Home>Articles>Open the Books Exposes the ‘Legalized’ Pay-to-Play Scheme by ‘Newsom Inc.’

Governor Gavin Newsom signs SB 1383 into law alongside First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom on September 17, 2020. (Photo: ca.gov)

Open the Books Exposes the ‘Legalized’ Pay-to-Play Scheme by ‘Newsom Inc.’

Newsom’s divisive Covid policies and Jennifer’s films/curricula arguably fueled the youth mental health problem

By Katy Grimes, February 13, 2023 8:23 am

Open the Books has focused its government transparency and auditing attention on Governor and Mrs. Newsom’s pay-to-play schemes, which have been personally benefitting California’s first couple.

In one report, Open the Books reveal that large corporate campaign contributors gave campaign cash to Gov. Newsom and separately received significantly more in state payments – corporations gave $691,615 in campaign donations and received $1.9 billion in state payments. That’s a very nice return on investment – a $10.6 million investment for a $6.3 billion return.

Another report revealed that Open the Books had to sue and then had to file 442 California Public Record Act requests – one with each state agency – in order to obtain California’s line-by-line spending by state agencies, because California’s Controller, Betty Yee, rejected their sunshine request for state spending, claiming she “couldn’t locate” any of the nearly 50 million bills she paid in 2019.

The recent report in January found California’s First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom produces ‘Gender Justice’ films, and then sells them to the state’s public schools:

“Jennifer Siebel Newsom solicited state vendors and the governor’s campaign donors for large gifts to her charity, The Representation Project,” the Globe reported.

Siebel Newsom, through her non-profit The Representation Project, has released four films advocating gender justice. The films are leased for screenings to individuals, corporations, and schools, and come with their own lesson plans.

Open the Books notes that Siebel Newsom’s own companion curriculum allows that kids may need to see a school counselor after being subjected to some of the activities about social privilege, gender, etc.—and that they should be on hand. Aside from COVID lockdowns, this is another perverse layer to creating a problem and then “solving” it with funding for more school counselors!

Even more counterintuitively, Siebel Newsom has recognized that her films and curricula can trigger youth mental health interventions. In fact, the curricula provided for her movie The Mask You Live In warns teachers that the related lessons may lead children to seek the help of mental health providers and that therapists should be on-hand during curriculum activities.

Parents have complained about the pornographic content in Newsom’s films shown to 11-year-olds (such as an animated, upside-down stripper with tape over breasts) and 15-year-olds (nearly naked women being slapped, handcuffed, and brutalized in images taken from porn sites) — to view images, viewer discretion is advised.

Editorials have criticized the activities in Newsom’s film The Great American Lie as “emotionally abusive.” The activities ask students to publicly reveal personal information and force commentary on their relative “privilege” and “oppression.”

Just a little conflict of interest?

Over the weekend Open the Books dropped another chapter in the Newsom’s saga of political grift. This one exposes a “legalized” pay-to-play scheme in California: “the Newsom’s create problems, then ‘solve’ them, and cash checks along the way,” according to Open the Books.

“Since inception, Siebel Newsom’s office has received nearly $4.8 million in directed taxpayer funding. The Office of First Partner has grown from seven employees with a budget of $791,000, to nine employees with a budget of$1,166,000 proposed for 2023-2024.

Here is what Open the Books found:

In the summer of 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom convinced the state legislature to provide $4.7 billion for K-12 mental health services, which, among other things, funded 10,000 new school counselors.

Gavin Newsom convinced the legislature because Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of the governor, convinced him. The biggest advocate for mental health funding within the K-12 California public schools in the Newsom administration was Mrs. Newsom, according to published accounts.

In fact, Gavin Newsom created The Office of First Partner so his wife could promote her policy agenda using taxpayer money. Since 2019, Siebel Newsom’s been armed with nearly $5 million and nine staffers within her subdivision of the governor’s office.

The Representation Project, that licenses “gender justice” films and curricula to 5,000 schools in all 50 states.

The year Gavin Newsom became governor, the California Board of Education adopted guidance that recommended her films and curriculum be licensed and used in classrooms.

