On Background with Susan Crabtree

On Background with Susan Crabtree, a Government Accountability Institute podcast, exposes corruption and government mismanagement through hard-hitting investigative journalism. Hosted by veteran reporter Susan Crabtree, alongside GAI’s Vice President Eric Eggers, the podcast leverages confidential “on background” insights to uncover truths behind political headlines.

Episodes

35 minutes ago

39 min

Emily Kopp of the Daily Caller News Foundation joins Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers to trace how the intelligence community buried evidence that COVID came from a lab in Wuhan. She walks through the declassified records, the furin cleavage site, the reported CIA money relationship with Fauci's institute, and why the press still refuses to follow the trail. Plus: why medical-establishment Democrats just won big in the midterms.
(0:00) Two finalists and the headline of the week (1:32) Medical-establishment Democrats win the midterms (4:42) Ohio's COVID czar and one paper on horseback injuries (8:32) How the White House backed away from MAHA (10:22) Tulsi Gabbard, Rand Paul, and the push for transparency (13:10) Early signals intelligence pointed to Wuhan (14:59) The furin cleavage site and the grant proposal (19:52) The most explosive possibility: CIA money and Fauci's lab (25:56) Customer number one, kept in the dark (34:47) The pardon, the Fifth, and what accountability looks like
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

35 minutes ago

39 min

Oct 30, 2026

39 min

Meta ran the experiment. Kids asked Instagram to stop sending notifications during the school day, and when it did, they said they felt less stressed. It cost the company 1 percent of their minutes a month, and employees didn't bother pushing the fix because that was the number Mark Zuckerberg cared about.Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers talk with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, whose story is now the film The Social Reckoning, about how the algorithm decides what you see, why 47 states settled with Meta, what the settlement changes for kids, and the AI friends a lot of parents don't know their kids have.0:00 Meet Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen 3:02 Why so few people at Facebook understood the algorithm 6:27 Stop the Steal, Ethiopia, and the decision to blow the whistle 9:13 BuzzFeed's warning about what Facebook rewards 13:38 Forty-seven states and the Meta settlement 17:00 Zuckerberg's 60 percent and the fix Meta shelved 21:04 Instagram didn't ask anyone's age until 2019 25:55 Advertisers, transparency, and screens at home 30:55 Meta's offer if YouTube and Snap follow 33:01 AI friends and the next fight for parents𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

Oct 30, 2026

39 min

Oct 23, 2026

37 min

A reporter spent two and a half years filing public records requests. She came back with a 78-page document. It laid out a five-year, $20 million federal plan to remake the child welfare system around transgender ideology, and it was already running.
Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers talk with The Daily Wire's Megan Brock about what the plan did, how parents got labeled abusers for affirming their child's sex, and why most Americans never heard about it.
0:00 Introductions and the Dow Awards 1:31 The secret five-year plan to transform child welfare 3:14 How "non-affirming" parents get labeled abusers 6:12 From an Obama-era grant to the SOGI Institute 9:12 Screening three-year-olds and collecting SOGI data 11:10 A foster dad on what these kids actually need 14:36 Oregon tells a mother she caused "mental injury" 18:38 CPS, family courts, and custody cases 24:55 The Biden administration's trans activist "speed dating" 30:23 What's at stake in the midterms
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

Oct 23, 2026

37 min

Oct 1, 2026

28 min

Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers break down the California governor's debate between Steve Hilton and Javier Becerra. Becerra named Donald Trump 40 times and ran against the president instead of the man on stage. Susan explains why the front-runner never answered the one question that matters, what the coffee cup gave away, and where Hilton still has a path.
0:00 A CNN debate and a very low bar 2:49 Running against Trump, not Hilton 3:17 Becerra's scripted video from the car 4:57 Ballots arrive, and why he thinks it ends November 3 7:00 The coffee sip during the child-migrant charge 9:47 Susan Rice calls him a "bitch ass" 11:30 Failing upward since Congress 13:25 Becerra vs. Newsom, and the "white immigrants" line 16:35 Hilton's plan to cut the cost of a home 22:03 More of the same, or worse
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

Oct 1, 2026

28 min

Sep 26, 2026

28 min

Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers break down the China accountability story you will not hear in the summit coverage. Religious persecution. Organ harvesting. A Chinese spy, a McDonald's franchise owner, and the money trail to Gavin Newsom. Susan reports on the underground churches, the prisoners of conscience, and the California investigations most outlets ignore. You get the full picture, sourced and unflinching. 0:00 The religious freedom angle behind the Xi state visit 2:12 The underground church that escaped China during Covid 3:48 One pastor freed, Jimmy Lai still jailed 4:54 Prisoners of conscience projected across Washington 7:00 State-approved churches: a picture of Jesus, a picture of Xi 8:49 Falun Gong, organ harvesting, and the blood tests 14:18 Fang Fang, Eric Swalwell, and the money trail to Newsom 18:12 The McDonald's franchise owner writing the checks 19:12 San Francisco rolls out the red carpet for Xi 22:19 Stanford, Hoover, and a Chinese surrogacy operation 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

