Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proactive defense in the face of multiple federal investigations — the governor announced the probes while accusing President Trump of lawfare and rampant corruption — is starting to draw pushback on social media, as the California leader’s own record has frequently raised questions of pay to play.
State records show Newsom has solicited more than $340 million in donations from wealthy donors and special interests — some of which have received preferential treatment and millions of dollars in state contracts — while also taking pains to prop up the political activities of his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
A review of state disclosure records shows Newsom has reported 1,325 behested payments totaling $347,240,506 since 2011, when he was serving as lieutenant governor. The payments — legal under California law, but a controversial if not illegal practice in some other states — are reported once they hit $5,000 from a single source in a calendar year, and they must be for a charitable, governmental or legislative purpose.
Criticism and memes of Newsom’s habit of soliciting donations have been gaining steam since the governor announced on Monday he and wife are the focus of multiple federal probes.
By comparison, Newsom’s gubernatorial predecessor, Jerry Brown, only solicited $35.5 million in behested payments from 2010 to 2018, according to records held by the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Newsom’s use of the controversial fundraising tool exploded in 2020, when he reported $226.5 million in behested payments — about 65% of his total since 2011. The busiest stretches came during the heart of the pandemic: $35.8 million in April, $33.9 million in May, $30.5 million in July, $38.4 million in September and $28.1 million in October.
Blue Shield gave a $20 million donation in September 2020, and months later Newsom awarded the insurer a $15 million, no-bid contract to help distribute California’s vaccines.
Kaiser Foundation gave $9.75 million to the COVID-19 Response Fund in December 2020, and by 2022 Newsom was signing off on another no-bid contract for the health care provider to manage Medi-Cal.
Since 2020, Newsom has reported $330.7 million in behested payments. The giving shifted from emergency response to climate programs, workforce initiatives, immigrant services, wildfire recovery, official state travel and the California Partners Project, the nonprofit co-founded by Siebel Newsom.
FPPC records list roughly $4.8 million for the California Partners Project since 2020.
That pot of money includes $2.3 million from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which has benefited from decisions by Newsom. He appointed its chairman, Greg Sarris, to the University of California Board of Regents in 2023.
The tribe gave $500,000 in April 2024, months before Newsom’s office urged federal officials to reject a rival Koi Nation casino project, and another $500,000 in April 2025, about a month before California sued to block the project.
Silicon Valley Bank gave the California Partners Project four $25,000 donations in 2021. Two years later, Newsom lobbied the Biden administration as federal officials moved to prevent the bank’s collapse. The Intercept later reported that three of Newsom’s private wineries were clients of Silicon Valley Bank.
In 2025, Newsom reported $18.7 million in solicited donations, including large wildfire recovery donations after Southern California fires. The governor recently agreed to pay a $31,500 ethics fine for not reporting some of these donations in a timely manner.
Dan Schnur, a teacher of political communications at USC and UC Berkeley, previously told The Post that the governor’s excessive use of behested payments to his wife’s charity is an “obvious loophole” in campaign finance law.
“They are not breaking any laws,” Schnur said, “but [Newsom] is following this law more aggressively than any other politician in modern memory.”
Newsom has denied wrongdoing as federal investigators examine finances tied to his wife and nonprofits connected to the couple. Trump, who called for Newsom‘s arrest last year, has not commented.
A spokesperson for the governor told The Post in February that Newsom’s “decisions are based solely on serving the best interests of all Californians.”
“Charitable contributions play no role in his decision-making,” the spokesperson said. “Any claim to the contrary is categorically false.”
