Ian Choudri, chief executive for California's High-Speed Rail Authority, resigned on Thursday after investigators questioned spending.
The post California High-Speed Rail Chief Executive Resigns After State Investigators Question Spending appeared first on Breitbart.
A federal judge refused to force California to set aside mailed ballots from more than 20,000 people the Justice Department says are noncitizens.
The post Federal Judge Blocks DOJ Effort to Sequester 20,000 California Ballots appeared first on Breitbart.
A husband is accused of fatally stabbing a man he allegedly found in bed with his wife and two children at their home in California.
The post California DA: Husband Charged in Fatal Stabbing of Man He Found in Bed with His Wife and Children appeared first on Breitbart.
The DOJ informed Glendale, CA, that a lawsuit is coming if the city does not cease enforcement of its egregious concealed carry license fee.
The post Trump DOJ to Glendale, CA: Lawsuit Coming If the City Doesn’t Immediately Halt $2,000 Concealed Carry License Fees appeared first on Breitbart.
A dual U.S.-Salvadoran citizen from California accused of murdering a woman in front of their toddler son before abandoning the child near her remains has been extradited to El Salvador to face charges, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.
Michael Alejandro Castillo Murga, 27, of Beaumont, California, was handed over to Salvadoran authorities Wednesday to face charges of aggravated femicide and imperfect homicide in the 2019 killing.
The extradition marks the first time the U.S. has surrendered an American citizen to face prosecution for crimes committed in El Salvador, according to the DOJ.
Castillo Murga holds dual U.S. and Salvadoran citizenship.
Salvadoran authorities allege Castillo Murga picked up Melvi Fernanda Nájera Quezada, 23, and their son from her mother's home Jan. 31, 2019, supposedly to begin living together as a family.
Investigators allege he instead killed Nájera Quezada and abandoned their child near her body, which was discovered near a highway the next day.
An autopsy determined she died from severe bleeding caused by cuts to her neck and other wounds inflicted with a plastic knife, according to the DOJ.
Farmworkers discovered the boy, who was younger than 2, several days later in a rugged area near where his mother's body was found. He was severely dehydrated and starving with cuts on his face, insect bites and signs of abuse, authorities said.
FUGITIVE MOM WANTED IN DAUGHTER’S ARIZONA MURDER USED CARTELS TO HIDE FOR YEARS BEFORE CAPTURE IN MEXICO: FEDS
Investigators linked Castillo Murga to the killing through cellphone location data and witness accounts. Authorities also said he sent his girlfriend a photograph showing bloodstains on his face and neck.
Prosecutors also accused Castillo Murga's grandmother and a lawyer of helping conceal evidence. According to the DOJ, the pair arranged for two people to clean blood from the interior and exterior of Castillo Murga's vehicle using water, car shampoo and vinegar, but they were unable to remove all the blood.
Castillo Murga escaped to Guatemala around Feb. 2, 2019, with assistance from his grandmother and lawyer before eventually entering the U.S., according to prosecutors.
MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING WIFE ON WEDDING NIGHT BROUGHT BACK TO US AFTER YEARS ON THE RUN IN MEXICO
U.S. Marshals arrested him in October 2024 in response to an extradition request from El Salvador.
Castillo Murga challenged his extradition in federal court, but a judge rejected his petition in November 2025 and denied a subsequent request to halt the transfer in September 2026.
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The secretary of state ultimately authorized his surrender, and U.S. Marshals transported him into Salvadoran custody Wednesday to face prosecution.
© Madison Swart for The New York Times
© Philip Cheung for The New York Times
The sanctuary state of California released an illegal alien drug trafficker from jail after he was arrested for car theft, Breitbart News has learned. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents lodged a detainer, but it was ignored.
The post Exclusive: Sanctuary California Frees Illegal Alien Drug Trafficker from Jail After Car Theft Arrest appeared first on Breitbart.
An election integrity expert raised concerns Wednesday about California and Washington after the Justice Department identified thousands of suspected noncitizen voter registrations, including cases in which residents told officials they were not U.S. citizens yet were still registered to vote.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, blamed the states’ automatic voter registration systems and local officials’ refusal to use available federal tools to verify citizenship.
"Noncitizens are getting on the rolls all over the country through the motor voter program. They're going into (the) DMV. Sometimes they're even telling the DMV they’re not citizens, and states are still registering them to vote," Adams said.
"That's why aliens are getting on the rolls in states like Washington and California that have automatic voter registration."
California and Washington both require U.S. citizenship to register to vote, though their automatic voter registration systems differ. California DMV customers who indicate they are eligible to vote can be automatically registered, while Washington's automatic registration through the Department of Licensing is tied to transactions requiring proof of U.S. citizenship, such as obtaining an enhanced driver's license or ID.
