Gov. Gavin Newsom, 2024 State of the State address. (Photo: gov.ca.gov)
Biden Admin DOJ and FBI Investigated Gavin Newsom Dana Williamson’s Lawyer Alleges
Is it Gavin Newsom’s Pay-to-Play Politics and using his wife’s non-profits as a political slush fund?
By Katy Grimes, November 14, 2025 8:00 am
Remember when in 2022 in the middle of the Covid lockdowns California Governor Gavin Newsom traveled to Washington D.C. to accept an Education Commission award “in recognition of California’s transformative improvements to education?”
The worst governor in the nation who closed California schools for nearly three years received an award for improving education?
Oh, and California ranks 50th in the country for literacy… and, only half of public school students in California meet the state standards in English and only 40 percent are proficient in math.
However, the other news from that trip was that while then-President Joe Biden was out of the country on a visit to the Middle East, Newsom also made a visit to the White House to measure the drapes and check out the First Family’s private quarters, and ostensibly to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain, and First Lady Jill Biden.
Sources in DC shared with the Globe that Newsom’s arrogance and entitlement assumption–that he was next in line for the Presidency– displeased a lot of top Democrats.
Some in the media said Newsom was “White House hunting” while in D.C.
Also in 2022 was when the three-year investigation began into Dana Williamson, Governor Newsom’s Chief of Staff. Williamson was employed as Newsom’s chief of staff from January 2023 until December 2024, when she resigned.
Williamson was arrested this week by the FBI in a public corruption probe. According to the DOJ, Williamson has been indicted and accused of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, to defraud the United States.
The indictment against Williamson outlines a 2022 scheme to direct $10,000 a month from Xavier Becerra’s dormant state campaign account for non-existent consulting services by falsely representing the payments as due for work done by Dana Williamson and Sean McCluskie. The co-conspirators allegedly defrauded the account of about $225,000 between 2022 and 2024.
The federal indictment says most of the payments were paid to McCluskie’s wife, a political consultant, who had a “no-show job,” and then were deposited into an account that McCluskie had access to.
During this time, McCluskie was Becerra’s top senior advisor. Xavier Becerra said that the charges by his former “long-serving trusted advisor are a gut punch,” as he and McCluskie had worked together for many years.
Williamson’s attorney McGregor Scott, a former U.S. Attorney, told media Wednesday that the FBI had also asked Williamson to assist with an investigation into Newsom, but she told them she had no knowledge of any wrongdoing on his part.
Were the Biden administration DOJ and FBI investigating Gavin Newsom in 2022? If so, for what, and were they willing to offer Williamson a deal to cooperate?
We have reported on Governor Newsom’s brazen schemes to raise money for favored causes, called “behested payments.” Newsom directed more than $226.5 million in behested payments in 2020 when COVID emerged – reportedly raised $13.85 million from the practice in 2024, including $450,000 from Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, $250,000 from Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund and $25,00 from CVS Pharmacy Inc.,” Real Clear Investigations reported.
“Financial disclosures cite the stated purpose of these donations. For instance, Goldman Sachs Philanthropy fund mentions “working group implementation to achieve [Newsom’s] Master Plan for Career Education.” Last December, Newsom announced that the Master Plan project will create a new statewide planning body for workforce training. But he also said that $100 million in taxpayer money will fund it.”
In late 2024, Gov. Newsom was fined $13,000 for failing to report on time over a dozen charitable payments made at his request by notable foundations and businesses between 2018 and 2024, tied to his candidate-controlled committee – Newsom for California Governor 2018, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission.
This is not even a slap on the wrist given the amount of money involved.
But there is more.
Newsom accepted more than $700,000 from two major law firms in 2021 to both create and defend his Executive Order to repeal death penalty rules and dismantle the death chamber at San Quentin, Attorney James Lacy reported.
Gov. Gavin Newsom “behested” $3.5 million in 2018, the year he was elected governor. In 2019, he reported behested payments totaling $12.1 million, the Orange County Register reported in “Behested payments and the specter of corruption.”
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and when the governor’s emergency powers were greatly expanded, payments to various entities – at Newsom’s “behest” – shot up to a whopping $226 million, according to data from the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), Fox News reported:
$45 million from Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente for his housing initiative – and then the governor chose both Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente to help manage vaccine distribution in California.
Between 2018 and 2019, UnitedHealth donated $220,000 to political committees controlled by Newsom, who later awarded $492 million in contracts to UnitedHealth subsidiaries in no-bid and expedited situations.
The Free Beacon reported:
“In April 2024, Gov. Newsom requested Graton Rancheria contribute $500,000 to his wife’s charity, the California Partners Project. And in April 2025, one month before Newsom filed his lawsuit against the Trump administration, he again asked Graton Rancheria to contribute another $500,000 to his wife’s charity. The tribe cut those checks specifically at Newsom’s request, according to California’s ‘behested payments’ database, which discloses whenever state elected officials request others to make donations on their behalf.
While the data doesn’t show an explicit quid pro quo between Newsom and Graton Rancheria, several ethics experts told the Washington Free Beacon that Newsom’s charitable solicitations from the tribe to his wife’s charity just before he used the powers of his office to try to block its rival from opening a competing casino raises major red flags.”
“Governor Gavin Newsom helped bankroll his wife’s charity with nearly $2 million he solicited from a Native American tribe – while fighting on its behalf to kill a rival casino,” The Daily Mail reported.
As the Globe reported in August, Siebel Newsom’s California Partners Project “champions gender equity across the state.”
