CAL DOGE Files Complaint Against California Fund Usage
CAL DOGE, a group initiated by California gubernatorial hopeful Steve Hilton, has lodged a formal complaint requesting a federal probe into a state program that is accused of spending $370 million on so-called woke activists.
This action follows allegations from a conservative watchdog group, which has claimed that Elevate Youth California misappropriated tax revenues from marijuana sales to back left-leaning political efforts, dispersing millions into over 500 grants.
CAL DOGE’s Director, Jenny Ray Le Roux, confirmed on Friday that the complaint has been submitted to U.S. Attorney Bill Esseri and the Department of Justice.
Governor Gavin Newsom, who opposes Hilton, refuted the allegations and accused him of misleading the public.
Newsom’s office pointed out that regulations explicitly prohibit the use of funds for “partisan activity.”
Le Roux responded to this by calling the governor’s statement “self-deprecating.”
The funds in question were intended for youth drug abuse prevention under Proposition 64, which was passed in 2016. Instead, the complaint alleges that the money found its way into a “vast network” of 517 grants that supported political organizing, voter registration efforts, and ‘social justice youth development,’ all through a single nonprofit that many Californians may not be familiar with.
The group has claimed that each grant was divided into smaller amounts—about $716,150 on average—to obscure potential fraud, making traditional auditing extremely challenging. “No single grant is substantial enough to attract thorough scrutiny,” CAL DOGE noted on its website.
They specifically criticized the California Department of Health Services for awarding a contract to a nonprofit called Sierra Health Foundation, which allegedly has close ties to Newsom. This center then reportedly determines who gets the grants, sidestepping genuine oversight.
Using Rhetor AI, CAL DOGE conducted an audit to support their claims.
Hilton, who previously worked with Fox News, has been vocal about his commitment to uncovering government misdeeds since he declared his candidacy in April.
