Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) and Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) today issued a joint statement concerning Governor Newsom’s financial ties with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and his involvement with securing a bailout for the failed bank:
“For three days now the media has been reporting story after story of Governor Newsom’s personal, family, and business ties with the Silicon Valley Bank. The San Francisco Chronicle, California Globe, Business Insider, Newsweek and others have all detailed that the Newsom family business empire and associated non-profits are deeply twined with the SVB.
“As chief executive officer of the State of California, the Governor is prohibited from taking administrative or other actions that could benefit his own financial circumstance. Simply putting all your assets in a blind trust a few years ago does not allow Governor Newsom to intercede in a bailout of a bank that he knew he and his family had extensive dealings with.
“There’s the potential for conflict of interest, and the actual perception of conflict of interest – we think the Governor’s action in the SVB matter crossed the line into both areas.
“We call upon Governor Newsom to recuse himself and turn over any further state dealings with the SVB bailout to the Lt. Governor. We also encourage Governor Newsom to voluntarily ask that the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and/or the State Attorney General review the matter to see if any violations of the law actually occurred.”