Recent investigations have revealed that California’s Democratic governor’s campaign donors were awarded state contracts last year. All of these contracts were also revealed to be worth billions of dollars.
These contracts were awarded to about a thousand interests—all of these being entities that had richly endorsed his campaign with millions of dollars since 2010.
An audit by OpenTheBooks revealed that these state contracts Governor Newsom has awarded are estimated to be over $6 billion. OpenTheBooks is a government transparency group founded by Adam Andrzejewski.
▶️Government corruption 101. If I had gotten the AG job we would have investigated entire cesspool.
▶️The present AG will never do it – the PACS behind him getting huge $$ from same “donors”.
“Newsom donors received billions in CA contracts – Fox News” https://t.co/hKYiFvSSID
— 𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 (@EricEarly_CA) September 1, 2022
Andrzejewski said, “The Golden State is the Wild West when it comes to the lack of pay-to-play prohibitions.”
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He mentioned that contractors of over $50,000 are not allowed to partake in the governor’s race, even in Illinois. Since that law was created, no Illinois governor has been found guilty of breaking it.
Andrzejewski added, “Major California corporations entrenched with public-private marketplace monopolies are recycling a portion of their profits back into political donations to Newsom. Although legal at arm’s length, the pattern is troubling, and many people across the spectrum will find it highly unethical.”
Investigations found that 979 state vendors who donated to the governor’s campaign have received several contracts. From health care to utility and even telecom companies, all have been awarded one state contract. Banks and law firms were also recognized to have been awarded contracts as a result of the mutually beneficial relationships shared with Newson.
Nearly 1,000 entities that provided California Gov. Gavin Newsom with millions in campaign donations pulled in billions in state contracts last year, a watchdog group found. (Latest news at https://t.co/EGO0zsqUhM) https://t.co/H4agqTxsA5
— News Pug (@news_pug) September 1, 2022
Over $5 billion was found to have been awarded to the top 30 vendors who donated over $1.5 million towards his campaign. These vendors pushed funds from their companies, affiliates, employees, and even executives.
Andrzejewski said, “In the home of Silicon Valley, a $1.1 billion state government investment into an accounting and transparency platform still couldn’t get their state checkbook posted online. Our team of auditors accomplished the task with 442 sunshine requests over the last four months.”
However, a spokesperson for the governor’s office has denied any form of corruption in awarding state contracts. His words were, “The state makes all contracting decisions based on the best interests of the state and its residents.”
A company identified as Anthem Blue Cross single-handedly received contracts worth $844 million last year. Just like other vendors, this company had donated about $70,000 to the governor’s campaigns.
Centene Corporation and its employees also donated over two hundred thousand dollars to the governor’s campaign. Investigations discovered that this corporation had been awarded contracts worth $206 million. Several other companies, including Pacific Gas and Electric and UnitedHealth Group, were discovered to be among these state vendors recycling their funds into politicians.
Andrzejewski added, “Major corporations with quasi-state monopolies in their given industries are recycling millions of their profit dollars back into the politicians. This practice is legal in California today, but that doesn’t mean the public will find it ethical.”
He ended by saying that California needs a “statewide, pay-to-play prohibition after this discovery.“
