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California’s ‘behested payments’: a culture of corruption

“First Partner” Jennifer Siebel Newsom has made a fortune from the non-profit organization she founded, The Representation Project, whose films indoctrinate kids to hate “toxic masculinity.”

The New York Post reported last year that Siebel Newsom “runs companies stacked with her husband’s former Democratic aides and confidants — while raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from the state and lobbyists.”

The Representation Project paid Siebel Newsom $150,000 in 2024, and paid her production company, Girls Club Entertainment, LLC, another $150,000. The nonprofit also “received donations … from companies that lobbied her husband,” The Post reported.

The California Post also reported this week that the State of California promoted Siebel Newsom’s films about gender, with the Department of Education recommending them in school curricula.

Siebel Newsom also co-founded another nonprofit group, called the California Partners Project, which has benefited from Governor Newsom’s help more openly, through what are called “behested payments.”

These are payments that politicians are allowed — under California law — to ask donors to make to non-profit groups that they designate. 

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) requires politicians to report these payments, but the requirements have been notoriously loose.

California has legalized these suspicious arrangements — what might be called “pay to play” in other states.

The system was — and remains — vulnerable to abuse, even after reforms in 2021 that required politicians to disclose big donors’ names.

Over the past 15 years, Newsom has reported asking for $300 million in such behested payments — nearly $227 million in 2020 alone, according to FPPC disclosures.

Politicians say that the money goes to worthy causes. But the conflicts of interest are obvious.

Individuals who want to curry favor with elected leaders can contribute sums that are not subject to campaign finance limits. Companies with business before the state or local government can use the cover of charitable contributions to gain influence.

And politicians can enrich their friends and families — all while talking about how virtuous they are for supporting non-government organizations.

These are not benefits that are available to ordinary people in California. They are the preserve of the political elite.

Behested payments are part of a culture of corruption in California, and they should be eliminated altogether.

Non-profit groups should raise money on their own merits, not because of their political connections or specific requests by powerful officials.

California is the world’s fourth-largest economy. We deserve better than Third World corruption.

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