Video: KCRA-3's Ashley Zavala Chasing Down Democratic Legislators in Capital Hallways - And They Just Flat Out Lie To Her
State Senator John Laird and Assemblywoman Blanca Pacheco are confronted and it's -- something to see.
There are some things that you literally just cannot make up. This is as close to “must-see TV” as I can think of. I can think of no better and more capable watchdog television journalist in California right now than Ashley Zavala, the Political Director of KCRA-3 Television in Sacramento.
The VERY short version is that there is a massive rebuilding of a huge part of the State Capitol taking place. The cost estimates, which anyone can figure out, are through the roof. In theory. You see, no one is willing to talk about the details of the massive expenditure of taxpayer funds (think in excess of a BILLION dollars). For many people, they legally can’t talk because they were forced to sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) to gain access to details and work on the construction project.
If you want the full background, I wrote two back-to-back pieces on this back in December:
Gavin Newsom’s State Capitol Expansion Has a $1.1 Billion Budget - But No Final Cost Estimate, and With Presidential Ambitions, Gavin Newsom’s $1.1 Billion Capitol Problem Becomes Harder to Ignore.
I encourage you to read them both - it’s mind-blowingly bad.
Zavala has been bird-dogging this issue for well over a year, only to be stymied at every turn. The segment below from CRA-3 news, featuring Ashley’s investigative reporting — and confronting legislators — is worth the time. Truly.
I will close before presenting the video by saying that the worst of the bunch here is Governor Newsom, who is trying to pretend like it’s not his project, even though there’s a three-member secret group running it — a Senator, an Assemblymember, and a representative of the Governor’s office. Maybe he will care about it if it comes up in Presidential debates…
I am not sure if the video below is working, but it’s also on Ashley’s X feed here:
You can’t make this up.
If you need a moral to this story, it’s pretty simple. Who is it that said, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
We have a one-party system in Sacramento with precisely zero checks and balances. So there is literally nothing that keeps Democrats from literally doing whatever the hell they want, with no care or worry. Even something as outrageous as funding a massive, highly visible project and hiding all of the details from the public.
Oh yes, if you think the name Assemblywoman Blanca Pacheco rings a bell… We just featured her earlier this week in our investigative piece on all the fancy junkets legislators take, paid for by shadowy non-profits supported by people with matters before the legislature. In one year, Pacheco reported over $45,000 in travel from these groups.