Sacramento, California – California Governor Gavin Newsom has denied allegations that he secretly helped fund a nearly $100,000 bronze bust of himself that sits inside San Francisco City Hall, dismissing the claims as “categorically false.”
A new book, Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All , by Susan Crabtree and Jedd McFatter, claims that Newsom used “behested payments”—contributions from donors solicited by politicians—to help finance the statue. The book alleges that two companies linked to Newsom donated approximately $10,000 to a nonprofit that contributed to the bust, which commemorates his tenure as mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Newsom’s spokesperson pushed back against the accusations. “To imply the Governor personally funded or proposed this effort is categorically false,” the statement read. “As is customary in the city, the effort was independently proposed by a nonprofit and funded by private donors—not taxpayers… This was reported at the time and isn’t news now.”…