From the Left · Read · October 23, 2026
Oct 22 · Justice Department charges 15, including six medical professionals, in a nearly $2 billion Los Angeles health care fraud takedown
Associated Press: California latest target in Department of Justice efforts to end public benefits fraud
Grade F (40/100). The Tarzana arrest, the surgeon-chiropractor atherectomy case and the $1.5 billion sober-home network, set inside the administration's wider fraud push, with Newsom's reply
Lehrer score 40/100 (−24 factual error: ¶2: the surgeon is 'accused of performing unnecessary and invasive surgeries to bill Medicaid for over $130 million'. The scheme billed Medicare, not Medicaid: the Justice Department's release and NewsNation say a '$135 million scheme to bill Medicare', and Fox News says 'an alleged $135 million scheme to bill Medicare'; −24 own-voice claim/analysis: ¶4: 'an issue that has emerged as a cornerstone of the president's agenda throughout his second term' (unattributed analysis); −12 loaded wording: ¶13: 'Essayli took shots at California's state government' (loaded verb in the wire's own voice)). Fixed scale: 90+ A, 80s B, 70s C, 60s D, under 60 F → F.
¶2: the surgeon is 'accused of performing unnecessary and invasive surgeries to bill Medicaid for over $130 million'. The scheme billed Medicare, not Medicaid: the Justice Department's release and NewsNation say a '$135 million scheme to bill Medicare', and Fox News says 'an alleged $135 million scheme to bill Medicare'; ¶4: 'an issue that has emerged as a cornerstone of the president's agenda throughout his second term' (unattributed analysis); ¶13: 'Essayli took shots at California's state government' (loaded verb in the wire's own voice)
Splits: The Tarzana arrest, the surgeon-chiropractor atherectomy case and the $1.5 billion sober-home network, set inside the administration's wider fraud push, with Newsom's reply
- Broken. Rule: factual error (¶2: the surgeon is 'accused of performing unnecessary and invasive surgeries to bill Medicaid for over $130 million'. The scheme billed Medicare, not Medicaid: the Justice Department's release and NewsNation say a '$135 million scheme to bill Medicare', and Fox News says 'an alleged $135 million scheme to bill Medicare')
- Broken. Rule: own-voice claim/analysis (¶4: 'an issue that has emerged as a cornerstone of the president's agenda throughout his second term' (unattributed analysis))
- Broken. Rule: loaded wording (¶13: 'Essayli took shots at California's state government' (loaded verb in the wire's own voice))
Same story: NewsNation, Fox News