On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree about her new book (co-authored with Jed McFatter) “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All.”

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss articles in the Washington Free Beacon and USA today on the federal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center stemming from its payment of some $3 million from 2014 to 2023 to members of the KKK, Aryan Nations, National Alliance, and other "violent extremist" groups who allegedly served as informants and a New York Times article about people who lost their jobs when the Trump administration shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
01:07 Indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center
06:08 Critique of USAID and Its Impact
11:11 Introduction to Susan Crabtree and Her Book
13:59 California's Failed Policies and Their Consequences
20:01 Media's Role in California's Issues
22:49 California's Infrastructure and Union Influence
24:30 Transforming Transportation in California
26:20 The Homelessness Crisis: A Deep Dive
29:10 The Role of NGOs and Nonprofits
32:33 Corruption and Accountability in California
36:26 Gavin Newsom's Ties to China
42:25 The Future of California Politics

Articles Discussed in This Podcast:

Susan Crabtree & Jed McFatter: “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All.”
Washington Free Beacon: Southern Poverty Law Center's Off-Shore Riches
USA Today: FBI: SPLC Paid Informants Without Donors Knowing. Feds Pay Them Too
Data Republican: How the Charlottesville Rally and SPLC Birthed Billion-Dollar-Plus ‘Democracy’ Ecosystem
New York Times: A Year After U.S.A.I.D.’s Death, Fired Workers Find Few Jobs and Much Loss

Watch each episode on the RealClearPolitics YouTube Channel