However, federal officials said they identified more than 20,000 likely noncitizens on California voter rolls, many with addresses in Los Angeles County, and more than 400 suspected cases in Washington. The findings come just ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Washington Secretary of State Steve R. Hobbs pushed back against the Justice Department on Wednesday, criticizing its findings for containing "several glaring deficiencies."
The list included U.S. citizens and individuals who are not currently registered to vote, Hobbs said.
"Without individualized proof of ineligibility, it would be both irresponsible and illegal for election officials to decline to process a registered voter’s ballot. If you have individualized proof, I invite you to provide it so election officials can take appropriate steps that are consistent with federal and state law," Hobbs said.
The California secretary of state also pushed back last week, saying a review of the DOJ’s data on Los Angeles County found "significant accuracy problems with their sweeping claims."
"At best, this litigation is a reckless political stunt. At worst, it threatens to disenfranchise thousands of Californians this election," the office said.
DOJ HAS VERIFIED 20,000 NONCITIZENS ON CALIFORNIA VOTER ROLLS, FEDERAL PROSECUTOR SAYS
Adams also blamed election officials for refusing to use the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.
He described SAVE as the "best database there is for aliens" that is "just sitting there waiting for them to use."
"They don't want to check. They don't have to check. Federal law doesn't require them to check. What federal law does is make data available through the SAVE database at DHS," Adams said.
Hobbs criticized the DOJ’s reliance on the SAVE database, calling it "unreliable" and arguing that the absence of a citizenship record does not establish immigration status.
"It cannot rely on the mere absence of a name from the SAVE database or the department’s assertions based on the vague and untested methodology described in the lawsuit against California," Hobbs said.
MORE THAN A QUARTER-MILLION NONCITIZENS MAY BE REGISTERED TO VOTE IN 4 KEY STATES, DHS ALLEGES
As a result of lax regulations, Adams said his team has identified major voter roll issues in California beyond noncitizen registration, including duplicate registrations and registrations associated with deceased residents.
"It's what we expect now from California because partisan politics has taken over election administration in that state," he said.
"They think it's part of the program to disenfranchise people if they check citizenship, but it's not," he added. "They're saying that everything's fine here. ‘Don't look at us. We're as good as it can be,’ But the reality is they're really not using the data that are available to keep the rolls clean."
DOJ THREATENS EMERGENCY LEGAL ACTION AGAINST CALIFORNIA OVER SUSPECTED NONCITIZEN VOTERS
Other states, including Florida and North Carolina, have used the SAVE database and found fewer issues, according to Adams, contrasting their approach with California and Washington.
While the Justice Department's disclosure marks a rare public accounting of suspected noncitizen voter registrations, Adams said the findings will likely not affect the upcoming midterm elections.
Audits usually happen during off-election years when there is sufficient time for legal review, according to Adams. Waiting until just before an election in an even-numbered year can result in courts dismissing challenges due to "laches," a legal principle that penalizes someone for waiting too long without a valid reason to file a legal claim.
"There's very little you can do right before an election. That's why the hard work in these cases is in odd-numbered years, not in October or even-numbered years. So, you really have to do this stuff early, or you could lose on what's called laches," he said.
Despite the timing, Adams, who worked in the DOJ’s Voting Section more than a decade ago, applauded the department for taking the matter seriously.
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"Nobody took noncitizen registration seriously until now. And that's a welcome change," he said.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter on Wednesday rejected the Justice Department's emergency request to force California to set aside mail-in ballots associated with more than 20,000 registered voters whose citizenship the Trump administration has questioned, ruling that the last-minute intervention would disrupt an election already underway.
The over 20,000 voters identified by Department of Justice officials as "likely aliens" were designated as such after Homeland Security Investigations and federal partners "used multiple data-enrichment and verification methods" to flag potential noncitizens on California’s voter rolls. California officials, however, disputed the list's accuracy, citing a preliminary review that identified U.S.-born individuals and voters with no voting history among those flagged.
Carter, a Clinton appointee, ruled that the Justice Department's last-minute effort to intervene in California's election violated constitutional and federal-law constraints, while questioning the reliability of the government's evidence that the flagged voters were noncitizens.
"The district court denied our emergency request to sequester ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution. The Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal. We filed our Notice of Appeal and will immediately seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit."
NINTH CIRCUIT QUESTIONS TRUMP DOJ'S EMERGENCY REQUEST TO SET ASIDE 20,000 CALIFORNIA MAIL BALLOTS
The Trump administration has suffered a string of defeats in election-related cases in the lead-up to the midterm elections, raising questions whether the administration will be able to deliver on its promises of improved election integrity ahead of the 2028 presidential election. President Donald Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly raised concerns about widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections, though those claims have not been supported by evidence demonstrating fraud on such a broad scale.
California election officials argued that complying with the Justice Department's request would be virtually impossible because county election offices had already processed more than 500,000 ballots, separating them from identifying information and preventing officials from reliably linking those votes to individual voters.
Carter warned that the requested intervention would "wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway," though he noted that federal authorities were free to pursue individual voting fraud cases.
