California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom praised the Biden administration’s decision to bail out Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), but he forgot about his ties to the now-defunct institution, which owns at least three of its wine companies and is to reportedly has other financial connections. to his family.
“The Biden administration has acted quickly and decisively to protect the U.S. economy and bolster public confidence in our banking system,” Newsom said in a statement Sunday. “Their actions this weekend calmed nerves and had a very positive impact on California.
“California is a pillar of the U.S. economy and federal leaders have done the right thing in ensuring that our innovation economy can continue to grow and move forward.”
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California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom praised the Biden administration’s decision to bail out Silicon Valley Bank, but did not mention his ties to the now-defunct institution. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
According to a report from The Intercept, President Biden’s decision to bail out the bank protects Newsom’s wine companies — CADE, Odette and PlumpJack — which the bank lists as clients on its website.
In addition, the outlet reported that Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel, had started a charity called the California Partners Project, which received $100,000 from SVB in 2021 at Newsom’s request. It also reported that SVB Capital’s president, John China, was a founding member of the charity’s board of directors.
A former Newsom employee who managed his finances reportedly told the outlet that the governor also had personal accounts with the SVB for several years.
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A customer stands in front of a closed Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, on March 10, 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SVB, the 16th largest bank in the US, was acquired by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Friday when it did not have enough cash on hand to cover withdrawals by its depositors during a run on the bank. It was the second largest bank failure in US history and the largest since Washington Mutual collapsed in 2008.
Biden reiterated Monday that the federal government would guarantee depositors at the banks access to their money, but no such protection would be provided to the bank’s investors. His administration also fired senior management at both banks.
President Biden speaks about the U.S. banking system in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on March 13, 2023 (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
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Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. However, a spokesman told The Intercept, “Governor Newsom’s business and financial interests are held and managed by a blind trust, as they have been since he was first elected governor in 2018.”
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.