California Radical Transparency: Herb Morgan Launches Powerful Watchdog Platform to Expose State’s $2 Trillion in Spending

Republican candidate for California State Controller Herb W. Morgan today launched California Radical Transparency (CRT) Version 2.0, a volunteer-built watchdog platform that transforms more than 122 million raw FI$Cal financial records, representing roughly $2 trillion in total state financial activity, into searchable, source-linked insights for taxpayers, journalists, and oversight bodies.

The launch directly challenges the long-troubled FI$Cal system and the Newsom administration’s approach to fiscal oversight. Morgan’s campaign argues that true accountability begins with visibility, and that California taxpayers have waited long enough under the current leadership.

The prototype, built in less than two full-time work weeks on a home PC, delivers the kind of real-time fiscal visibility that Morgan says Sacramento’s $1 billion-plus FI$Cal system has failed to provide after nearly two decades of delays, cost overruns, and opaque reporting—failures compounded by the current Controller’s office inaction despite numerous warnings from the State Auditor.  

“California’s books were never ‘too complicated’ — they were too opaque by design,” Morgan stated in the announcement. “California taxpayers were promised transparency. Instead, they received delays, cost overruns, and systems so difficult to navigate that meaningful public oversight remains limited. This prototype proves modern transparency does not require another billion-dollar bureaucracy.”

Morgan’s launch sharply underscores the incumbent Controller Malia Cohen’s ongoing failure to exercise the powerful tools of the office. As reported by the California Globe, Cohen’s office has been largely missing in action amid California’s staggering $435 billion fraud epidemic. While federal authorities aggressively pursue fraud cases, the State Controller, empowered with independent audit authority, withholding power, and day-to-day fiscal oversight, has been slow to act and deliver accountability. 

In an undercover O’Keefe Media Group exposé covered extensively by the Globe, Cohen’s Acting Deputy Controller and Press Secretary Bismarck Obando admitted on hidden camera that audits “are not getting done” due to staffing shortages and lack of resources. Obando acknowledged that fraud exists “everywhere” in the state and that the Controller’s office lacks the proactive auditing capacity needed to protect taxpayer dollars, with key financial oversight functions stalled. 

These revelations highlight a pattern of inaction from Cohen’s office despite soaring waste, fraud, and mismanagement across state agencies, from unemployment insurance fraud to questionable homelessness spending and high-risk programs. The Controller’s failure to deliver aggressive audits and transparency has left Californians without the fiscal guardrails they deserve.

The CRT platform pulls directly from publicly available FI$Cal and Open FI$Cal data, converting raw accounting entries into user-friendly summaries complete with source-linked analysis, evidence classifications, pass-through and grant-flow visibility, and plain-English explanations. Early analysis already flags major transparency gaps, including billions of dollars flowing to payees listed only as “CONFIDENTIAL” within programs such as the Beverage Container Recycling Fund managed by CalRecycle.

“When billions of dollars move through government systems without visible recipients, Californians have a right to ask questions,” Morgan said.

The platform also includes top-10 breakdowns by department, fund, program, budget control, and account category, plus vendor/payee rankings covering roughly 80% of volume.

“This did not require another billion-dollar consulting contract,” Morgan emphasized. “We built this on a home PC in two weeks. When billions of dollars move through government systems without visible recipients, Californians have a right to ask questions — and the Controller should be answering them.”

CRT Version 2.0 is positioned as a working proof-of-concept for what Morgan says the Controller’s office could, and must, deliver statewide: near real-time, AI-augmented audits and live general ledgers that empower everyday Californians to follow their tax dollars.

Morgan, a San Diego-area finance executive with four decades of experience in large-scale financial operations and controls, is challenging incumbent Democratic Controller Malia Cohen in the June 2, 2026 nonpartisan primary. 

His campaign has centered on “Radical Transparency,” including blockchain-backed public ledgers, outcome-based performance tracking, and aggressive use of the Controller’s audit and withholding authority to combat waste, fraud, and mismanagement.

The CRT platform is open to the public immediately at CaliforniaRadicalTransparency.com.