Open the Books summarizes the Newsom’s pay-to-play schemes, as well as the devastating results on children, particularly after “Gov. Newsom’s Covid policies took away nearly every opportunity for kids to interact outside the home:”

Newsom’s divisive Covid policies and Jennifer’s films/curricula arguably fueled the youth mental health problem. However, by addressing it with nearly $5 billion and 10,000 school counselors, the Newsom’s generated a policy win for the governor and a business win for Siebel Newsom and her nonprofit, The Representation Project.

They deeply examine “the $4.8 million ‘Office of the First Partner’ Gavin Newsom established for his wife’s policy work, and how Jennifer Siebel Newsom used her position to impact social and political processes, cashing checks along the way.

Read the entire Open the Books report HERE.

OpenTheBooks.com – We believe transparency is transformational. Using forensic auditing and open records, we hold government accountable.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Spread the news:

 RELATED ARTICLES

15 thoughts on “Open the Books Exposes the ‘Legalized’ Pay-to-Play Scheme by ‘Newsom Inc.’

  1. As reported above:
    [Even more counterintuitively, Siebel Newsom has recognized that her films and curricula can trigger youth mental health interventions. In fact, the curricula provided for her movie The Mask You Live In warns teachers that the related lessons may lead children to seek the help of mental health providers and that therapists should be on-hand during curriculum activities.]

    The First Cretan of California knows full well her films damage the psyche of the school kids, evidenced in the warning of recommending therapists to be at the ready. Of course, if you implant unnatural ideas into impressionable minds it will lead to confusion and fear.
    The gruesome Newsom couple being the expert grifters that they are; create a problem so then they can “fix” the problem. All the while young minds being toiled with as if their minds were play doh in a kindergarten classroom. These people could care less about the health and safety of our children.
    Plain and simple this is child abuse and has no place in the classroom.

  2. Anyone ELSE notice a similarity between this round-tripping grifting and that which was used by the DNC and FTX to round trip through Ukraine earlier???
    And it fits perfectly with Alinsky’s “Rules For Radicals” and the “create the problem, then receive funding to solve the problem” and “never allow a crisis go to waste”…
    These people are beyond despicable….

  3. Newsom and Jennifer Siebel are two of the more odious members of the deep-state Democrat cabal. They’re completely lacking in any morals or ethics…but then they’re no really different from the rest of the deep-state Democrat cabal who are never held accountable?

  4. It’s heartening to see the swindles of these skanky scoundrels exposed. Appreciate so much Open the Books and Katy Grimes reporting. And this work has not been in vain —– lately it really seems as though people are waking up in massive numbers to all of the crimes of the Govt Smart Set. (knock wood)

    Can you imagine the NERVE of Gov Gav Gruesome and Mrs. Gruesome to not only lie, steal, and cheat for MONEY (and votes) with impunity, or so they think, but to do it while they also steal the mental health of children, cheat them of their innocence, and lie about masculine “toxicity,” as just one example of so many? And to do it while in positions of “leadership” in California government? Positions that would otherwise be respectable but for these two? But maybe the worst of it is that Californians aren’t really surprised to learn what we have learned about the Gov and his wife. We knew they were fully capable of it —- and more —- all along.

    You will never convince me that Gavin Newsom (with his helpmeet by his side) legitimately beat the 2021 Recall and was sent sailing back into the governor’s office with votes to spare in 2022. There are simply not enough clueless white virtue-signaling lefty women and public union zombies in the state of California to have actually made that happen.

    1. “SKANKY SCOUNDRELS”
      This describes these two so perfectly!
      Who in their right mind thinks it is alright to us porn movie scenes to educate children?
      Honestly, who can defend this junk?

      1. No kidding, Cali Girl, I’d like to see someone TRY to defend this junk! It’s not possible.
        I agree with you that “this is child abuse and has no place in the classroom.” Of all places! But we’re seeing a lot of child abuse in the classroom these days, aren’t we? 🙁

        1. Yes, Show&Tell, can you imagine as child having to sit through the SEL, gender bender lesson plans?
          Never did I ever imagine my grandkids would live through an era like this. Hopefully enough of us can put a stop to this madness.

          I long for the days of family planning film strips!

    1. Dana, I too loved the perfect use of the word “trollop” here. It’s one of my favorite rarely-used words.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *