Politics
REPORT: Gavin Newsom Secretly Funded A Monument To Himself
California Governor Gavin Newsom secretly funded a monument to himself inside San Francisco’s City Hall, according to a new book released by investigative reporters Susan Crabtree and Judd McFatter.
Newsom then, according to the book, pretended to be surprised about the sculpture and claimed he had no knowledge of the private donors’ identities. Newsom is not the first former mayor to be honored with a bust inside City Hall, though the project was to be funded with private donations.
According to a report from Breitbart News, California allows for what are known as “behested payments,” donations to charitable causes that California politicians often ask private donors to make on their behalf. The practice has long been criticized as corrupt, as Newsom himself asked for more than $1.5 million in “charitable” contributions to a project controlled by his wife, Jennifer.
An analysis of Newsom’s “behested payments” reveals that between 2015 and 2016, three private organizations each donated to a nonprofit called Community Initiatives, according to co-author Judd McFatter. “As it turns out, two of those payments came from companies owned by Newsom—Balboa Cafe Partners and PlumpJack Management Group. Newsom’s companies specifically earmarked these behested payments for ‘Mayoral Bust at San Francisco City Hall,'” the book alleges.
The bust of current California Governor Gavin Newsom is on display at San Francisco’s city hall
According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, Balboa Cafe Partners donated $5,000 in 2016 towards the Newsom bust project, while Plumpjack donated the same amount. In addition, the H B and Lucille Horn Foundation donated $10,000 at Newsom’s behest.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Gavin Newsom bust cost about $97,000 in total. At the time, the outlet described the monument’s unveiling as a low-profile event with “no fanfare, no press and only a few friends in attendance.”
Newsom was running for lieutenant governor at the time of the bust’s unveiling in 2015. SFGate reported at the time that Newsom was unaware of the project and had no idea as to how it was funded. “I don’t want to call it embarrassing, but it’s a strange thing,” Newsom told the outlet. “I’m just awkward about it. … But now the word is out.”
He then claimed that the monument was the brainchild of his supporters and reiterated that it was paid for by private donors. “It has “been in the works for a few years, but no one’s worked on it. … It’s been an idea that’s been floating around,” Newsom told SFGate, adding that he did not know the donors.
