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When you cast your ballot, you should be able to trust that it will be kept safe, counted, and handled by the election officials responsible for it. Earlier this year, the Riverside County Sheriff seized more than 650,000 ballots from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters. My office stepped in and directed him to stop.
This week, the California Supreme Court affirmed my authority to do so and ordered the Sheriff to return every ballot to the Registrar immediately.
Whether it is a sheriff in Riverside or the President of the United States, no one is above the law. With an election weeks away, I will keep fighting to protect your voice in our democracy and your fundamental right to vote. Come November, we are ready for whatever comes our way.
Your Attorney General,
Rob
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Securing Supreme Court Victory Ordering Sheriff to Return Voted Ballots to the Registrar of Voters
 Election fraud can and should be investigated. But misuse of criminal investigative tools — without any evidence that a crime was committed — needlessly undermines trust in our elections system and in law enforcement. This week, the California Supreme Court issued decisions in Bonta v. Bianco and Cervantes v. Bianco, that brought important clarity for our constitutional system in California. These two cases arose out of Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s unfounded criminal investigation into the November 2025 Special Election. I’m grateful that our State Supreme Court reaffirmed my authority as Attorney General to supervise county sheriffs. I take my responsibility to exercise that authority in the public interest seriously. After the Sheriff took the extraordinary step of obtaining warrants to seize control over voted ballots, I made a modest request to him: pause your investigation, preserve all evidence, and provide the information needed for my office to review the allegations. Instead, Sheriff Bianco pressed forward with the seizure of hundreds of thousands of ballots. The Court has now made clear that this kind of defiance cannot stand, that the Attorney General has the authority to intervene when sheriffs take improper action, and that voted ballots belong in the custody of elections officials.
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Securing a Settlement in the Warner Brothers and Paramount Litigation
 We have secured a settlement that resolves our antitrust concerns of the Warner Bros./Paramount merger — concerns that the merger will lower output and increase prices — by guaranteeing robust distribution of wide release theatrical films, including blockbuster films, and providing enforceable guardrails to help keep cable prices competitive. The settlement includes a five-year court enforceable commitment to increase film output, a minimum of an additional $1.5 billion commitment to bolster domestic film production, with the potential to increase domestic film production even more if certain conditions are met, a $47.5 million fund for workers who are impacted by the merger, and restrictions on how the company handles cable negotiations to help keep prices competitive. Let me be clear: This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger. But when we get down to brass tacks, what we heard over and over from people who would be most directly and immediately impacted by the merger is that what matters most is consistent film output, domestic production, and protecting the livelihoods of workers above and below the line. There’s no Hollywood without the people who work on and off screen to make the magic happen, and this settlement protects workers, jobs, and Hollywood.
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Protecting California’s Clean Energy Future
 During Climate Week and all year round, we’re focused on sustainable energy, mitigating environmental impacts, and taking action when our clean energy future is attacked. At a time when we need more reliable, clean energy, President Trump is trying to send $111 million to his fossil fuel industry friends and wants taxpayers and working families to cover the tab. This outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars will damage the offshore wind industry and create unnecessary obstacles to clean and reliable energy powering our homes and economies. That is why, together with the California Energy Commission we filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration and Invenergy, a California offshore wind leaseholder, over the Administration’s unlawful buyout of Invenergy’s California offshore wind energy lease. California is not here to foot the bill — we have the receipts and we’re asking the court to strike down this blatantly unlawful deal.
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Urging Congress to Protect Humankind Against Catastrophic AI Threats
 The stakes have never been higher to ensure that increasingly powerful AI models and AI agents cannot enact grave harms onto humankind. That is why, this week,I joined a bipartisan coalition of 25 attorneys general in urging Congress to take immediate action to regulate large scale AI models and developers in light of recent reports of critical cyber safety incidents at multiple frontier AI labs and warnings from insiders that the continued pace of AI development is becoming increasingly dangerous. Any federal action must create a floor, not a ceiling.While California is actively engaged in holding frontier AI labs accountable, and leadership by California's legislature in adopting state-level protections continues to lead the way, pairing this with federal action to adopt a national foundation of protection, is critical to ensure safe and responsible AI development. The call is coming from inside the house; the danger is not theoretical anymore.
