yoho’s firm, The Strategy Group, “got most of the money” out of what the Louisiana Republican senator says was $220 million in “television advertisements that feature [Noem] prominently.”
“I’m sorry,” Kennedy said. “Safe America Media was a company formed 11 days before you picked them. And that the Strategy Group got most of the money. And the head of that is married to your former spokesperson.”
“It’s just hard for me to believe knowing the president as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here’s some ads I’ve cut, and I’m going to spend $220 million running them,’ that he would have agreed to that,” Kennedy explained. “I don’t think Russ Vought at OMB [Office of Management and Budget] would have agreed to that.”
‘YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!’: PROTESTER DRAGGED FROM KRISTI NOEM’S SENATE HEARING
Senate scrutiny intensified over a DHS advertising campaign after Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., questioned whether a firm linked to McLaughlin’s husband benefited unfairly. DHS officials and the company deny any wrongdoing or multimillion-dollar profits. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Strategy Group is a conservative advertising agency for which Yoho serves as CEO.
Figures obtained by Fox News Digital show a slightly lesser total advertising expenditure of approximately $185 million, with a total of roughly $146.5 million going to a campaign called “Save America.”
However, of the total that went to “Save America,” roughly $348,000 went to production costs, while the remaining $142 million went to “media buys.”
Sources at DHS say that media buys are the cost of actually buying the ads themselves, whether purchased from social media or for a TV ad.
Kennedy also alleged that the bidding process for the contracts never took place and that Safe America Media’s recent founding was a cause for concern and collusion between McLaughlin and her husband’s business.
WATCH THE MOST VIRAL MOMENTS AS KRISTI NOEM’S HEARING GOES OFF THE RAILS
Debate over DHS’ “Save America” ad campaign intensified as senators challenged its costs and contractor ties, even as agency officials touted the initiative as a historic success in promoting self-deportation. (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)
“Yes they did,” Noem responded during the hearing. “They went out to a competitive bid, and career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials.”
The Strategy Group posted to X Tuesday that it never had a contract with the department. While it did receive several hundred thousand dollars for production costs associated with the advertising campaigns, The Strategy Group never made millions.
“The Strategy Group has never had a contract with DHS,” the post said. “We had a subcontract with Safe America [Media] for limited production services. Safe America paid us $226,137.17 total for 5 film shoots, 45 produced video advertisements and 6 produced radio advertisements.
DHS SPOKESWOMAN TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN TO LEAVE TRUMP ADMIN, SOURCE CONFIRMS
Critics raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest in a high-dollar DHS advertising effort, but department representatives say McLaughlin recused herself and that subcontracting decisions were made independently. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
“If you’re going to try to question our integrity, bring actual evidence — we did,” the post concluded.
Because these ads were purchased using public funds, all contract totals are publicly available.
Lauren Bis, who took up the role of assistant secretary once McLaughlin left office, told Fox News Digital Tuesday that scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats over the advertising spending was unjustified because the campaigns resulted in “the most successful ad campaign in U.S. history.”
“Sanctuary politicians are attacking this ad campaign because it has been successful in CLOSING our borders and getting more than 2.2 million illegal aliens to LEAVE the U.S.,” Bis said.
“The DHS domestic and international ad campaign was the most successful ad campaign in U.S. history. The results speak for themselves: 2.2 million illegal aliens self-deported, and we now have the most secure border in American history.”
KRISTI NOEM TO FACE SENATE GRILLING OVER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTINGS AS DHS SHUTDOWN HITS WEEK 3
The Trump administration reaffirmed that all illegal immigrants are eligible for deportations as they focus on arresting violent criminals first. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Bis also compared the cost of arresting and deporting an illegal migrant to that of the minimal cost of an illegal migrant self-deporting. The department says the advertising campaign played a key role in marketing self-deportation.
A spokesperson at DHS also told Fox News Digital that contractors decide who they hire, fulfilling the terms of a contract, not the department itself.
