Steve Hilton is leading the race for governor of California, and he sat down with Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers to explain why.

The numbers tell the story. California ranks 50th out of 50 for opportunity. 50th out of 50 for business climate, ten years in a row. Highest poverty rate, highest unemployment, highest cost of living.

Where is the money going? Hilton's Golden Together fraud reports found $928 million of a $1 billion climate fund, money meant to put solar panels on low-income apartment buildings, redirected to Democrat political organizing. A separate nonprofit, Tzedek, gets roughly 80 percent of its revenue from taxpayers and openly hires "paid canvassers of varying immigration status, including undocumented" to elect Xavier Becerra.

This is what one-party rule buys you.

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A gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents Dinner with the President, Vice President, and most of the Cabinet in the same room. The Secret Service Director called the setup “perfect.” On this episode of On Background, Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers are joined by former House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz to examine what actually happened, what the agency is still hiding, and why a decade of warnings has produced almost no reform.

Chaffetz, who led the most aggressive Secret Service oversight in modern congressional history and authored a 2015 committee report titled “United States Secret Service: An Agency in Crisis,” walks through the structural failures that have only worsened. The average Secret Service employee receives 30 minutes of training per year. The agency is roughly 1,000 agents short. Many uniformed officers patrol the White House grounds without ever having been inside the building. The promised White House training replica has ballooned from $8 million to more than $140 million.

Susan adds her latest reporting, including new details about the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt, the supervisors who were promoted instead of disciplined, the campaign’s request to remove the farm equipment that would have blocked the gunman’s line of sight, and an internal culture that has stopped responding to her questions since her exclusive reporting on a Secret Service agent investigated for alleged tax fraud.

The episode also covers Director Sean Curran’s leadership, the missing transparency about which officer was actually hit, ongoing congressional briefings led by Chairman James Comer, and the six structural reforms Chaffetz says must happen before the World Cup brings unprecedented protective demands to American soil.

This is a sober look at the institution charged with protecting American leaders, and the consequences of letting it fail in slow motion.

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California's fraud problem is no longer a local story. Federal investigators are now pursuing thousands of cases tied to state-run programs, and Susan Crabtree has been on this story for months.

In this episode of On Background, Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers detail the scope of what they call California's empire of fraud. They cover the DOJ's Never Say Die hospice fraud arrests, the collapse of the state's COVID-era unemployment insurance system, and the explosive growth of the In-Home Support Services program, a Medi-Cal sub-program now linked to widespread abuse. They also examine the political infrastructure that allowed the fraud to grow, including officials who were promoted rather than held accountable.

Crabtree previews her next area of investigation: the nonprofit networks she calls the immigration industrial complex, which channels more than a billion dollars toward shielding illegal immigrants, including convicted felons, from deportation.

This episode offers a detailed, sourced look at how California's governing failures have reached a national scale.

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The California governor’s race takes a chaotic turn as a major televised debate collapses under political pressure. In this episode of On Background, Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers examine what led to the cancellation and what it reveals about the state of California politics.

They break down the criteria used to select candidates, the backlash from excluded campaigns, and how internal party divisions and race-based disputes shut down a key opportunity for voters to hear directly from those seeking to lead the state.

The episode also dives into Susan’s latest reporting on government spending, including a $114 million wildlife bridge project that has gone over budget and remains unfinished. They compare it to similar projects in other states and examine how taxpayer dollars are being used.

In addition, they discuss the crowded Democratic field, the rising momentum of Republican candidates focused on accountability, and the broader issue of fraud and spending tied to state-funded programs.

This episode offers a clear look at leadership, accountability, and the political dynamics shaping California’s future.

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Iran tried to kill President Trump in 2024 and the threats remained active. In this episode of On Background, Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers reveal the assassination plots that came within one day of the Butler shooting.

They explore how the FBI arrested Asif Merchant on July 12th at an Iranian safe house where he discussed Trump rally security details. National security officials warned the Secret Service about Iranian threats two weeks before the July 13th rally. The agency knew about the acute danger weeks in advance.

The discussion covers the funding crisis at the Secret Service. DHS remains unfunded while agents protect over 30 individuals from active Iranian assassination campaigns. The manpower problems that existed before Butler continue. Thousands of Iranian nationals entered through the Biden border. Western hostages remain trapped in Evin prison in Tehran.

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Watch full episodes of On Background with Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers on the Government Accountability Institute YouTube channel.

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Gavin Newsom stepped on his own book launch this week with contradictory claims about dyslexia that unraveled under basic scrutiny. In this episode of On Background, Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers break down the disastrous week that exposed a pattern of lies defining Newsom's political career.

They explore how Newsom told voters he cannot read while video shows him bragging about reading quickly. His press team responded to questions with hostility instead of providing documentation. The episode reveals how four powerful San Francisco families handed Newsom his career on a silver platter, from Gordon Getty funding his wine business to Jerry Brown writing college recommendations.

The discussion also covers Newsom's fabricated college baseball career at Santa Clara University. Actual players contacted reporters to expose how he spent at most three months on the JV team before any official games. His claims of a career ended by injury mask the reality of stolen athletic valor and privilege.

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Watch full episodes of On Background with Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers on the Government Accountability Institute YouTube channel.

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On Background with Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers is an official podcast production of the Government Accountability Institute.

The Hunter Biden investigation became one of the most suppressed stories in American history, but the IRS whistleblowers who exposed the truth are finally telling their side. In this episode of On Background, Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers sit down with Tristan Leavitt, President of Empower Oversight, to reveal the two-year saga of bringing Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler's testimony to Congress.

They explore how the Department of Justice systematically obstructed the investigation, why 50% of Biden voters had no idea the laptop story existed before the 2020 election, and how 51 intelligence officials lied about Russian disinformation while the IRS already had the evidence.

The episode also discusses the new documentary "Shielded by Power," which brings together firsthand accounts from the whistleblowers, investigative reporting from Miranda Devine, and the disturbing coordination between Big Tech, mainstream media, and federal agencies to protect the Biden family from accountability.

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Watch full episodes of On Background with Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers on the Government Accountability Institute YouTube channel.

👉 WATCH HERE👈

On Background with Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers is an official podcast production of the Government Accountability Institute.