# The $425 BILLION Fraud Crisis Destroying California | Steve Hilton Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-winston-marshall-show-6768213/the-democrat-machine-is-looting-california-steve-hilton Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-winston-marshall-show-6768213/the-democrat-machine-is-looting-california-steve-hilton.md Podcast: [The Winston Marshall Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-winston-marshall-show-6768213) Published: 2026-05-16T17:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/winston-marshall/episodes/The-425-BILLION-Fraud-Crisis-Destroying-California--Steve-Hilton-e3jes2e Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO8411502595.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-winston-marshall-show-6768213/episodes/the-democrat-machine-is-looting-california-steve-hilton Duration seconds: 3008 ## Resource In this episode of The Winston Marshall Show, I sit down with California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton for a conversation on corruption, government waste, energy policy, and the collapse of the California Dream.Hilton lays out explosive claims surrounding what he describes as a vast system of fraud, waste, and political corruption within California’s government, arguing that hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars have been misused over the past decade. We examine his “Califraud” investigations, allegations involving homelessness programmes, climate funds, cannabis tax revenue, and welfare spending, and why he believes one-party rule has created a culture of impunity within the state bureaucracy.The conversation explores the homelessness crisis, rising poverty, soaring energy costs, and why California now has some of the highest taxes and worst affordability in the United States. Hilton argues that environmental policy, overregulation, and ideological governance have hollowed out the middle class, while pushing businesses and working families out of the state.We also discuss the Iran war, oil prices, and the contradiction of California importing foreign oil while restricting domestic production. Hilton explains why he believes the state’s climate agenda has become detached from reality, and outlines his plan to lower gas prices, reduce regulation, and restore energy independence.We examine his campaign for governor, the political machine he is up against, and whether voters in one of America’s deepest blue states are finally ready for change.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Our show is independently supported by you, consider signing up to our substack to get added benefits li… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-winston-marshall-show-6768213/episodes/the-democrat-machine-is-looting-california-steve-hilton/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-winston-marshall-show-6768213/the-democrat-machine-is-looting-california-steve-hilton.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.