California Ethics Agency Fines Newsom $31,500 Over 36 Undisclosed Behested Payments
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 18
California Ethics Agency Fines Newsom $31,500 Over 36 Undisclosed Behested Payments
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 18
Summary
$31,500 is the penalty California's ethics agency imposed on Gov. Gavin Newsom for missing the 30-day disclosure deadline on 36 behested payments.
More than $4.2 million has been steered since 2020 to the California Partners Project, a nonprofit co-founded by his wife, through a legal fundraising channel that lets officials solicit donations to third parties.
Those payments came from philanthropies and organizations with lobbying arms in California, including an influential Native American tribe, reviving criticism that behested donations can buy access even when publicly reported.
The scrutiny has widened beyond the late filings: Newsom aides believe federal investigators are reviewing the family's finances, including Siebel Newsom's nonprofit work, $288,000 in 2019 household staff costs and a $9.1 million 2024 home purchase.
The renewed attention lands as Newsom's clash with Donald Trump intensifies and could shape how the family weighs a possible 2028 White House run.