{"id":339600,"date":"2026-05-30T23:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T23:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/339600\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T23:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T23:45:09","slug":"nick-shirley-blasts-california-lawmakers-for-what-some-have-dubbed-the-stop-nick-shirley-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/339600\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Shirley blasts California lawmakers for what some have dubbed the \u2018Stop Nick Shirley Act\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Independent journalist Nick Shirley accused California<\/a> lawmakers of trying to shield taxpayer-funded organizations from scrutiny after the state Assembly advanced AB 2624, dubbed the \u201cStop Nick Shirley Act,\u201d a bill the author says is intended to protect immigration service providers from harassment and threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cI obviously hit a nerve,\u201d Shirley said during an appearance Wednesday night on \u201cFox News @ Night\u201d with Trace Gallagher.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s interesting about this, this bill is it\u2019s protecting NGOs and nonprofits,\u201d Shirley said. \u201cThese are organizations and groups that receive our tax dollars, yet they want to make it so we can\u2019t find out what they\u2019re<\/a> doing with our tax dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shirley argued the proposal would discourage investigations into organizations receiving public funds.<\/p>\n

NICK SHIRLEY CONFRONTS CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS OVER \u2018STOP NICK SHIRLEY ACT,\u2019 PRESSING ON FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS<\/a><\/p>\n

The comments came after Gallagher played remarks from Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, who authored the legislation and said immigrant service providers have faced harassment, doxxing campaigns and threats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CALIFORNIA DEMS RIPPED FOR BILL DUBBED THE \u2018STOP NICK SHIRLEY ACT\u2019 THAT COULD PENALIZE INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS<\/a><\/p>\n

Shirley rejected the argument that his reporting amounts to harassment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy response is stop using these communities, commit fraud, and no one will ever have any speculation about fraud taking place when we know that the fraud is very much real,\u201d Shirley said.<\/p>\n

Referencing his previous reporting, Shirley pointed to alleged fraud cases involving Minnesota nonprofits<\/a> and California hospice operators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Somalis in Minnesota, they stole hundreds of millions, billions of dollars, and then the hospice fraud that took place inside California,\u201d Shirley said. \u201cEveryone was saying that was bogus. And then her husband actually tried to take credit for exposing the hospice fraud after I had went and exposed the hospice fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

NICK SHIRLEY SAYS \u2018LEFTISTS\u2019 ARE \u2018COMING AFTER ME\u2019 FOR EXPOSING MINNESOTA FRAUD<\/a><\/p>\n

Shirley was referring to Assemblymember Mia Bonta\u2019s husband, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has not responded to Fox News Digital\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fraud has been going on for so long. These fraudsters thought they could get away with it for so long that so many people started committing this fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an X post, Shirley claimed<\/a> the bill would place journalists at civil risk for investigating fraud involving immigration support services, nonprofits and health care facilities. He argued that investigators could face injunctions, attorney fees and statutory damages if covered organizations claim a reasonable fear for their safety.<\/p>\n

The post drew support from several elected officials and political commentators. Rep. Tim Burchett responded<\/a>, \u201cThis is Democrat leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE<\/a><\/p>\n

Republican New Hampshire congressional candidate, Lily Tang Williams, argued<\/a> taxpayers should be concerned by the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaxpayers should be outraged by this in CA,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIf CA signs this bill into law to protect fraudsters, Federal government must fight back.\u201d<\/p>\n

AB 2624, titled \u201cPrivacy for Immigration Support Services Providers,\u201d passed the Assembly and was sent to the California Senate on Wednesday. The measure would create privacy and address-confidentiality protections for immigration service providers who face documented threats or harassment because of their work.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Assemblymember Mia Bonta for comment, but did not immediately hear back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Independent journalist Nick Shirley accused California lawmakers of trying to shield taxpayer-funded organizations from scrutiny after the state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-339600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}