Grimes: Greenberg & Grimes: The Left’s Nonprofit Shadow Campaign Fund

When corporations cozy up to politicians through ‘charity,’ they’re not competing on merit—they’re buying influence

In a nation built on free enterprise and personal responsibility, the abuse of nonprofit organizations and behest contributions by political elites like California Governor Gavin Newsom represents a betrayal of American values.

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California’s one-party rule ensures the powerful protect their own.

These mechanisms, intended to foster benevolence, charity and public good, have instead morphed into a taxpayer-subsidized slush fund for the well-connected, allowing politicians across America to enrich their families, reward donors, and dodge accountability—all while cloaking their schemes in the guise of altruism. This is not just unethical; it’s a direct assault on the principles of limited government and fair play. It’s time to expose this racket and demand legislative reform to shut it down.

Non-profit organizations and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become a shadow government in the U.S. Despite reporting on blatantly phony non-profit groups to the California Attorney General for many years, nothing ever happened. California’s corruption begins at the top, as does the corruption in the United States.

Think back to Barack Obama and ACORN, a very shady “community activist” organization that helped bring Obama to power. ACORN was a community organizing group that claimed to help poor people with low-income housing issues, but was really registering thousands/millions of people to vote in Democratic districts. Some of these supposed voters reportedly were actually dead, nonexistent, or used shacks and empty buildings as their home addresses.

Sounds just like ACTBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform, now accused ofd violating federal law in allowing terrorism-linked groups to use its services. ACTBlue is also said to be linked to financing attacks on Tesla showrooms and Elon Musk, among other violent “protests” across the country. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has formally requested the Trump administration to open up an investigation into ACTBlue to investigate “credible allegations” that ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform, violated federal law in allowing terrorism-linked groups to use its services.

Nonprofits, with their tax-exempt status and loose oversight, have become a playground for political insiders. Take Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and her outfit, The Representation Project.“While her husband attends to state business, Siebel Newsom engages in her passion: advancing ‘gender justice’ through her charitable nonprofit The Representation Project, Open the Books reported. According to tax documents the organization is ‘committed to building a thriving and inclusive society through films, education, and social activism.’”

Jennifer Siebel Newsom solicited state vendors and the governor’s campaign donors for large gifts to her charity, The Representation Project. Since 2011, this supposed gender-justice charity has raked in over $800,000 from corporate giants like PG&E, AT&T, and Comcast—firms with billions at stake in California’s regulatory landscape. Siebel Newsom pocketed $2.3 million in salary over those years, pulling six-figure paychecks while her husband climbed from lieutenant governor to governor. These donors aren’t philanthropists; they’re players in a game where cash flows to the governor’s family, and favors—like lax utility oversight or cushy state contracts—flow back. It’s cronyism dressed up as compassion.

Then there’s the behest contribution scam—legalized influence peddling that Newsom has mastered. In 2019, he solicited nearly $8 million for his inaugural bash and wildfire relief, much of it from corporations with state business. In 2020, he pulled in $26 million for COVID-19 efforts, with heavy hitters like Blue Shield ($1 million) and McKinsey & Company ($250,000) chipping in—only for McKinsey to later snag a $35 million state contract.

Gov. Gavin Newsom had no-bid contracts with Blue Shield and McKinsey & Company, and outsourced much of California’s vaccine rollout during the Covid crisis, the Globe reported. “Private contractors cost taxpayers millions of dollars, while demonstrating few clear results and papering over weaknesses in the country’s public health system,” the Washington Post even reported.

Siebel Newsom, through 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. Schools spend between $49-$599 to screen these movies to children.

Click here to read the full article in the California Globe