Politics
GOP governor hopefuls give closing arguments to oft-forgotten Central Valley Republicans
CLOVIS, Calif. — In the waning days before California’s primary election, the two top Republicans running for California governor delivered closing arguments in front of a friendly Central Valley audience Friday evening.
Though Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton have attacked each other throughout the campaign, they abstained from feuding and instead focused on common enemies — Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers who control the Legislature.
Hilton criticized Newsom’s new $20-million program to provide free diapers for families of newborn babies, referring to the outgoing governor as “the great loaded diaper of California himself.”
Earlier this year, Hilton and Bianco topped the governor’s race polls as a packed field of Democrats split many of the state’s liberal voters. Under California’s “jungle primary” system, where the top two candidates advance from the primary to the general election regardless of political affiliation, that led to fleeting hope among Republicans that the two candidates could shut Democratic candidates out of the November election.
“That idea was always a fantasy,” Hilton wrote in an op-ed published in the New York Post earlier this week in which he urged Bianco to drop out of the race “for the sake of the state we both love.”
“Steve, it is time for you to drop out,” Bianco retorted in a video posted to social media soon after. “In no world, no world does Steve Hilton beat a Democrat in November.”
After winning an endorsement from President Trump in early April, Hilton has steadily outpaced Bianco in polls. A poll commissioned by the California Democratic Party released last week showed Hilton leading the field with support from 22% of likely voters, followed by Democrat and former Biden Cabinet member Xavier Becerra with 21%. Bianco was at 10%, down from 15% in a previous poll conducted two weeks prior.
Still, Bianco, the two-term sheriff of California’s fourth most populous county, is a favorite of many Republicans in the state and won more support from delegates during the party’s recent endorsing convention than Hilton, though neither reached the necessary 60% to win the party backing.
While the two candidates have needled each other with personal digs and insults throughout much of the campaign, they appeared to set that energy aside during the Clovis forum and even traded some compliments. Hilton praised “sheriffs like Chad who actually understand what public safety looks like” while Bianco acknowledged that his opponent “should be very proud” to have Trump’s endorsement.
State Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), who moderated the more than 90-minute event, praised their “extraordinary civility” before she pressured each to commit to backing whichever Republican makes it through the June 2 primary — or if they both advance, continue to focus on policy debates over attacks.
The forum was hosted by the Fresno County & City Republican Women Federated as part of a fundraiser and dinner honoring the upcoming 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. About 450 attendees were served dishes inspired by presidential favorites including sirloin steak for Theodore Roosevelt, a chopped salad from Chasen’s, a favorite Los Angeles eatery for Ronald Reagan, and a chocolate pie with cherry vanilla ice cream for Trump.
The Central Valley stretches from Bakersfield to Redding and is home to some of the nation’s most lucrative farmland. It also includes the heart of California oil country in Kern County. Yet residents feel largely neglected by statewide politicians who are more drawn to the ample votes and wealthy donors in Southern California and the Bay Area.
“We are the breadbasket of the world but we’ve been overlooked for too long,” said Andrea Shabaglian, a vice president of the Fresno Republican women’s group. “When gubernatorial candidates come here to sit down and listen to our communities, they realize that a stronger Valley means a stronger California.”
Though he lost California handily to former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, Trump dominated in the state’s midsection. Even in Fresno County, where the Republican forum was held, Trump beat Harris by a four percentage point margin despite Democratic voters slightly outnumbering Republicans.
“We need a Republican in office because California is a mess. I mean, anybody with common sense can see that,” said LuAnne Pinedo-Madden, a retiree living in the Sierra foothill community of Coarsegold who listed transgender girls being allowed to compete in girls’ sports and government corruption as her top concerns.
Pinedo-Madden said she was “pretty sure” she had decided which of the Republican candidates to vote for but declined to say whom. “I feel that if we don’t get a Republican in office, we’re looking at moving” to Utah, Idaho or Nevada, she said. “We can’t take this anymore.”
Bianco and Hilton spoke about their plans to improve public safety, small businesses, homeowner’s insurance and water management, a crucial issue for the conservative-leaning owners of vast swaths of California’s agricultural heartland.
