1.7 million signatures and Newsom criticized for "behested payents"

The Recall Gavin 2020 campaign has collected more than 1.72 million signatures and will continue collecting signatures until March 17 the deadline to qualify for the ballot.

In a Facebook post, Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neill criticized Newsom for "behested payments." 

Listed below are some excerpts.

"Imagine that you run a large company and the Governor of the nation’s largest state asks you to donate to a cause he cares about.  Seems like a shakedown, right?  Nope, perfectly legal.  It’s called a 'behested payment'."

"Donations over $5k have to be reported.  As opposed to political donations, there are no caps on behested payments. "

$5mm might sound like a lot.  Until you get to Gavin Newsom. In 2019, before he had god-like emergency powers to bestow no-bid contracts worth billions, he reported only $12mm in behested payments. '

In 2020, individuals and organizations reported $226 million (!!!) in payments at Newsom’s behest.  Take a look at some of them.  Blue Shield of California and Kaiser donated $45mm.  They were both awarded no-bid contracts for vaccine distribution.  And Blue Shield’s CEO was co-chair of CA’s task force on COVID-19 testing."

"Verily Life Sciences (formerly Google Life Sciences; Google donated $7mm in ad credits) has received up to $44mm in three different contracts from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to operate COVID-19 testing sites. "

"What about straight political donations?  An NPR-affiliate in Sacramento conducted that analysis too."

"UnitedHealth has donated $220k in 2018-19 to political committees controlled by Newsom.  During the pandemic, Newsom has awarded $492mm in contracts to UnitedHealth subsidiaries in no-bid and expedited bidding situations."

"Bloom Energy donated $85k in 2018-20 and received a $2mm no-bid contract."

The former general counsel to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (a registered Democrat) said that “the governor has a tin ear in terms of receiving huge campaign contributions and providing sole-source contracts for corporations that were giving him these contributions.”