Experts were divided along ideological lines in the case.
TRUMP SCORES SUPREME COURT WIN IN ELECTION INTEGRITY FIGHT AS STATES GAIN NEW VOTER ROLL TOOL
Hans von Spakovsky, an election expert at Advancing American Freedom, a Mike Pence-affiliated think tank, criticized California for refusing to comply with the DOJ’s request.
"It tells you something very revealing and unfortunately badly revealing about California officials that they don’t even want to check," von Spakovsky told The Center Square. "In California, for example, they have automatic voter registration. When you go in to get a driver’s license, they don’t ask you, ‘Would you also like to register to vote?’ The state of California just automatically registers you, and when you ask them, they say, ‘Well, it’s up to the individuals to tell us they’re not eligible to vote.’"
BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS VOTER-FRAUD PROBES IN BATTLEGROUND STATES JUST DAYS BEFORE MIDTERMS
Rick Hasen, a University of California, Los Angeles, election-law professor, meanwhile, called the Justice Department’s request a "total overreach of federal power," arguing that "the Constitution’s clear that states have the authority to run Congressional elections unless Congress passes a statute otherwise — and Congress didn’t do so here."
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The California governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.
No matter what happens in Tuesday's elections, support for wealth taxes keeps growing. Its justification is based on the idea that the very rich owe all of us something, and taxing their fortunes is collecting on that debt. We're told their success fuels inequality and that it's selfish of them to keep so much, especially if they don't proclaim that they want to do more for society.
Former International Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard of France recently gave this narrative a clear voice. Writing on X, he wondered why California's wealthiest are spending so heavily to defeat Proposition 40, the supposed one-time 5 percent tax on the net worth of billionaires. Blanchard added that billionaires "typically have not indicated that they are building their wealth to eventually make the world a better place."
The entire notion misunderstands how fortunes are made. In a market economy, people don't build great wealth first and redeem it later through good works. They build it by making the world better first.
When I buy an $800 smartphone, it's because I value the phone more than whatever else I would have bought with the money. The seller values my $800 more than they do the phone. We both walk away richer by our own measure. Neither owes the other anything more.
Repeat this exchange a few hundred million times, and vast fortunes take shape for the people who create amazing technology so abundantly and affordably that we take it for granted. More importantly, though, people hand over every cent of it voluntarily.
As my colleague Arnold Kling aptly explained over the weekend, "Profits are earned within a positive-sum game for society. Profits induce firms to serve consumers and to innovate." The drive for wealth taxes relies on "the opposite point of view. It regards profits as something that businesses take from the rest of us, as if we can take innovation and efficiency for granted. [It] acts as if we are in a zero-sum environment in which one person's gain is necessarily another person's loss."
And, yes, the gains are divided more fairly than people think. Nobel laureate and Yale University economist William Nordhaus estimated that innovators in the U.S. business sector personally captured, on average, a mere 2.2 percent of the social surplus they created between 1948 and 2001. The other 97.8 percent went to everyone else in the form of lower prices, higher wages, better products and goods, and services that didn't previously exist.
In short, the world has already been compensated, many times over.
Those urging billionaires to acquiesce also err by blithely assuming that the state that grabs the money will use it well enough to "make the world a better place." The burden of proof is on them. California's government already spends roughly $350 billion a year. What will the extra few billion accomplish that the rest hasn't?
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys," as journalist and satirist P.J. O'Rourke used to say. Maybe California's billionaires aren't eager to fund a Merced-to-Bakersfield rail line that the state prices around $35 billion and its inspector general puts closer to $48 billion. Perhaps they're hesitant to backfill pension funds like the California Public Employees' Retirement System, whose staff concedes is unlikely to hit an assumed 6.8 percent return without leaning on private equity.
Prop 40's revenue is earmarked for health care, but money is fungible. In the end, California has one budget. Every earmarked dollar frees another for something else. Some billionaires might simply have concluded that their philanthropy does more good elsewhere, or that their dollars are more beneficial when invested in private enterprises.
The tax also doubles down on California's worst habit: spend, spend, spend, and then tax, tax, tax. The money is never enough to cover all the spending. A one-time levy spent over five years doesn't fix that. It funds new commitments with temporary money. Some will want to make the tax permanent, which its intellectual architects clearly prefer and may have made possible. And yet that still won't be enough.
That's the commitment problem that Blanchard admits California can't solve. Billionaires are wise to distrust the "one-time" promise.
What worries me most is the moral framework. When a society convinces itself that the people making life better and less costly are the problem, we eventually stop getting those people.
Contrary to Blanchard's naive belief, billionaires aren't lacking in public spirit. Even if we ignore their often massive charitable giving, we can't forget that the market already collected their contribution and handed a large share of it to the rest of us. We should stop demanding they apologize for the other two cents.
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The post Billionaires Have Already Paid Us Back. So Why Does California Want More? appeared first on Reason Magazine.
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