“By law, DHS cannot and does not determine, control or weigh in on who contractors hire or use to fulfill the terms of the contract,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox. “Those decisions are made by the contractor alone. We have only become aware of these companies because of this inquiry and did not hire those companies.”
The spokesperson also noted that McLaughlin “recused herself” from interactions with subcontractors to avoid “any perceived appearance of impropriety.”
“Upon hearing who the subcontractors were for production of the ad, Ms. McLaughlin recused herself from any interaction or engagement with any subcontractors to avoid any perceived appearance of impropriety,” the spokesperson continued. “DHS Office of Public Affairs is the program officer. Ms. McLaughlin oversees the DHS Office of Public Affairs, which is simply the vehicle for this contract.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem takes her seat as she arrives to testify during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
McLaughlin told Fox News Digital the criticism of her and her family by senators at the hearing is a matter of public manipulation.
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“This is yet another example of politicians intentionally trying to dupe and manipulate the public to try to manufacture division and anger,” McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “The ad spend and contracts are a matter of public record, and the process was done by the book.
“These politicians would rather smear private citizens and American small businesses than do any basic research.”
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
Related Article
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans blocked a war powers resolution Wednesday designed to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran, as the Trump administration accelerates its military campaign in a conflict that has killed hundreds, including at least six American service members.
The motion failed in a vote of 47-53.
In addition to pulling out military resources from the Middle East, the measure — introduced by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) — would have required Congress’ explicit approval before future engagement with Iran, a power granted to the legislative branch in the Constitution.
The House, where Republicans also hold an advantage, is scheduled to weigh in on a similar measure Thursday. Even if both Democratic-led measures were to succeed, President Trump was widely expected to veto the legislation.
“We are doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly,” President Trump said at a White House event on Wednesday afternoon. The president, who has come under scrutiny for offering shifting explanations on the war’s endgame, said that if he was asked to scale the American military operation from one to 10, he would rate it a 15.
Democrats dispute that Trump possesses the authority to wage the ongoing operation in Iran without explicit congressional approval.
Acknowledging the measure was unlikely to succeed, they framed the vote as a strategy to force lawmakers to put their support for or opposition to the war on record.
“Today every senator — every single one — will pick a side,” Schumer said. “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East, or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and most of his Republican colleagues have maintained that the president carried out a “pre-emptive” and “defensive” strike in Iran, giving him full authority to continue unilateral military operations.
Republicans saw the vote as the “last roadblock” stopping Trump from carrying out his mission against the Islamic Republic.
“I think the president has the authority that he needs to conduct the activities and operations that are currently underway there. There are a lot of controversy and questions around the war powers act, but I think the president is acting in the best interest of the nation and our national security interests,” Thune said at a news conference.
Senators largely held to party loyalties, with the exception of Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, who broke ranks to support the measure, and Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, who opposed it.
The vote comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the war against Iran is “accelerating,” with American and Israeli forces expanding air operations into Iranian territory. He pointed to evidence released by U.S. Central Command of a submarine strike on an Iranian warship, and also lauded other strikes throughout the region as civilian casualties in Iran surpassed 1,000 on the fourth day of the conflict, according to rights groups.
“We’re going to continue to do well,” Trump said Wednesday. “We have the greatest military in the world by far and that was a tremendous threat to us for many years. Forty-seven years they’ve been killing our people and killing people all over the world, and we have great support.”
Republicans blocked a similar war powers vote in January after the president ordered U.S. special forces to capture and extradite Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on drug trafficking charges.
GOP leaders argued that the outcome of that mission equated to a quick success in the Middle East, despite an uncertain timeline from the Department of Defense.
In the House, lawmakers will vote on a separate war powers effort Thursday. That bill is led by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), the two lawmakers who authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“Instead of sending billions overseas, we need to invest in jobs, healthcare, and education here,” Khanna said on X.
In addition to that proposal, moderate Democrats in the House have introduced a separate resolution that would give the administration a 30-day window to justify continued hostilities in the Middle East before requiring a formal declaration of war or authorization from Congress.
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