Sep 26, 2026

28 min

Sep 18, 2026

29 min

Gavin Newsom went fly fishing with Jake Tapper for a month-in-the-making profile. Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers break down what the staged interview was really doing, and the California fraud stories Tapper never raised.
Susan follows the money from ghost daycares in San Diego to a $2 billion Chinese cannabis operation near Mount Shasta, and lays out Newsom's pattern of CCP ties as he eyes the White House.
0:00 Newsom and Tapper's staged fly-fishing interview 2:36 Why the South Carolina trip fell flat 3:30 The plan to get anointed over Kamala Harris 6:07 Mutual assured destruction: the Newsom-Harris feud 8:38 California fraud falling like dominoes 9:30 Ghost daycares, Amy Reichardt, and the racism smear 12:21 The government inspectors who knew and stayed quiet 15:41 Chinese pot farms and a $2 billion CCP-linked empire 20:33 Newsom's veto on foreign-owned farmland 22:42 Newsom's China ties, BYD, and executive privilege
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com
 

Sep 18, 2026

29 min

Sep 10, 2026

34 min

Steve Hilton returns to On Background with Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers to lay out the case against Javier Becerra and the closing gap in the California governor's race. He walks through Becerra's record at HHS, the missing migrant children, the corruption case reaching into Sacramento, and the practical agenda he says voters respond to on the ground.
00:00 Steve Hilton returns to On Background 00:38 Why the race is closer than anyone admits 01:26 The numbers: closing a 30 point gap 03:53 What Hilton hears from voters on the ground 06:04 Prop 50, ballot harvesting, and building a turnout operation 07:11 The agenda: $3 gas, no tax on your first $150k, abolish the DMV 16:16 Becerra's HHS record and the missing migrant children 24:16 How the machine cleared the field for Becerra 27:31 The corruption case closing in on Sacramento 29:04 Wildfires, affordability, and climate extremism
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

Sep 10, 2026

34 min

Aug 28, 2026

27 min

Meta agreed to settle with 47 states one day before Mark Zuckerberg was set to take the stand. California Attorney General Rob Bonta calls the deal a milestone. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier calls the deal a giveaway. Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers follow the money, run the math, and ask why the number looks so small next to the tobacco settlement of the 1990s.
00:00 Meta's $18 billion settlement, explained 02:00 Why the timing raises questions 04:20 Rob Bonta makes his case 05:47 The changes Meta agreed to 07:05 Follow the money in California 08:40 Jonathan Haidt: the algorithm still runs 11:27 CNBC runs the math on the payout 16:08 Florida's AG invokes the $200 billion tobacco deal 20:21 The games targeting young children 25:14 Bonta's tobacco model, and what he left out
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

Aug 28, 2026

27 min

Aug 21, 2026

32 min

Susan Crabtree and Eric Eggers break down a week of accountability stories out of California. A state assembly chief of staff tries to humiliate journalist Nick Shirley on camera, days after Democrats advance a bill to fine reporters who question immigration nonprofits. The FBI seizes Eric Swalwell's devices and searches his home. And a new HHS report, Wolves in White Coats, details how federal dollars flowed to hospitals performing gender procedures on minors.
0:00 Intro 0:59 The Nick Shirley confrontation in Sacramento 1:28 Inside the "Stop Nick Shirley Act" and its $4,000 fine 3:29 Watch: the chief of staff's on-camera stunt 10:18 Eric Swalwell: FBI seizes his devices and raids his home 13:31 China's long game in California and the BYD connection 15:46 HHS "Wolves in White Coats" report 17:18 How gender clinics grew from 15 to 225 24:04 Lupron, European bans, and Caitlyn Jenner's warning 28:00 Social media, radicalization, and parental rights
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

Aug 21, 2026

32 min

Aug 14, 2026

31 min

𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 break down a primary night gone sideways. Milwaukee lost five of nine jump drives and held up a razor-thin governor's race until the wee hours of the morning. It fits a pattern the city has repeated for two decades. Then the show turns west: Nancy Pelosi's machine against Scott Wiener, an AI chatbot stunt that collapsed into a racism charge, and Medicaid fraud numbers that expose how little California and Minnesota spend to police their own systems. 0:00 Intro and primary season chaos 1:02 Wisconsin's shocker: Crowley over Hong 2:16 The five missing jump drives 6:36 Milwaukee's repeat failures 7:47 Why the DOJ skipped Wisconsin 9:05 Pelosi's machine takes on Scott Wiener 11:44 The AI chatbot that backfired 15:43 Pelosi in her own words 20:23 Becerra vs. Hilton for governor 24:11 Medicaid fraud by the numbers 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 👇 On Background is produced by the 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, a nonpartisan investigative research organization. No anonymous sources. No government funds. We follow the money and publish what it shows. 🌐 https://accountabilityinstitute.org/ 𝕏 https://x.com/Govt_Acct_Inst 📸 https://www.instagram.com/govt_acct_inst ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@Govt_Acct_Inst 📘 https://www.facebook.com/GovernmentAccountabilityInstitute 📖 More from Peter Schweizer: https://peterschweizer.com 📖 The Invisible Coup: https://theinvisiblecoup.com

Aug 14, 2026

31 min

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