California Governor Gavin Newsom is readying for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, and has reportedly already raised $6.2 million in online donations in one week.
Now reports have surfaced that Newsom continues to rake in even more money, despite his already massive war chest.
Money that records show is going directly into the pockets of both Newsom and his family.
According to public records first published by The New York Post, Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, runs companies employed with her husband’s former Democratic aides and confidants.
And is brining in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from the state and lobbyists, according to public records.
According to the report, Siebel Newsom also received donations to her Representation Project nonprofit from companies that lobbied her husband.
The Sacramento-based Representation Project, which describes itself as “the leading gender watchdog organization,” pays Siebel Newsom $150,000 a year for a 40-hour work week, according to tax filings.
Its largest independent contractor is Girls Club Entertainment LLC, a for-profit film company which Siebel Newsom also controls.
In 2024, the nonprofit paid Girls Club $150,000 for “writer/producer/director” services, according to that year’s federal filings.
According to the Sacramento Bee, major companies such as AT&T, Comcast and PG&E have contributed Representation Project’s annual Flip the Script fundraising galas in the past, donating up to $25,000 each.
The companies denied their donations were designed to gain favor with the governor, and the nonprofit then stopped listing its corporate donors on its website, according to the Post report.
Coincidently, AT&T has spent more than $2 million lobbying the state on landline phone rules in 2025, and continues its battle against Comcast for market share in California, according to reports.
However, multiple government watchdogs maintain the moves are a blatant conflict of interest to gain favor from the state’s top couple.
“It is no surprise Gavin and Jennifer Newsom have leveraged their business and non-profit endeavors for personal and political gain,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, a non-partisan watchdog group.
“Backed by left-wing megadonors with ties to the governor, the power couple’s ventures have raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars, pushing a politicized agenda into public schools, all while personally benefiting the Newsoms.
“Profiting from progressive indoctrination is easy when your husband is the governor — a blatant conflict of interest,” Sutherland added.
According to the report, Siebel Newsom licenses her documentaries, including 2019’s “The Great American Lie,” about economic inequality, and 2015’s “The Mask You Live In,” which analyzes notions of masculinity, to taxpayer funded schools, according to reports.
Included are talking points for teachers, with comments on Newsom’s interviews in the films.
Watchdogs continue to be concerned about the cozy nature between the Newsoms, donors and former staffers.
“These types of connections certainly appear unseemly and raise some serious red flags,” said Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, a Washington-based nonprofit that exposes conflicts of interest in government.