Written by: William Hekman
On Thursday, the California Republican Party filed a campaign finance complaint against Governor Gavin Newsom, saying he failed to disclose details about his $3.7 million mansion in Fair Oaks, a wealthy suburb of Sacramento.
The state party says that Newsom failed to report ownership in the limited liability company (LLC) that initially purchased the six-bedroom home in 2018. Newsom’s brother, Jeremy Scherer, owns the LLC that bought the property in December 2018. The following year, in May 2019, Newsom moved into the property with his family. The party alleges that Newsom received the house as a gift and has an ownership stake, therefore avoiding paying the property transfer tax. Government officials must disclose business interests if they own more than 10 percent of a company. Additionally, they must fill out a Statement of Economic Interests, more commonly known as a form 700. Newsom has done neither.
In a statement, California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Milan Patterson stated, “Gavin Newsom knowingly and willfully violated reporting requirements, hiding relevant information from the public, which reveals both his incompetence and arrogance. He has been filing Form 700s for decades, so the only logical conclusion is that he didn’t want the public to know about his $3.7 million Sacramento mansion.” Allegations against Newsom first came to light last year, but the administration quickly rejected them, saying that elected officials do not need to put their residency on form 700.
This discovery only adds to the number of controversies surrounding Gavin Newsom, as the recall is just two and a half weeks away. Many Democrats in California and nationally are becoming extremely worried that Newsom may not survive the recall effort.
Photo from: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
