Gavin Newsom's press office just implied a journalist investigating fraud is a pedophile.
That journalist uncovered $170 million in California taxpayer theft and all Newsom had was a meme.
What Newsom's office did next made it a lot more dangerous for him to keep going.
Nick Shirley Exposed California Hospice Fraud and Gavin Newsom Attacked Him for It
Nick Shirley broke open the biggest welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota history with a 42-minute video that went viral on YouTube in December. He walked into Somali-run daycare centers collecting millions in taxpayer money and found empty rooms.
Shirley moved on to California in his mission to undercover fraud.
His 40-minute California video posted March 17 showed what a 1,000 percent spike in Los Angeles County hospice spending actually looks like on the ground – motel rooms masquerading as hospice facilities, BMW M6s parked outside buildings that couldn't pass a health inspection, and operators who sprinted for the parking lot the moment Shirley's camera appeared.
"California may have the largest amount of fraud in the country," Shirley said in the video. "As California is the state with the highest taxes and collects more money than any other state in America, it is filled with fraud."
The numbers behind that claim are staggering. Medi-Cal – California's Medicaid program – has more than doubled since 2022, climbing from $108 billion to a proposed $222 billion in 2026. The state's population hasn't grown to explain it. One out of every ten dollars spent on home health care in America flows through Los Angeles County alone.
Shirley's team visited locations registered as daycare centers and hospices across Los Angeles and San Diego.
What they found: empty buildings, padlocked gates, and residential homes collecting government checks for services that didn't exist.
Gavin Newsom Called Nick Shirley a Predator Instead of Investigating the Fraud
Newsom could have promised an investigation. He could have feigned outrage at the fraudsters draining his state's budget. He could have said literally anything about accountability.
Instead, his official press office published an AI-generated cartoon of a camera-covered figure at a daycare asking to see children, captioned with Shirley's name.
The implication was unmistakable. Newsom's government used state resources to portray a fraud investigator as a child predator.
Shirley's response cut straight through it. "You do realize I'm trying to help America eliminate fraud and waste right? No need to try and make me look like the bad guy for exposing fraud. People are over it. Start working for the people and not against them."
The post drew 4.7 million views. It also drew something Newsom didn't expect – a Democrat breaking ranks to call him out by name.
Sen. John Fetterman went on the All-In podcast and unloaded. "Governor Newsom put out a disgusting video implying that he's a pedophile or he's that – why? That's kind of a smear. Shouldn't we agree – eliminate all the waste? Why can't you celebrate any journalist or activist doing that?"
Fox News contributor and attorney Paul Mauro went further, urging Shirley to file a defamation lawsuit against the State of California and Newsom personally. Shirley said publicly he was considering it.
Nick Shirley Now Needs a $15,000 Security Detail to Keep Filming
The governor's smear didn't exist in a vacuum. Shirley told Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany on Saturday exactly what it costs to expose fraud in a Democrat-run city in 2026.
"People try to dox my location live," Shirley said. "I'll go to a city, I'll go be out filming, I will take a photo. Some activists, some left-wing activists, will then take a photo, put me in a Reddit group chat. This happened to me in Baltimore. It just happened this last weekend in California, and they'll say, 'Run Nick Shirley out,' or they'll say, 'If you see Nick Shirley, it's on site.'"
The California hospice video cost $15,000 to film. Every dollar went to security for three days of shooting. The Minnesota video drained his previous security fund to nothing. He is now publicly fundraising just to keep investigating.
A DCNF reporter was assaulted by anti-ICE rioters on February 2 near a Minneapolis roadblock.
Independent journalists Cam Higby and Nick Sortor survived a mob attack in Minnesota in January. The pattern is clear: expose Democrat-enabled fraud in a Democrat city, and the left will try to physically stop you from continuing.
Shirley named it without flinching. "The governor of California is an enemy to the people of California. He's literally working to support the fraudsters. How stupid do you have to be to say, 'Let's go after the guy who's exposing the fraud, let's not go after the fraudsters'?"
Newsom Ignored the Medicare Fraud in Los Angeles and Is Still Ignoring It
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz found 42 registered hospices in a four-block radius in Van Nuys before Shirley ever arrived in California. Newsom dismissed Oz as a racist doing political theater. California's own state auditor flagged hospice fraud in 2022. Sacramento filed it away.
It took a 23-year-old with a camera and a $15,000 security bill to make the story impossible to ignore.
Shirley testified before the House Judiciary Committee in January. His Minnesota video was amplified by Elon Musk, JD Vance, and Kash Patel.
Federal funding was frozen in five Democrat-run states over childcare fraud concerns. Tim Walz announced he wouldn't seek a third term days after Shirley's Minnesota video dropped.
Gavin Newsom watched all of that, and his response was a pedophile meme – not a single refuted allegation, not one oversight reform, just a cartoon from the official press office of the most populous state in America.
Sources:
- Harold Hutchison, "Independent Journalist Nick Shirley Says He Needs Security To Continue Investigations," Daily Caller, March 21, 2026.
- Madison Colombo, "Nick Shirley says doxxers are hampering his investigations, has concerns about his own security," Fox News, March 21, 2026.
- "Nick Shirley has viral retort for Gavin Newsom's office after it mocks his investigations," Fox News, March 17, 2026.
- Matt Margolis, "Democrat Senator Nukes Gavin Newsom Over His Creepy Smear of Nick Shirley," PJ Media, March 18, 2026.
- Jason Cohen, "John Fetterman Blasts Gavin Newsom For 'Disgusting' Attack On Nick Shirley," Daily Caller News Foundation, March 18, 2026.
- Victoria Taft, "Nick Shirley Exposes L.A. County's Wildly High Number of People 'Dying' in Hospice Scams," PJ Media, March 18, 2026.
- "Paul Mauro urges Nick Shirley to sue the State of California," Primetimer, March 18, 2026.
