Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton knows what one of his first order of business will be if elected.
Hilton said Monday his first executive order would create a “Taxpayer Fraud Strike Force” to target Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and others in an investigation into alleged fraud, waste and abuse in California government.
Hilton talked with Fox News Digital interview with about California’s primary where voters will decide who advances to the November general election.
“This is my first executive order,” Hilton said, holding up a draft of the order. “This is Day 1 of the new administration. We’re going to clean house in California.”
“We will not spare anyone,” Hilton said. “Gavin Newsom will be top of our target list because for years Newsom was warned by the state auditor, by other state agencies, his own state agencies, that billions of dollars were being stolen, and he did nothing about it.”
“What we’re going to be investigating with this executive order, setting up a task force, a strike force to look at criminal prosecution, is whether there was criminal negligence on the part of Gavin Newsom and other state officials,” Hilton continued. “And if there was, then they will be prosecuted.”
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California’s Tuesday primary features Hilton among the leading Republican candidates and several Democrats, including Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer.
“I don’t think there’s anything more serious than taking responsibility for taxpayer money,” Hilton said. “We have the highest taxes in the country, in California, and we get the worst results. And one of the reasons is that the money has been stolen.”
Newsom’s office did not hold much weight in Hilton’s candidacy.
“Who is Steve Hilton?” the office said in a statement to Fox News. “California will keep leading the way in cracking down on fraud with tougher laws, more investigations, and stronger accountability to protect taxpayers. While this individual wants to create headlines, we are actually doing the work to take any allegations of fraud seriously.”
