Records justifying CA insurance commissioner's taxpayer-funded travel missing despite requests

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- 7 On Your Side has new details on its investigation into California's top insurance boss. It involves Commissioner Ricardo Lara's taxpayer funded travel around the world -- including many trips that caused him to miss a slew of key insurance hearings since 2019.

Now, as a state audit is on the line, questions are being raised about a significant chunk of his records that remain missing.

For more than four months, 7 On Your Side has been requesting records on the commissioner's travel expenses; specifically, the business purpose for the most expensive taxpayer-funded trips. And week after week... we've failed to get any direct response.

So now we're wondering -- why is it so hard to get this list?

7 On Your Side's Stephanie Sierra spoke to Lara's Deputy Commissioner of Communications, Michael Soller, outside of a Department of Insurance and State Farm hearing in Oakland on April 8.

Stephanie Sierra: "As you know, Michael, for months now, we've been trying to get answers as to the business purpose for the Commissioners taxpayer funded travel, and we have yet to get a direct answer from your office with our specific questions... why is that?"
Michael Soller: "Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara... He's a national leader... he's a global leader - in terms of working with other insurance commissioners, to really bring insurers back here to California."

Soller is a staffer we've been emailing over the past year, while struggling to get answers about the state's insurance crisis, including why the commissioner was absent for nearly all the senate insurance hearings since assuming office while traveling abroad or cross country.

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We've also asked why the "business purpose" for nearly a dozen all-inclusive taxpayer funded trips to places like Paris, Bogota, and reportedly Chile has yet to be made public.

Soller: "I'll provide you a complete list - every single trip has a business purpose. It's led to really having a full picture of what's happening."
Sierra: "These are documents that are held within the department... that should be easily accessible..."
Soller: "I appreciate that... we do take this process of transparency and public records really seriously - we want to make sure we're answering you. If we're not, I'll certainly follow up on that."

RELATED: Bogotá and Paris? CA insurance boss takes series of taxpayer-funded trips, raising concerns

7 On Your Side reached out - not once, not twice, but three times since Soller said that.
Two weeks went by - no response.

Earlier in the conversation on April 8, we asked Soller about how long our records requests have taken.

Sierra: "Is there a reason it's taken this long though? Three months ago, we made this initial request..."
Soller: "OK."
Sierra: "And...we never got a direct answer as to the business purpose."
Soller: "I know you've made public records requests... and we've been working really expeditiously to respond to those requests... I hope you feel we are responding with records."
Sierra: "To be frank we haven't felt that way... and here's why."

RELATED: Lawmakers demand to know 'government purpose' of CA insurance boss's taxpayer-funded travel

7 On Your Side found the commissioner made at least 46 trips across the globe since assuming office in 2019. But the records provided by his office are missing receipts and required travel documents from at least 30 of those trips.

Let's go back to January 13 of this year.

That's when 7 On Your Side's first records request was sent to the California Department of Insurance. In the weeks that followed, we checked back again - and again - and again. Each time with specific questions about a series of international trips.

It was more than a month later when Michael Soller first responded. Instead of answering what the business purpose was for the trips or if any regulatory action came as a result, our team got an email of what appeared to be a copy and paste of the commissioner's bio.

So we followed up again. Twice.

According to a former manager who processed these records at CDI and CalHR, the records should be easily accessible.

"It's hard to really fathom why something like that would take so long," Ray Asbell, former CalHR manager, said. "What's the issue? We're not playing hide and seek, but it seems like somebody is."

"We're in an age we're all these documents are digitized; these records are in the cloud... so a lot of this information is literally at the touch of somebody's fingertips," Asbell continued.

MORE: CA insurance commissioner found to have spent $30K on lavish meals, report says

But the next day 7 On Your Side was told: "we have conducted an exhaustive search and found no records of attendance at these events."

"If these records really don't exist anymore...that's troubling and raises questions of a bigger problem... or their just not willing to comply," said Asbell.

Yet, we found the commissioner was pictured at nearly all of them online - on the front of press releases... and all over social media. In some cases, even his own public schedule at the time noted he was there.

To give Soller the benefit of the doubt, we followed up again.

It was arguably the most unproductive email exchange 7 On Your Side has ever had with a government agency that campaigns on promises of transparency. We continued to follow-up, feeling like a broken record, each time asking simple questions... "What was the business purpose and what happened as a result?"

Soller's last email shared no answer but this: "I'm glad we were able to help you."

Fast forward three weeks later --- to the April 8 interview.

Sierra: "Our hope is just to really hear your side."
Soller: "On top of getting back to you with some details about these meetings... we'll get back to you with all the meetings he's had here in California because that's what's driving the changes."

We never got that. Yet, Soller did admit several times during the interview, "Every trip does have an important business purpose..."

15 days since the April 8 interview, 7 On Your Side got a response from Soller asking for an email of the trips requested - a list we've already provided four times. Instead of identifying the business purpose for these trips, he wrote: "Commissioner Ricardo Lara has taken a groundbreaking approach to the role of insurance commissioner," going on to say he's "meeting the moment."

The detailed email failed to provide any specific regulatory action that came from these trips.

Back to the April 8 interview...

Sierra: "We also have a significant chunk of records that are missing from our initial request - is that something you can help us with?"
Soller: "Yeah, absolutely. Please reach out to me! I wasn't aware of that..."
Sierra: "Well, we had sent you several emails - explaining that - but I'll re-forward them to you."

State law - specifically, CalHR - requires a rigorous process to get taxpayer-funded out-of-country travel approved, including a series of forms where the "mission critical" purpose needs to be identified.

After our first story aired, we requested those forms again.

Sierra: "I just want to hear that from you... that is something you can prioritize for us?"
Soller: "Please reach out! Again we take this records request - very seriously."

Yet, we never got them.

"If there's documentation that these trips took place, we know they did," Ray Asbell said.

In fact, the department only provided records of a handful of trips that we already had, with the exception of one.

And in some cases, staff have forwarded emails showing these records do exist, yet failed to attach them.

Meanwhile, the Governor Gavin Newsom's office told us that travel, unless it's deemed to be "mission critical," continues to be restricted within all departments under Newsom's direct executive authority. However, that doesn't include the Department of Insurance because it operates independently from the administration.

Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.

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