Democrats say they were shut out of fraud event after Vance says crackdown ‘should not be a partisan’

Three Democratic state attorneys general said their deputies were turned away from a roundtable hosted by JD Vance on Tuesday, sowing confusion about what the White House has billed as a bipartisan crackdown on fraud.

After attorneys general – including New York’s Letitia James, California’s Rob Bonta and New Jersey’s Jennifer Davenport – declined a last-minute invitation to participate in the event alongside their Republican counterparts, they said representatives from their offices travelled to Washington to attend, but were shut out.

“My deputy attorney general went to Washington DC today, and unfortunately was not allowed access to the meeting,” James told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday, after Vance convened more than a dozen Republican state attorneys general as part of the White House’s campaign to root out fraud in government programs.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment. In his remarks at the roundtable on Tuesday, Vance, chair of the White House taskforce to eliminate fraud, said representatives from the Democratic state attorneys general offices in Oregon and Connecticut were present.

“This should not be a partisan effort – everybody should care about fraud,” the vice-president said, claiming that the taskforce has “exposed billions of dollars in benefits that have been stolen from the American people” since it was launched in March.

The Democrats formally announced their decision not to attend Tuesday’s roundtable in a letter addressed to Vance and signed by 24 state attorneys general, including Dan Rayfield of Oregon and William Tong of Connecticut.

“We are committed to stopping fraud, waste, and abuse in all government programs across our states, and are proud of our continued partnership with the federal government in this mission,” they wrote, but noted that the invitation was provided with “less than one business day’s notice with no agenda”.

Speaking to reporters later on Tuesday, James said her office has been a leader in prosecuting Medicaid fraud, including being cited along with three other Medicaid fraud offices as comprising half of all civil recoveries in the US in fiscal year 2025.

“Real collaboration between states and the federal government is critical to addressing fraud and waste, but that partnership requires proper notice, sincere engagement and a genuine opportunity for productive discussion,” said James.

She cited Medicaid cuts and efforts to dismantle the Department of Health and Human Services as examples of the Trump administration weakening oversight that prevents fraud.

“Eliminating fraud cannot be a partisan effort or politically motivated,” Davenport, the New Jersey attorney general, said, “but I’m concerned that this federal administration is using allegations of fraud in an attempt to freeze or cut funding to these critical programs.

“While the Trump administration claims that it is now prioritizing fighting fraud, it has gutted many of the federal agencies that are meant to root out fraud,” she added.

Josh Kaul, Wisconsin’s attorney general, also criticized the Trump administration’s partisan approach toward fraud. “You cannot have a president hardening fraudster after fraudster, and then turn around and say he takes fraud seriously,” said Kaul. “You’re getting rid of inspectors general who root out fraud. That sends the wrong message when it comes to fighting fraud.

“Today, the vice-president’s office turned away some people from AGs offices, who are experts on these topics. You don’t solve this problem by shutting out voices who know how you can fight this problem.”

Vance’s taskforce claimed fraud victories by pointing to frozen funds and several US Department of Justice cases, but the taskforce did not mention any joint investigations. Bonta pointed to his office’s joint investigation into a case, which was not mentioned. In fact, the case was used to accuse California of “failure to fight fraud”.

“The first assistant was very irresponsible to suggest that the federal government was doing something and California was not involved when we were actually in that very case, engaged in a partnership to tackle fraud,” Bonta said. “There’s other cases where we do the entire thing ourselves, like the biggest hospice fraud bust in the history of State of California. That was our investigation, that was our takedown, that’s our prosecution. We’re going to secure the convictions. But you can’t just outright lie. And unfortunately, that’s been part of what this Trump administration has been doing.”

A spokesperson for first assistant US attorney Bill Essayli didn’t address the omission, but deferred comment to an interview where he was asked if the state works with the Department of Justice on fraud cases, which Essayli says “they often will be cooperative”, but complained about a lack of obstacles to dispersing funds through federal programs in California.

During the press conference, Bonta cited several fraud investigations his office has conducted in California since he has been in office, through four teams dedicated to fraud cases.

“We’re not here to claim our states are immune to fraud,” said Bonta. “The problem is that, instead of working with us to actually root out fraud and protect taxpayers, Trump, Vance and Oz are politicizing the problem and gaslighting the American people.

“If the federal government ever decides to quit playing games, we’ll be here, ready and willing to join forces to tackle fraud,” he added. “Today’s political performance in DC doesn’t give me much hope that day will come soon.”