Sacramento, California - California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a brutal social media post, which referenced reports of massive fraud in South Dakota.

"Just catching up on all the fraud in Kristi Noem's South Dakota," Newsom's press office wrote alongside a screenshot of a news article.

"Did we all miss the fraud in Kristi Noem's South Dakota?" he wrote alongside an article about two state employees indicted on fraud charges.

"Significant fraud in Kristi Noem's South Dakota," he captioned another.

The latter post referenced a particular case in South Dakota that saw Rapid City businessman Kent Duane Anderson indicted on wire fraud and money laundering as part of a $71 million scheme.

Another post referred to a 2024 story about Lynne Hunsley and Danielle Degenstein, two former employees of the state's Department of Revenue who both pleaded guilty to fraud.

Newsom also pointed to Lonna Carroll, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison last year for stealing about $1.8 million from the Division of Child Protection Services.

His attacks on Noem point to a variety of fraud cases in the state, which she led as governor from 2019 to 2025, when she became DHS secretary under President Donald Trump.

In particular, Newsom is drawing a parallel between accusations of fraud in South Dakota and Noem's repeated use of similar fraud cases as justification for a brutal and violent crackdown on immigrants in Minnesota.

In December, for example, Noem wildly claimed that more than half of the visas in Minnesota are "fraudulent" and attacked Governor Tim Walz, claiming that he "either is an idiot or did it on purpose."