Pro-Armenian Newsom at the centre of scandal: Where are California’s billions going? Governor faces lawsuit threat

California State Assemblyman Carl DeMaio said the state’s “monumental problem” with widespread fraud will become significantly worse after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that would target people investigating fraudulent activities.

As reported by Caliber.Az, citing the American Fox News report, the new law creates confidentiality protections for providers of services supporting immigrants, as well as their employees and volunteers. These protections include concealing their addresses and imposing fines on those who publish their photographs on social media.

Carl DeMaio

DeMaio told Fox News that the bill effectively criminalises investigative journalism and is intended to “silence citizen journalists and shield taxpayer-funded organizations from public scrutiny.”

Newsom signed the bill last week, and it is scheduled to take effect on October 1. DeMaio told Fox News that he and a “coalition of civil liberty protectors” are prepared to file a lawsuit challenging the law.

“We have a plaintiff and are putting together the legal briefs,” he said. "It is our hope," he continued, "that the U.S. Department of Justice will file to intervene in that case, because this is an open-and-shut infringement on our First Amendment rights."

DeMaio said the scandal in California makes the fraud in Minnesota look like “garden variety government mismanagement.”

"If you were worried about Somali daycare centers in Minnesota not having children in the daycare, take a look at California government NGOs receiving taxpayer funds and not having any sort of public services that they're delivering," he said. "They say they provide public services to immigrants when, in fact, they organize rallies, they harvest ballots, they endorse candidates and ballot measures during campaigns, and they are an extension of the Democrat Party."

Gavin Newsom

Addressing the California governor directly, DeMaio said: "Gavin Newsom, once again, you're a bully trying to silence citizen watchdogs into not exercising their First Amendment rights and exposing your fraud, the billions of dollars that you've allowed to be wasted of precious taxpayer funds, all because you want the benefit of these left-wing NGOs to help you politically."

DeMaio said that Newsom and the vast majority of Democrats in California have “created such a monumental problem with fraud of taxpayer money being abused that it's clear that it is intentional.”

"You're going to be exposed as a bully," he told Newsom. "You're going to be exposed as the fraud ringleader."

California Governor Gavin Newsom has worked closely with the ANCA (Armenian National Committee of America), supporting the interests of the Armenian-American community, including issues related to recognition of the “Armenian genocide” and protecting Armenians from discrimination. Throughout his political career, Newsom has established himself as a key ally of the organisation by supporting its initiatives.