January 1, California Bill Threatens Journalists Exposing Public Fraud

Wyatt’s Take

• California Assemblywoman Mia Bonta is pushing AB 2624 to limit public scrutiny of how NGOs spend taxpayer money.
• Republican Carl DeMaio says the bill targets independent reporters like Nick Shirley, who exposed welfare fraud on camera.
• The proposal could let taxpayer-funded groups force journalists to delete misconduct videos and face steep penalties.

Independent reporters recently exposed dozens of fake learning centers and hospice fraud totaling over $170 million.

Instead of punishing the scammers, Sacramento politicians are going after the messengers.

The law would make it riskier to film public wrongdoing, even when the footage reveals fraud.

We already saw California go after David Daleiden for exposing Planned Parenthood.

Now they want to make it harder to document misconduct by groups the government prefers to protect.

Wyatt Matters

Middle Americans believe in transparency and honest work, not shielding scammers from the light of day.

When the government tries to criminalize the truth, it usually has something ugly to hide.

Stop Nick Shirley Act