While California Gov. Gavin Newsom makes himself the face of the opposition to alleged corruption, he has directed over $340 million to political projects, including his wife’s nonprofit, under the controversial system of "behested payments" since he first ran for statewide office in 2011.  

Newsom, who is considering his own run for president in 2028, has staked his public campaign against President Donald Trump on allegations of widespread corruption and pay-for-play schemes in the Republican administration, a claim Trump and his allies deny. 

Newsom probe was opened in 2022 under President Joe Biden

“The Trump Administration is a story of corruption,” Newsom posted to social media in May, highlighting the president’s construction of a ballroom at the White House, IRS settlements with political allies, and use of the pardon power.

"Californians have the moral and formal authority to fight back against Donald Trump as he wrecks this nation,” he said. “We cannot allow corruption to be normalized.”

The California Democrat’s latest claim of corruption in the administration is more personal. On Monday, Newsom announced that both he and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are under a Justice Department investigation. 

Public reporting indicates that the probe, which has targeted Newsom’s wife and other close political associates, was opened in 2022 under President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, while federal authorities were investigating Dana Williamson, Gov. Newsom’s ex-chief of staff, for bank and wire fraud. 

"They have not found a crime — they are simply trying to find one. He isn't coming after me because of mean tweets, but because I am considering running for President,” Newsom said in a public statement announcing the investigation.

The Justice Department declined to comment when asked by Just the News whether the probe into Newsom and his wife were spurred by concerns that Newsom exploited the behested payment system to funnel donations to his wife’s nonprofit organization or as a means for entities to influence the governor. 

Several investigations into the Newsoms sparked by whistleblower complaints submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento last year, local paper says 

The Sacramento Bee reported on Monday that the Justice Department’s probe is focused on Siebel Newsom’s taxes and the nonprofit organizations, citing anonymous sources. The outlet reported that there were “several” investigations into the Newsoms sparked by whistleblower complaints submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento last year. 

The behested payments that have garnered the most public scrutiny are the donations that the governor solicited for the California Partners Project, a nonprofit that Siebel Newsom launched in 2020 to promote gender equality.

Behested payments are payments “made for a legislative, governmental, or charitable purpose” under “the control or at the direction of, in cooperation, consultation, coordination, or concert with, at the request or suggestion of, or with the express, prior consent of an elected official,” according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission. 

The practice is legal under California law, but critics have warned that the policy opens the door for potential corruption. 

“The whole concept of behested payments is disgusting,” Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for governor in California, told the California Post earlier this year. “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.”

Newsom solicited more than $340 million in donations to corporations, liberal nonprofits, and political allies

Since he first ran for statewide office in 2011 and was elected Lieutenant Governor of California that year, Newsom has solicited more than $340 million in donations to corporations, liberal nonprofits and political allies for causes as varied as his inauguration funds, California fire relief and respected charities, according to a review of the database maintained by the California Fair Political Practices Commission. 

But, some of the solicited donations, which must be disclosed publicly under California ethics laws, came from corporations or groups politically connected to Newsom or which had business before the governor. These donations have come back into focus following Newsom’s announcement that he and his wife are under federal investigation. 

Governor Newsom’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Just the News. 

The California Post first reported in March that Newsom solicited money from liberal nonprofits and other organizations for the nonprofit. In total, the Post found that the California Partners Project received $4.4 million in donations at Newsom’s behest, according to state disclosure records and tax forms.  

But, many of the donations did not come in a vacuum, suggesting a political purpose beyond charitable tax deductions. 

In August 2024, Gov. Newsom intervened with the Biden administration, urging the Interior Department to reject a $700 million proposed casino project planned by the Koi Nation, a small Native American tribe. The governor’s petition was not heeded, and the administration approved the project. Newsom sued the Trump administration last May in another attempt to block the casino.

Blocking the proposed casino would be a victory for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which operates a casino 15 miles away from the site of the one proposed by its would-be rival. The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria has accused the Koi Nation of attempting to usurp its ancestral homeland to build the casino. 

In April 2024, just months before Newsom sent the letter to the Biden administration, Newsom reported that he solicited a $500,000 donation from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria to his wife’s California Partners Project, according to the California state records reviewed by Just the News and first reported by The Washington Free Beacon last year.

The records show that Newsom again solicited a donation from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in April 2025 for $500,000, about a month before Newsom’s administration filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Interior Department in an effort to block the Koi Nation casino.

Newsom’s relationship with the tribe dates back even earlier. In March 2023, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria donated $500,000 to the California Partners Project, just two months before the governor signed a law ratifying the tribal-state gaming compact between California and the tribe.   

Newsom also had close ties to Silicon Valley Bank, which was bailed out by the Biden administration in March 2023 after lobbying from the California governor. At the time, Newsom failed to disclose his close ties with the bank, including its donations to Siebel Newsom’s nonprofit and the governor’s own accounts there. 

“The Biden Administration has acted swiftly and decisively to protect the American economy and strengthen public confidence in our banking system,” Governor Newsom said in an official statement after the Biden administration decided it would federally insure the depositors of SVB.

Newsom’s office acknowledged the governor’s role in lobbying for the bailout. Newsom had “been in touch with the highest levels of leadership at the White House and Treasury,” according to a separate statement. 

Newsom's wide range of financial connections

Newsom’s ties with the bank appear to be extensive. 

The SVB’s website listed three wineries owned by Newsom, CADE, Odette and PlumpJack, as clients, the Intercept reported in 2023. The outlet also reported that Newsom maintained personal accounts with SVB for years, though it is not clear whether he remained a direct client in 2023. The governor’s office said that Newsom’s “business and financial holdings” are managed by a blind trust. 

In 2021, Newsom solicited four separate donations from Silicon Valley Bank to Siebel Newsom’s California Partners Project totaling $100,000. Additionally, John China, one-time president of SVB Capital, also previously served on the board of the California Partners Project. 

Blue Shield of California Foundation donated $50,000 to the California Partners Project in 2024 at the behest of Newsom, the state records show. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Newsom gave Blue Shield a no-bid contract for vaccinations against the virus. During this time, Newsom reportedly solicited a total of $20.8 million from the organization. 

Ignoring history, blaming Trump

Newsom had dug in to fight the investigations of him and his wife, arguing that they are politically-motivated investigations spurred on by President Trump and senior officials. 

“Trump’s political appointees have aggressively pushed federal investigators to build a case against the Governor — Trump’s political rival,” the governor’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The governor’s office also submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department, asking for all records of communications between senior agency officials that mention Newsom or his wife since the beginning of the second Trump administration last year, the office announced on Tuesday. 

“My office is demanding the Trump Administration release any and all records on the Trump DOJ’s politically motivated, baseless fishing expedition,” Newsom said in a post to X. “The American people deserve to know who ordered this abuse of power and how far it goes.”