The Department of Justice under President Donald Trump has appointed a new leader to spearhead its recently established unit focused on prosecuting fraud. This role has been filled by a Californian, as the state has garnered attention due to high-profile fraud cases.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Colin McDonald, an associate deputy general in the Justice Department, by a vote of 52 to 47. McDonald will head the DOJ’s newly created fraud division, part of the Trump administration’s initiative to aggressively combat fraud, particularly after cases emerged in Minnesota and potentially in California.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R) highlighted that similar fraudulent activities are now emerging in California’s hospice system. Some providers are accused of overbilling Medicare by millions, and there are reports of foreigners acquiring hospice licenses. Comer shared these insights with The Washington Post.
McDonald may focus his initial efforts on hospice fraud, as Comer criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom and state Democrats for allegedly ignoring warning signs highlighted by audits and media reports. The Oversight Committee has requested communications and documents from Newsom’s office regarding these allegations.
McDonald is expected to collaborate closely with Vice President JD Vance, who praised him as “a great choice” and “a key asset in the War on Fraud.” Vance was appointed in March as the chair of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
McDonald could end up working closely with Vice President JD Vance, who called the prosecutor “a great choice” and a “key asset in the War on Fraud.” Vance was announced earlier in March as the chair of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
“Colin will have nationwide jurisdiction at the Justice Department to prosecute the bad guys,” the vice president told the New York Post.
McDonald, described by Trump as a “very Smart, Tough, and Highly Respected AMERICA FIRST Federal Prosecutor,” went to San Diego Christian College and graduated from the California Western School of Law, according to his LinkedIn. He served as a law clerk at the US District Court for the Southern District of California before serving for more than a decade as an assistant US Attorney in the Southern District.
McDonald has some notable experience prosecuting fraud, particularly in 2020 with the conviction of Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his city-prosecutor wife Katherine Kealoha. The two abused their roles to arrest their own uncle — claiming he stole their mailbox — to discredit him and conceal their own theft of $148,000.
He’ll have his hands full in California, which is under fire for reports of hospice fraud. Figures like conservative Youtuber Nick Shirley and outlets like CBS News have visited dense clusters of hospice providers packed into tight areas, sometimes with multiple companies tied to a single address.
Some of the providers allegedly are enrolling ineligible patients or billing the government for non-existent care.
Other types of fraud in California may be investigated, such as similar concerns with childcare providers or tax fraud in political campaigns.
Newsom has mostly dismissed such highlighted instances of fraud, particularly around hospice care, as political theater. In a Tuesday press release titled “news you won’t see on Fox News,” his office claimed the state revoked 280 hospice licenses with 300 more providers under investigation.
“California takes fraud extremely seriously and has zero tolerance for the abuse of public programs – especially those as sensitive as end-of-life care,” Newsom said in a statement.
