California Governor Gavin Newsom is in the news as it has come to light that he allegedly funneled around $4.4 million in donations from various powerful people and organizations for his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s political nonprofit, The California Partners Project.
Jennifer founded the nonprofit back in 2020 with the aim of promoting gender equality. The donations that her organization has received reportedly came from different sources at the request of her husband.
Some of the donors who donated to this project include Silicon Valley Bank ($100,000), the Pritzker family (almost $572,000), Blue Shield of California Foundation ($50,000), the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians ($1.9 million combined), and New Venture Fund ($100,000).
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It is important to note here that the New Venture Fund is a dark money group, meaning that they are a politically active nonprofit that does not have to disclose where their donations are coming from.
While the donations should not be a concerning factor, what is critical is the fact that Newsom is allegedly taking advantage of a loophole, as revealed by a review of nonprofit filings and state records.
The donations that Newsom secured also include another one of his wife’s projects, The Representation Project, which produces documentaries that are shown in California classrooms. Most of the amount coming through these donations was made as “behested payments” with the help of Newsom.
Behested payments refer to the kind of donation that is made by a third party at the request of a public figure. This allows a politician to source unlimited amounts of money to support the causes they are in favor of. Moreover, the money that comes through behested payments is not considered to be gifts or donations. However, any donation amounting to $5,000 or more in a single year should be reported.
Republican candidate Steve Hilton for the state of California appeared to be disgusted with Newsom’s way of getting donations, as he said, “The whole concept of behested payments is disgusting.” Hilton then added, “It’s literally corruption in plain sight. You can be certain that as governor, I will not be engaging in this corrupt practice and I will do everything in my power to ban it.”
Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer, and her firm have reportedly received about $3.7 million over the years from her nonprofit, The Representation Project, through salary and payments to her affiliated company.pic.twitter.com/PX2bPnnj3H
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) March 10, 2026
However, the Governor’s spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, claimed something different, saying that Newsom is always driven by “decisions that are based solely on serving the best interests of all Californians.” Gardon further added, “Charitable contributions play no role in his decision-making. Any claim to the contrary is categorically false.”
It is important to note here that the organizations that have donated to Newsom have also benefited from his seven-year tenure in the governor’s office. For instance, he lobbied for the bailout of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023. He had also given a no-bid contract for COVID vaccinations to Blue Shield, and he secured some $20.8 million in behested payments from the company.
While Newsom is not doing anything technically illegal, his aggressive usage of this one particular way of securing donations is raising critics’ eyebrows.
