Nick Shirley exposed $110 million in daycare fraud in Minnesota and posted it for the world to see.
So California wants to make what he does illegal.
The woman who wrote the bill to stop him is married to the man who should be prosecuting the fraud he found.
California AB 2624 Would Let Fraudsters Silence the Journalists Filming Them
Assembly Bill 2624 cleared the California Assembly Judiciary Committee by an 11-2 vote.
The bill was authored by Democrat Assemblywoman Mia Bonta – wife of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
That detail is the story.
Under AB 2624, any organization claiming to provide immigrant services can demand the removal of video footage documenting their operations – even footage recorded in public.
Refuse to pull the video down?
The bill hits you with $12,000 in fines.
Post personal information about the people running these programs – information that may already be on their own websites?
That's a misdemeanor with up to a $10,000 fine and potential jail time.
A journalist can also be banned from filming these organizations for up to four years if someone claims to feel threatened.
Assemblyman Carl DeMaio wasn't diplomatic about what this is.
"AB 2624 can only be described as the 'Stop Nick Shirley Act,'" DeMaio said. "A bill designed to silence citizen journalists exposing fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars."
Nick Shirley Found 170 Million Dollars in Ghost Daycares and Hospice Fraud
This all starts with one video.
In January, Shirley posted footage of himself walking into California daycare and hospice facilities and asking administrators basic questions about where taxpayer money was going.
149 million people watched it on X.
What they saw was administrators accusing Shirley of racism and harassment – not for doing anything threatening, but for pointing a camera at their operations and asking questions.
By March, Shirley had documented what he alleged was $170 million in fraud across California's hospice and daycare system.
Ghost facilities registered to vacant lots.
Hospices billing Medicare for patients who don't exist.
Operators driving luxury vehicles off programs meant to serve the sick and dying.
That is what California Democrats voted 11-2 to protect from cameras.
Assemblyman David Tangipa told The Daily Signal the legislation is transparently unconstitutional.
"When a government diminishes transparency, it has something to hide," Tangipa said. "The government is trying to punish people for holding it accountable while adding protections for corrupt NGOs."
Mia Bonta Wrote the Bill and Her Husband Is California Attorney General Rob Bonta
This isn't California doing something unique.
It's California doing something familiar – only louder.
When Nick Shirley exposed $110 million in Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota in December 2025, the response wasn't to arrest the fraudsters.
The response was death threats against Shirley and doxxing campaigns against him personally.
Tim Walz's Minnesota never passed a bill to shut down journalists.
California is doing it in the open because they have a Democrat supermajority in the state legislature and they think nobody can stop them.
They may be right about the vote count.
They're wrong about what it reveals.
Every court that has looked at this question has said the same thing: you have the right to film the government in public.
AB 2624 hands fraudsters a legal weapon to silence the people filming them, and the journalist faces jail time for telling the truth.
DeMaio put it plainly: "If this bill becomes law, the message is clear to every journalist in California: expose corruption and you will be punished."
That's what an 11-2 vote looks like when the people casting it have something to hide.
The journalist who blew open Minnesota is now in California's crosshairs — and the state's top law enforcement officer is married to the woman holding the gun.
If Gavin Newsom signs this bill, every citizen journalist in America will know exactly what happens when you follow the money in a Democrat-run state.
Nick Shirley already knows.
He found $170 million worth of reasons.
Sources:
- Pedro Rodriguez, "Unconstitutional Stop Nick Shirley Act Pushed by California Democrats," The Daily Signal, April 14, 2026.
- Carl DeMaio, "CA Democrats Advance Stop Nick Shirley Act to Criminalize Investigative Journalism," AD75 Assembly Republican Caucus, April 13, 2026.
- Becky Noble, "Is California Targeting Investigative Journalists? Assemblyman DeMaio Sounds the Alarm," RedState, April 13, 2026.
- "What are They Hiding? Radical California Democrats Pass Stop Nick Shirley Act," Gateway Pundit, April 14, 2026.
- Victoria Taft, "California Democrats Find a Way to Shut Up Investigative Journalists," PJ Media, April 13, 2026.
