Newsom Hit With Big Ethics Fine Amid Federal Probe

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has agreed to pay a $31,500 ethics fine after state regulators found that he failed to timely disclose millions of dollars in donations he solicited, including contributions connected to Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts.

The enforcement division of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission determined that Newsom failed to file required behested payment reports on time during 2024 and 2025.

The late disclosures involved more than $5.5 million in payments from corporations, foundations, and other donors, according to the New York Post.

The filings included donations from several major corporations and charitable organizations, including $1 million from the Chuck Lorre Foundation; $500,000 each from BlackRock, Uber Eats, Lockheed Martin, and the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation; $250,000 from Apple; $200,000 from Amazon; and $150,000 each from Verizon and American Express.

According to documents prepared for a Fair Political Practices Commission meeting Thursday, 34 of the donations were directed to the California Fire Foundation after Newsom or members of his staff referred prospective donors to the nonprofit following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025.

The California Fire Foundation provides support to firefighters and wildfire victims across the state.

The latest penalty is not Newsom’s first run-in with state ethics regulators over behested payment disclosures.

In November 2024, the Fair Political Practices Commission approved a $10,500 fine against Newsom for failing to timely disclose approximately $14.4 million in behested payments.

California law requires elected officials to report donations of $5,000 or more that they solicit on behalf of charities, government initiatives, or other organizations, The Post reported.

Regulators said several of Newsom’s disclosure reports were submitted more than six months after the required deadline.

One example cited by regulators involved a $50,000 donation from Schwab Charitable Funds to the Institute for Local Government that was reported 229 days late, said the outlet.

Ethics officials noted that Newsom eventually disclosed the donations before the Fair Political Practices Commission independently discovered them. They also said his office cooperated with the investigation.

Regulators cited the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires as a mitigating factor.

Still, commission staff recommended a significant penalty, stating that the matter warranted heightened scrutiny because “the present case is a repeat violation.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office acknowledged that the filings were submitted late but declined to provide further comment.

Under the proposed settlement, Newsom would pay $1,750 for each of the 18 counts pursued by regulators, resulting in a total penalty of $31,500. According to the filing, the maximum fine that could have been imposed in the case was $90,000.

The ethics matter comes as Newsom and members of his inner circle face separate federal scrutiny.

According to reports, one federal inquiry involves tax matters related to Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the governor’s wife.

Another investigation reportedly stems from the activities of former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson, who pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, subscribing to a false tax return, and making false statements.

Federal authorities have not publicly announced any charges against Newsom in connection with those matters, noted The Post.

Newsom, meanwhile, has attacked the federal scrutiny and accused President Donald Trump of politicizing the Justice Department, even as some reporting has indicated that related probes began before Trump’s second term.

“In recent days, federal agents have knocked on the doors of family, friends, and former employees, not because they found a crime, because they’re simply trying to find one,” Newsom said in a pre-recorded statement Monday.

Siebel Newsom also criticized the investigation and Trump, claiming the president has “no boundaries.”

Trump has not publicly commented on the investigation, and the Newsoms have not made any remarks about Williamson’s guilty plea.

The controversy underscores a familiar pattern in California politics: powerful Democrats solicit massive sums through politically connected networks, then blame Republicans when scrutiny follows.

Behested payments occupy a gray area in public life. They are not campaign donations in the traditional sense, but they still involve elected officials directing money from wealthy donors, corporations, and interest groups to preferred causes or organizations.

That is precisely why disclosure rules exist.

The public has a right to know when major corporations and foundations are giving large sums at the request of a sitting governor, especially when some of those entities may have business or policy interests before the state.

Newsom’s defenders will point to the wildfire relief context and argue that the money supported a worthy cause.

But the issue is not whether helping wildfire victims is good. It is whether California’s governor followed the transparency rules that apply when powerful officials solicit large donations from major private interests.

For a Democrat who frequently lectures the country about accountability, democracy, and clean government, the repeated ethics fine is politically damaging.

And with Newsom widely viewed as a future national Democratic contender, the timing could hardly be worse.