Governor of California. Gavin News adopted an extensive lobbying ban for his political advisers at the behest of state regulators, months after he criticized dinner at a luxury French laundry restaurant with obby beasts in violation of his own epidemic restrictions.
According to a memo obtained by Sacramento B, News, which faced renewed efforts to control the epidemic, paid salaries and banned unpaid political advisers from lobbying for him or members of his administration. Under previous guidelines adopted last December, only salaried consultants were barred from lobbying.
News’s top aides announced a change in policy in a memo to staff staff, according to the report. The decision follows recommendations from California’s Fair Political Affairs Commission.
“No adviser, whether paid or not, should be allowed to give his or her relationship with the governor an unfair benefit to a client in conjunction with legislative or administrative actions,” the Fair Political Affairs Commission wrote to the administration in its recommendations.
News faced scrutiny of its relationship with lobbyists after reports surfaced last November that it had attended the birthday dinner of lobbyist Jason Kinney, a longtime unpaid adviser to the governor, at a French laundry restaurant. Janus Norman, a top lobbyist for the California Medical Association, was also in attendance.
Photographs showed Newsum and other dinners at dinner violated many of California’s guidelines, including a ban on large gatherings and mask requirements. The governor later apologized and called the outing a “bad mistake.”
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Other measures recommended by the Newsom administration were adopted by the ethics committee, including a ban on receiving gifts from lobbyists and staff ethics training.
Organizers of the recall effort against News against me say they have already collected more than two million signatures, enough to trigger a vote that could oust the governor. Newsom will be the second governor in state history to face a recall election.
