Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom had three business accounts at the now-defunct Silicon Valley Bank that he failed to disclose to the public when he praised the federal government for promising to bail out depositors, according to a new report.
On Sunday, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Treasury Department and the White House all vowed to make those with money in the bank whole.
While the FDIC insures deposits only up to $250,000, SVB depositors were promised they would not lose their millions after a bank run dried the well at the institution.
Newsom released a statement Sunday that praised the federal response.
“The Biden Administration has acted swiftly and decisively to protect the American economy and strengthen public confidence in our banking system,” the governor said.
He added, “Their actions this weekend have calmed nerves, and had profoundly positive impacts on California — on our small businesses that can now make payroll, workers who will get their paychecks, on affordable housing projects that can continue construction, and on non-profits that can keep their doors open tomorrow.”
Newsom concluded his state is a “pillar of the American economy” and that leaders in the federal government were doing “the right thing.”
On Monday, the governor’s office issued another statement, according to the Orange County Breeze.
“Over the last 48 hours, I have been in touch with the highest levels of leadership at the White House and Treasury,” Newsom said. “Everyone is working with FDIC to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, to protect jobs, people’s livelihoods, and the entire innovation ecosystem that has served as a tent pole for our economy.”
What the governor did not put in either statement was he owns three wineries that banked with SVB, Ken Klippenstein of The Intercept reported Tuesday.
The reporter dug through the bank’s public records and found three companies Newsom owns on the bank’s list of “Premium Wine Client Promotions.”
The CADE, Odette and PlumpJack wineries are each present, according to the report. It is unclear how much cash each company had in SVB when it went under.
“Newsom also maintained personal accounts at SVB for years, according to a longtime former employee of Newsom’s who handled his finances, and who requested anonymity to avoid professional reprisal,” Klippenstein reported.
The report also said the bank gifted a charity founded by Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel, $100,000 — at the governor’s request.
It is understandable the federal government would work quickly to prevent panic throughout the banking sector, but the governor’s reported proximity to this catastrophe – and the fact the Biden administration worked so quickly to intervene on behalf of high-dollar depositors – are examples of why people don’t trust Washington, D.C.
The federal government sometimes drags its feet for months or years on issues that affect millions of Americans nationwide.
But as soon as a top Democrat’s bank accounts were reportedly threatened, the Fed, the FDIC and the White House treated the situation like a five-alarm fire.
The optics are terrible, to put it mildly.
And it is no surprise Newsom was connected to the bank both professionally and personally.
SVB contributed to “woke” causes such as the neo-Marxist Black Lives Matter movement and had connections to major Democratic Party players beyond Newsom.
As its name suggests, the failed institution was headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, where radical leftists in Big Tech have been influencing America’s public discourse for years.
Why wouldn’t Newsom’s fingerprints be all over the place?
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday SVB would not be receiving a bailout. But its big-bucks depositors are receiving exactly that.
The public needs answers as to who those people are, and why their money is more important than everyone else’s.
Author: Johnathan Jones
Why can’t the government go after the board of directors of the bank that sold their stocks just before its bankruptcy????