Signs along the major highways that straddle California’s Central Valley proclaim that “Food grows where water flows” and criticize Newsom for allowing water to flow into the ocean instead of capturing and storing more of it for farming.
Both of the GOP candidates described their visions for the state, which include building new dams and raising existing ones to store more water.
“We don’t have the water problem. We have a water management problem,” Bianco said before falsely arguing that “we get more water every single year than any other state in the country” and that California has “never, ever, ever been in a drought.”
“The water will be flowing to our farmers, the oil will be flowing to our refineries, the forests will be managed, the timber will be harvested” and used to build new single-family homes, Hilton said. “We’ve got the best weather, we’ve got the best people, we’ve got the best farmers, we’ve got everything we need to make this place amazing, except a good governor. Very soon we’ll have that as well.”
Though a Republican governor would likely face a hostile Legislature intent on blocking many priorities, Bianco and Hilton both promised sweeping cuts and cutbacks of state agencies. Both pledged on Friday to replace every member of the state’s parole review board, which drew criticism in February when it granted elderly parole to a man convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation in 1999.
“California criminal justice is absolutely broken and it was forced upon us in the name of reform. What I’m going to do is make it a crime to hear the word reform again, because we lost track of what that word even means,” Bianco said.
He also pledged to eliminate laws and environmental regulators often blamed for slowing housing development: the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Coastal Commission and the state Air Resources Board.
Though his opponent has the coveted Trump endorsement, Bianco argued that it will hurt Hilton’s chances of winning the general election. The Republican president has never been popular in deep-blue California; just 25% of adults in the state approved of Trump’s performance according to a February survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.
“Steve should rightfully be proud of being endorsed by President Trump [but] we have to actually realize, is that a good thing in California? It’s a good thing in this room,” Bianco said as the crowd cheered at the mention of the president’s name. “We have to realize strategically that President Trump ran three elections in this state, and he lost 60-40 in all three of them.”
The Riverside sheriff argued he is “the only person that can actually sway Democrats to vote for a Republican across party lines on a public safety platform.”
Politics
RFK Jr announces ‘largest autism fraud bust in American history’ with $46.6M Medicaid scheme indictment
Jonathan Fahey discusses DOJ’s $90 million Minnesota fraud ring bust
Jonathan Fahey, former DHS deputy assistant secretary, discusses the Department of Justice’s $90 million Medicaid fraud bust in Minnesota. Fahey explains that the widespread fraud is likely just the tip of the iceberg, with more revelations expected from cooperating defendants. He questions why Democrats previously ignored these programs for political reasons.
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Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the indictment of two Minnesota defendants charged in what officials called the “largest autism fraud bust in American history.”
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted 55-year-old Shamso Ahmed Hassan and 25-year-old Hanaan Mursal Yusuf, slapping them with numerous counts of fraud and related charges for their alleged $46.6 million scheme to defraud Minnesota Medicaid’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) Program.
The indictment was part of a wider enforcement action taken by the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division that swept up 15 alleged fraudsters in indictments for schemes that targeted over $90 million in taxpayer funds.
“Today’s arrests represent the largest autism fraud bust in American history. This was not a paperwork error. It was not a technical violation. This was organized theft that exploited the most vulnerable children in America, deceived families, stole taxpayer dollars meant to help children with autism access legitimate care and support,” Kennedy Jr. said in a Friday news conference.
‘EPICENTER OF FRAUD’: MINNESOTA’S EMPTY STOMACHS, FAKE AUTISM THERAPY AND A SCANDAL THAT COULD TOP $2 BILLION
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks to the media about alleged Medicaid fraud, and charges that were brought up against 15 individuals at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 21, 2026. (Christopher Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Hassan was a shareholder in two autism centers, Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center, but she did not disclose her ownership to the Minnesota Department of Human Services as required by law, prosecutors said. Yusuf worked at the Smart Therapy Center and helped operate the center, including by submitting the businesses’ claims for Medicaid reimbursement, according to the indictment.
MINNESOTA FRAUD SUSPECT WHO JUMPED FROM BUILDING IS ARRESTED, FBI SAYS
The pair allegedly paid kickbacks to families to incentivize them to send their children to Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center so they could bill for autism-related services in their children’s names. They then billed Medicaid for services that were not rendered or were not reimbursable by Medicaid, according to the indictment.