Siebel Newsom has another charity, “The Representation Project,” in which she produces “Gender Justice” films and sells them to California’s public schools.
Gavin Newsom’s pay-to-play politics… and using his wife’s non-profits as a political slush fund.. is that what interests the FBI and DOJ?
It should.
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
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Kudos to Ms. Grimes again for bringing forth what needs to be disclosed. Question is will it have any impact? Newsom could derail a passenger train, kill all the passengers and MSM would still look the other way. MSM controls the mind of the illiterate masses rooted at the local level starting with Channel 40 and their liberal news director(s) same with other local news outlets across the country. MSM will carry the water for Newsom and sadly so unless regular readers of the globe start send links of this story and other real news from the California Globe to friends, relatives, and others so the word gets out. Copy and paste is all it takes to post in social media accounts and can get more exposure to reveal that Newsom has his eyes on the White House and is capable of treachery.
“Gavin Newsom’s pay-to-play politics… and using his wife’s non-profits as a political slush fund.. is that what interests the FBI and DOJ? ….It should.”
I agree, KG. These Democrat grifters seem to like going on personal spending sprees. Williamson apparently likes designer handbags. There was a report during the LA-ICE riots that the First Partner had gone “shopping” in LA? I would like to know what and how she’s compensated from the non-profits she runs.
Per Grok:
Jennifer Siebel Newsom (often referred to as Jennifer Siebel Newsom) receives compensation primarily from The Representation Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit she founded in 2011 to promote gender equity through films, education, and activism. She serves as its president and CEO. Based on the most recent publicly available data from IRS Form 990 filings and investigative reports (covering up to fiscal year 2024), her annual salary from this organization is $150,000. This figure has remained consistent since at least 2018, as disclosed in the nonprofit’s tax returns.
Key Details on Compensation
Historical Context: From 2011 to 2018, her total compensation from The Representation Project exceeded $2.3 million, averaging around $287,500 per year during that period. This included base salary plus payments routed through her for-profit production company, Girls Club Entertainment (e.g., $150,000 annually for “writer/producer/director” services since 2018, totaling about $1.64 million in related-party transactions by 2024).
Recent Years (2020–2024): The nonprofit’s IRS Form 990 filings show her salary stabilizing at $150,000 annually. For example:
2020: $150,000 (amid $823,427 in contributions and $257,448 in program revenue).
2019: $150,000 base salary, plus $150,000 in production fees.
2024: $150,000 salary confirmed in federal filings, with an additional $150,000 paid to Girls Club Entertainment.
Total Nonprofit-Related Income: Her overall annual earnings tied to nonprofit activities (salary + production fees) have hovered near $300,000 in recent years, per analyses from outlets like the New York Post and Washington Free Beacon. However, the strict “salary” component remains $150,000.
Other Nonprofits
Siebel Newsom co-founded the California Partners Project (a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization focused on gender equity and child well-being) in 2019, but there is no public record of her receiving a salary from it. IRS filings and reports indicate it operates with minimal staff (e.g., a finance manager), and her role appears unpaid or volunteer-based, funded largely by behested payments solicited by her husband, Gov. Gavin Newsom (e.g., $23.7 million in 2022).
She has received awards and honorary roles from other nonprofits (e.g., Common Sense Media’s “Champion for Kids Award”), but these do not involve paid positions.
Funding Sources and Context
The Representation Project’s revenue (about $17.5 million cumulatively through 2023) comes from donations, grants, and licensing fees for its films and curricula (e.g., $1.48 million from California public schools). At least $800,000 in donations (2011–2020) originated from corporations lobbying the state, such as PG&E, AT&T, Comcast, and Kaiser Permanente, raising ethics questions about potential conflicts of interest. Gov. Newsom has stated there is “no conflict,” and the nonprofit discloses donors giving over $5,000 on its website.
For the latest IRS Form 990 (fiscal year 2024, filed February 2025), full details are available via ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer or GuideStar, confirming the $150,000 salary. As of November 2025, no updates indicate a change.
“Is it Gavin Newsom’s Pay-to-Play Politics and using his wife’s non-profits as a political slush fund?”
YES!
(But now add the CCP pay-to-play and investigate his ties to Xi and the trip to China, the SF clean-up and the no-bid PPE contract to BYD and how much of a “finder’s fee” Governor Slimewad pocketed for his efforts!!!)
That’s quite a damning compilation of potentially indictment-worthy misdeeds against Worst Governor Ever Gavin Newsom, isn’t it? It’s tantalizing to realize that the Feds might actually be homing in on this guy, finally. That this skunk might possibly be held responsible for his many many many outrageous actions, over years and years and years, that have been a slap in the face (and worse) to Californians Newsom swore an oath to serve and protect. Don’t want to get my hopes up too high, though —- the guy has managed to slither out of A LOT of messes, hasn’t he. Certainly watching this one with great interest though! As is everyone else here, I know.
Much gratitude to the always-amazing Katy Grimes as usual for her relentless work on this and other CA issues.
We can only hope that the DOJ and FBI will next investigate the pay for play grift and graft schemes that Hair-gel Hitler Newsom and the rest of the criminal Democrat thug mafia are engaged in?
AI parody song “Gavin made California hell on earth” on Youtube: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?)v=O9KYclG5F50
AI parody song “Gavin made California hell on earth” on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?)v=O9KYclG5F50
TJ — it looks like the video at that Youtube link was taken down but re-posted later?
Try this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9KYclG5F50&list=RDO9KYclG5F50&start_radio=1
And what of the $1.4 billion he gave to BYD Motors in 2020 for surgical masks (that they may or may not have ever made)?