The former U.S. Health Secretary isn’t accused of wrongdoing — but federal indictments against his closest aides have ignited questions about oversight, judgment, and his readiness to lead the nation’s largest state.
Becerra, the former Health and Human Services secretary under President Joe Biden and California’s longtime attorney general, is not accused of criminal wrongdoing in a sweeping federal indictment unsealed last week. But the revelations — centered on a years-long scheme by two of his most trusted aides to siphon more than $225,000 from a dormant campaign account — have plunged Sacramento into chaos and deeply shaken confidence in Becerra’s leadership.
Political strategists say the scandal raises a simple but devastating question: How could Becerra not have known?
“If I was a voter looking at this, I’d ask, ‘Why don’t you know?’” said Los Angeles-based Democratic consultant Doug Herman. “People expect leaders to know what’s happening around them — especially when it involves their own top advisers.”