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Making Your Life Affordable
 Making Your Life Affordable: From groceries to gas, costs seem to be rising and rising ... and rising. California DOJ has your back and is committed to protecting California families grappling with the high cost of living. In this segment, find some of the ways California DOJ is protecting Californians — and their wallets.
What We Did: This week, my office urged consumers to check their eligibility for compensation for certain generic drug purchases and to submit a claim for compensation. This month, a court granted preliminary approval of a plan, filed by California and a coalition of 47 other states and territories, to distribute settlement funds paid by generic drug manufacturers in exchange for settlement of claims that those companies illegally conspired to raise the prices of generic drugs.
What This Means to You: A staggering seven in 10 Californians feel that healthcare expenses place a financial strain on their household. As a result of our efforts to hold generic drug manufacturers accountable for illegally conspiring to drive up prices, consumers may now be eligible to receive compensation. If you purchased a generic drug listed here between May 2009 and December 2019, you may be eligible for compensation. To determine your eligibility, call 1-866-290-0182 (Toll-Free), email info@AGGenericDrugs.com, or visit www.AGGenericDrugs.com. The deadline to submit a claim is March 8, 2027. My office remains committed to going after unlawful prices raising the cost of living for Californians.
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Keeping You Safe
 Those who defraud Medi-Cal are not just breaking the law. They are stealing from taxpayers, endangering patient care, and betraying the public trust. At California DOJ, we will not tolerate it. This week, Maki Martinez-Gruninger pled guilty to a felony charge of defrauding the Medi-Cal program and will serve two years in state prison for stealing more than $400,000 from the State of California through a scheme that exploited a disabled family member. California DOJ received a complaint alleging that Martinez-Gruninger fraudulently claimed to be the In-Home Support Services (IHSS) provider for a disabled family member. According to the complainant — who was the individual's sole caregiver — they discovered in December 2019 that Martinez-Gruninger secretly applied to be the disabled family member's IHSS provider in November 2007. As a result, Martinez-Gruninger allegedly submitted false claims to the IHSS program for over a decade. We will continue to aggressively pursue those who abuse public programs for personal gain and hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
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CARE Corner
 In honor of Native American Day on September 25th, CARE’s Victims’ Services Unit (VSU) partnered with California DOJ’s Office of Native American Affairs to connect with attendees by sharing brochures and providing resources to promote awareness and access to VSU’s services during the 59th Annual California American Day recognition at the State Capitol.
On the Central Coast, Laura Tinajero, CARE Community Outreach Manager, recently attended the grand opening of Ensen Park’s 67-acre restoration project on the unceded Esselen homeland, the Ensen Village, known today as Salinas, CA.
“Ensen” is an Indigenous word which means blackberry brambles, an important food source for Indigenous peoples in the area known as Carr Lake. The name was suggested by Louise J. Miranda Ramirez, Tribal Chairwoman of the Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation (OCEN).
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Post of the Week
As a result of our efforts to hold generic drug manufacturers accountable for illegally conspiring to drive up prices, consumers may now be eligible to receive compensation.
If you purchased generic drugs between May 2009 and December 2019, take a few minutes to check your eligibility and a submit a claim before March 8, 2027.
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Video of the Week
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Make a Difference at California DOJ
 Apply today to help California DOJ protect the health, well-being, and public safety of Californians. Check out our featured jobs below and visit oag.ca.gov/careers for a full listing of available positions:
Deputy Attorney General Supervisor, Worker Rights and Fair Labor Section
Deputy Attorney General IV, DMFEA Facilities Enforcement Team
Deputy Attorney General IV, Environmental Justice and Protection
Deputy Attorney General IV, DMFEA Complaint Assessment Team
Deputy Attorney General Supervisor, Antitrust Law
Deputy Director, Office of Legislative Affairs
Assistant Director, Bureau of Gambling Control
Senior Legal Technician, Office of Legal Support Operations
Information Technology Specialist, Application Development Bureau
Paralegal, Employment Law
Attorney General’s Honors Program:
Deputy Attorney General
Graduate Legal Assistant
Geoffrey Wright Solicitor General Fellowship:
Deputy Attorney General
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