Of the $46.6 million they filed for reimbursement, $21.6 million was paid out, per the indictment. The DOJ is seeking restitution for that money.
Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division Colin McDonald addresses the media to announce actions combating fraud in Minnesota at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota on May 21, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Department of Justice is bringing charges against 15 people for fraud that targeted seven Medicaid programs and over $90 million in taxpayer dollars. (David Berding/Getty Images)
The pair “diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars of the fraud proceeds” to “their families’ personal use and benefit, including through real property purchases and transferring funds overseas, including to Kenya,” according to the indictment.
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The defendants were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of money laundering. Yusuf was charged with five counts of healthcare fraud, while Hassan was charged with two.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. addresses the media to announce actions combating fraud in Minnesota at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota on May 21, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (David Berding/Getty Images)
“Every fraudulent autism diagnosis steals time, care, and resources from the children for whom this program was designed and who desperately need this care. Families with autistic children already face enormous challenges navigating therapies, specialists, and support systems. Fraud makes those barriers even steeper,” Kennedy Jr. said in the announcement.
new video loaded: Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as Intelligence Chief
transcript
transcript
Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as Intelligence Chief
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, announced on social media on Friday that she would be leaving her post to care for her husband, who is battling an “extremely rare form of bone cancer.”
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I’m honored and grateful to President Trump for his trust and confidence in nominating me to serve our country as the director of national intelligence, at a time when trust in the intelligence community, unfortunately, is at an all-time low.
By Jamie Leventhal
May 22, 2026
Politics
Military families demand DOJ distribute nearly $800M from French cement company found guilty of bribing ISIS
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In November 2017, Chief Petty Officer Kenton Stacy was injured in Raqqa, Syria while clearing the second floor of a hospital that ISIS had booby trapped with explosives.
Now a quadriplegic, Stacy, his wife Lindsey, and their 4 children are part of a lawsuit brought by military families against the French cement company, Lafarge, recently found guilty by a French Court of paying millions of dollars in bribes to ISIS to keep their factory open in ISIS-controlled territory in Syria.
“I mean, they were essentially funneling money to fund terrorists and ISIS and all these heinous crimes and evil acts,” Lindsey Stacy told Fox News while standing by the side of her husband, the former Navy Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialist, who just had another surgery to deal with injuries sustained in Syria 9 years ago.
“It’s very overwhelming, Kenton struggles mentally and physically with his own battles and the kids and I. We have our own struggles,” she continued. “It’s hard to juggle, especially when our oldest son has cerebral palsy, and he requires his own 24-7 care.”
SENATORS CALL ON BIDEN TO BRIEF UPPER CHAMBER ON EFFORTS TO RETURN AUSTIN TICE FROM SYRIA
Lafarge pleaded guilty to paying $17 million to the Islamic State group to keep a plant in Syria open, the Justice Department announced in federal court in New York City on Nov. 14, 2017. (Christophe Ena/AP)
President Trump praised Stacy’s service to the nation in his 2018 State of the Union Address to Congress. Army Staff Sergeant Justin Peck bounded into a booby-trapped building to rescue Kenton and then gave him more than 2 hours of CPR while medics worked to save his life.
“Kenton Stacy would have died if not for Justin’s selfless love for a fellow warrior. Tonight, Kenton is recovering in Texas. Raqqa is liberated.…All of America salutes you.”
In a landmark ruling in April, a French court convicted Lafarge, the world’s largest cement manufacturer, of providing material support to a terror group and sentenced its former CEO to 6 years in prison. Eight former Lafarge employees were found guilty. Lafarge is appealing.
The company acknowledged the court’s finding describing the issue as a “legacy matter,” which was “in flagrant violation of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct.”
Nearly 1,000 plaintiffs, most of them military families, are part of earlier litigation in the Eastern District of New York.
“They were killed in Syria by a gruesome terrorist organization that was funded in part by Lafarge. And that’s not an allegation. That is undisputed fact. Lafarge pled guilty to doing that in 2022.”
