Jennifer Siebel Newsom made headlines last month when she criticized reporters at her husband’s Planned Parenthood press conference, claiming they weren’t asking enough questions about what she termed a “war on women.” Now, the California first partner is facing some uncomfortable scrutiny herself.
IRS filings reviewed by the Daily Mail reveal that Siebel Newsom has paid herself and her company, Girls Club LLC, a significant portion of the annual revenue from her nonprofit, The Representation Project. In some years, these payments amounted to nearly one-third of the charity’s total income, adding up to more than $3.7 million over the past decade, the Daily Mail reported.
Siebel Newsom, 51, oversees The Representation Project, a nonprofit organization that claims to combat “intersectional gender stereotypes” and “harmful gender norms.”
Financial records indicate that the charity generally receives between $1 million and $1.7 million annually in grants and donations, with roughly $300,000 in recent years directed toward Siebel Newsom and her company.
The latest filings, covering up to March 2024, show a salary of $150,000 for Siebel Newsom and an additional $150,000 paid to Girls Club LLC.
These filings categorize the payments to the LLC as a “writer/director/producer fee.”
They also note that the company owns the copyright to Siebel Newsom’s documentary, Miss Representation, and has licensed the film to the nonprofit for at least seven years, covering distribution and public performance rights.
Charity watchdogs criticized the compensation as unusually high for an organization of its size. A conservative transparency group cautioned that it could raise eyebrows as Governor Gavin Newsom continues to build his national profile.
“As Governor Newsom continues his national rebrand tour, the fact that he and his wife put one third of their ‘charity’ revenues into their own pockets will undoubtedly raise red flags in the eyes of middle-class Americans,” Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, told the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail’s report also revealed that there are approximately 23,000 nonprofits in the IRS database with revenues between $1 million and $2 million, and fewer than 5% of them pay their executives more than The Representation Project, particularly when including Siebel Newsom’s salary and the LLC payments.
The report also highlighted additional salaries listed in the nonprofit’s filings, including $150,000 for Executive Director Caroline Heldman and $131,942 for CFO Debra Garber. The charity’s total compensation costs for the year ending in March 2024 were just under $1 million, with $153,691 allocated to fundraising.
Gov. Newsom is required to report spousal income on his annual ethics disclosures; however, the report noted that he listed income from The Representation Project and Girls Club LLC within broad ranges.
Izzy Gardon, Newsom’s communications director, stated to the Daily Mail that the disclosures align with California regulations, emphasizing that the governor “is required to report only his 50% portion of spousal income.” Gardon asserted that the filings are “accurate and consistent with California law.”
The report also brought to light longstanding ethical concerns regarding corporate donations to the nonprofit from companies that later received substantial California state contracts, a criticism that has been associated with the Newsoms for years.
Last week, Newsom became the latest Democrat to criticize the SAVE Act, which would require voter ID to be presented in every state in every federal election.
Supporters of the measure argue the law would ensure that only American citizens participate in federal elections. Newsom said the proposal is about determining who can vote, which is actually true.
“What’s the SAVE Act? That’s not about ID, it’s about registration,” Newsom said. “It’s about who gets to vote, who doesn’t get to vote. They are not screwing around. We will lose this country.”