Saying that he is “proud” to join the list of President Donald Trump’s political enemies, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday accused the U.S. Department of Justice of conducting a baseless investigation of the governor and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Newsom claims he’s in the crosshairs because he’s considering running for president.
- Newsom, in a video statement: “In recent days, federal agents have knocked on the doors of family friends and former employees. Not because they found a crime. Because they are simply trying to find one. … Trump is simply the most corrupt president in American history.”
As CalMatters reporters explain, the governor claimed that federal agents were demanding records and “abusing the grand jury process” by “digging through years and years of random documents.” Though neither the governor nor the first partner received subpoenas yet, Newsom’s office said it believes federal agents have issued subpoenas for the financial records of businesses associated with the Newsoms.
Newsom has a successful hospitality company called PlumpJack that he placed in a blind trust before assuming office as governor. Siebel Newsom leads two nonprofit groups called the California Partners Project and the Representation Project.
According to a person in the federal justice department who is familiar with the probe, there have been at least two ongoing criminal investigations into Newsom: One regarding Siebel Newsom’s taxes and the other related to Newsom’s former chief of staff Dana Williamson, who pled guilty in May in a corruption scandal that has not implicated the governor.
CalMatters awards: The Sacramento Press Club awarded CalMatters with five Golden State Journalism Awards for our work, which it described as “impeccable,” “beautifully written” and “the definition of public service.”
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CA is using AI that could affect your life after all
It turns out that the state government really is using artificial intelligence tools for decisions that could affect you or someone you love.
California’s technology department in a report late last week disclosed that government agencies are using six high-risk tools that have the potential to affect Californians.
They include tools that
- Predict whether incarcerated people will re-offend
- Evaluate whether unemployment claims are fraudulent
- Remotely administer exams for California State University students
- Detect when college students use generative AI to write assignments
This year’s report contradicts findings from last year’s, writes CalMatters’ Khari Johnson, which said agencies were not using AI systems that could affect someone’s life even though at least a couple of systems were known to the public, including one used for unemployment claims. The annual report on AI systems is required by a 2023 law.
AI listening in on your doctor visits
Mental health clinicians at Kaiser Permanente are raising concerns about an AI tool that records patient visits in the interest of helping providers take notes and help their patients.
Roxsy Lin of American Community Media writes that mental health providers are required to get patients’ consent before using the tool, but the clinicians themselves have unanswered questions about what happens to the recordings.
- Ilana Marcucci-Morris, a Kaiser licensed clinical social worker: “They won’t show us, right? And my feeling is, if you have nothing to hide and you’re doing it totally … ethically, then you would show us, prove it. They can’t, and they won’t, and they declined to when we ask.”
Kaiser and the unions that represent its mental health clinicians have a long-running dispute over working conditions. The company said it’s using the technology to reduce “the documentation burden” for doctors, and that it has been well-received by patients.
And lastly: Three-year college degrees
Cal State trustees voted in May to allow new bachelor’s degree pathways that could be completed in as little as three years. CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinshteyn and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on how the programs are designed to align with career goals and reduce time to graduation, as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.
SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. Fridays on PBS SoCal.
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Newsom’s priority differences with current legislative leaders are once again on display as lawmakers propose a state budget plan that would hike spending by more than $6 billion compared to Newsom’s budget.
Last month’s Garden Grove emergency underscores California’s inability to identify and safely transport medically fragile residents during mass evacuations, writes Kelley Barrett, a retired nonprofit administrator and advocate for people with disabilities.
Other things worth your time:
‘We lost eight great Americans’ in fiery B-52 bomber crash at Edwards Air Force Base // Los Angeles Times
Inside tech elites’ madcap war against the CA billionaire tax // The San Francisco Standard
Welcome to CA: Land of plunder and hypocrisy // The Guardian
Even $75M from Trump may not save Oakland’s embattled coal terminal // Grist
DACA renewals are dragging on for months, upending participants’ lives // San Francisco Chronicle
CA sues Shasta County after voters pass voter ID measure // Shasta Scout
Court orders national parks signage, including at Muir Woods, to be restored // KQED
Court records raise health concerns at Otay Mesa Detention Center // inewsource