Todd Toral, the lawyer from Jenner & Block, is representing Stacy and about 25 other families.
Toral, who is also a US Marine, is seeking compensation for those families from the $777 million Lafarge paid to the Justice Department as part of the settlement. The DOJ has had that money since Oct 2022.
“I think the ruling by the court in France is significant generally, because it’s the first time in many, many years that a corporation, and not just the corporation, but executives at a corporation have been held to account for their misconduct in aiding terrorism,” Toral said in an interview with Fox.
In order to operate in ISIS-controlled areas of Syria, Lafarge paid more than $6.5 million to ISIS from 2013–2014 through its Syrian subsidiary to keep production facilities running. The cement produced at its factory in Jalabiya, a factory which was bought for $680 million months before the Syrian uprising began in 2011, was also used for tunnels and bunkers, which helped the terrorist group.
The lawsuit is significant because it marks the first time a company has faced U.S. charges for supporting a terrorist group.
DOJ ACCELERATES SETTLEMENT OFFERS IN CAMP LEJEUNE WATER CONTAMINATION CASES
President Donald Trump arrives at the commencement ceremony on Cadet Memorial Field at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., on May 20, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In October 2022, Lafarge settled with the DOJ before the French ruling, paying more than $777 million into an asset forfeiture fund currently controlled by the DOJ, funds which are supposed to compensate victims of the ISIS attacks, many of them American Gold Star families, like Hailey Dayton, whose father was the first American killed by ISIS in Syria on Thanksgiving Day 2016.
“I was 15 when my dad was killed,” Hailey Dayton told Fox from her home in Florida. “I saw six guys in Navy white step out of the van. I got so excited because I thought my dad came back to surprise us. I remember opening the door, huge smile on my face, and I was looking at the men, trying to find my dad and I didn’t find, I didn’t see him, but instead I saw six guys with tears in their eyes.”
The Biden Justice Department denied requests to distribute the Lafarge funds while the case was still pending before a French Court. Lafarge was found guilty by that court in April. In February, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., pressed then-Attorney General Pam Bondi on when the DOJ planned to release the funds to the families.
“In February 2025, my colleagues and I sent you a letter urging the department to review the petitions for remission submitted by the families of those fallen service members, including several of my constituents. The previous administration ignored these victims and our requests and left their petitions unresolved,” Biggs asked Bondi during a Congressional hearing.
“Congressman, we are aware of that and we’re committed to doing everything we can to support the victims and work with you. Thank you for that question,” Bondi replied. That was more than a year ago and the DOJ has still not distributed the compensation funds.
Now the plaintiffs, most of them military families, say the decision to release the funds rests with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“I don’t know why. I don’t know why they’re ignoring us. To me, it feels like being a pawn. My dad, he went in when he was 19, he served 23 years,” Dayton, the Gol Star daughter of Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton, said.
“To the current Department of Justice, I would, say, make things right.”
Lindsey Stacy, who says she and her family have difficulty making ends meet given Kenton Stacy’s severe injuries, added, “There’s a lot of families out there that could benefit from these funds. I mean, it’s been almost nine years. It would be nice to, you know, for justice to be served.”
FREEDOM ISN’T FREE: HONOR THOSE WHO NEVER CAME HOME ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche attends a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“They have been convicted recently in their own country, guilty. It has been a long battle, but it’d be nice just for it to come to an end, get some closure and be able to just take care of our family,” she added. “I mean he made a huge sacrifice for our country and it would just be nice if they’d stand right by us and all the other co-plaintiffs.”
“We can think of no group of people who are more worthy of receiving compensation from that victim’s compensation fund than these families who lost a son, lost a brother, lost a husband, and they deserve to be treated better by the United States of America,” Toral, who continues to press his clients’ case said in an interview ahead of Memorial Day Weekend.
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The Department of Justice, which controls the $777 million dollars in penalties forfeited by Lafarge, issued the following statement:
“The Department is committed to compensating all victims to the maximum extent permitted by law. While we cannot comment on a pending matter, the Department will always engage in the appropriate process to evaluate claims and ensure that our brave servicemembers receive any amount of compensation to which they are entitled.”
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