In Newsom’s words, Governor Gavin Newsom and Jason Kinney have known each other for nearly 20 years. Kinney has been a paid and unpaid consultant for Newsom’s campaign, dating back to Newsom’s days in San Francisco. Kinney was known as Newsom’s “repairman” and was also the writer of Newsom’s speeches. He was a key force in helping the then governor of California, Gavin Newsom, legalize marijuana.
After helping Newsom win the governorship in 2018, Kinney left his Capital Strategies lobbying company in November 2018 to become a member of Newsom’s transition team.
When reporting on Newsom’s transition to the Governor’s Office, CALmatters wrote About Kinney,
As a one-time speech writer for Governor Gray Davis, Kinney became a strategic partner in California by working with elected officials and companies seeking to influence them. He has been a strategist for the State Senate Newsom and the Democratic Party, and has also been paid by corporate clients including AT&T and PhRMA.
This is not unheard of in cottage industries decided by Congress. Sacramento has a huge ecosystem of influential repairers and consultants—some are lobbyists representing companies or unions, and some are strategists or consultants working for politicians. A few powerful people have figured out how to do both.
Ginny occasionally has trouble walking this line. In 2013, he was forced to register as a lobbyist, when he fined His work was hidden by the national political monitoring agency to influence government decision-making. Kinney admitted at the time that he did not formally register and disclose who paid him, which violated state law.
Newsom was sworn in as governor on January 3, 2019. A few weeks later, Kinney registered as a lobbyist with Axiom Advisors. Kinney’s tendency to blur the line between lobbying and undue influence will rise again.
During the transition period, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is in a wounded world. Not only was it accused of causing the deadliest fire to date in California: a campfire in 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed a paradise rural town, but the utility company was also sentenced to five years of probation for six federal judges. . Felony. They are responsible for the 2010 San Bruno Gas bombing, which killed 8 people and destroyed dozens of houses. The jury recently found that they deliberately violated federal security laws and obstructed the investigation.
In 2017 and 2018, state fire investigators listed PG&E as the cause of the fire that caused 107 deaths.
However, the utility company has the ability to invest $208,400 in Newsom’s 2018 governor campaign. Newsom seemed to quickly repay the embattled monopoly, because ABC10 explain:
Some critics of PG&E believe that the governor gave the company a gift in the form of the hastily passed bill AB 1054 this year, which aims to protect power monopolies from financial distress in the event of wildfires in the future.
The legislation quickly passed the legislature, and PG&E also donated money to two political parties.
Although the company was recently convicted of federal crimes, 8 out of 10 lawmakers also accepted PG&E campaign funds.
Therefore, when Newsom was required to become a “broker” in PG&E’s bankruptcy proceedings, the regulatory body saw a conflict of interest. Of course, Newsom quickly denied this:
“If this advice affects me in some way, then you are wrong,” Newsom said to ABC10 in Sacramento.
Fast forward to 2020. Kinney has been a partner of Axiom Advisors for more than a year.
According to a KPRL radio According to the report, Axiom received $580,000 from customers during Newsom’s first three months as governor. By the end of the second quarter, the amount had surged to $2.3 million. From Newsom’s inauguration in January to September, Axiom reported total lobbying work of $10.9 million.
Some of the lobbying work included several clients who happened to invest in the outcome of PG&E’s bankruptcy.Newsom decided he needed the same bankruptcy broker.
Kinney runs Axiom Advisors, a lobbying company that found a major customer in the bankruptcy of PG&E: the company committee that PG&E owes debt.
They include unremarkable institutions like The Davey Tree Expert Company, as well as major interest groups like Deutsche Bank, IBEW 1245 Union and NextEra Energy Inc.
Axiom consultants stated that it “meeted regularly with the governor’s office” $400,000 expense statement filed in bankruptcy court. Kinney is listed as performing 31.5 hours of billable work.
Plans for Kinney’s clients. They got cash”Full payment“Plus interest.
Victims of campfires and the city of heaven?
Hmm…look:
The bankruptcy agreement has been March 25, 2020The birthday celebration of the French Laundry takes place in November.
This Los Angeles Times explore The relationship between Kinney and Newsom and their blurred boundaries.
“Newson The close personal relationship with Kinney has raised serious concerns that companies that pay large sums of money to Axiom can get preferential treatment from the governor,” said Derek Seidman of the Public Accountability Initiative, a company based in Buffalo, New York. Of non-profit organizations that focus on government and corporate accountability.
Victims of campfires and people in paradise can now enjoy some discounts. On the contrary, they are still waiting to be paid and may be evicted from the land where they once owned the house.
Although PG&E withdrew from the bankruptcy process more than a year ago, the compensation has not yet arrived.
That’s because the bankruptcy plan approved by Governor Newsom did not pay PG&E’s victims in full cash.
The bankruptcy of PG&E transferred their compensation to a trust fund to settle more than a dozen other civil damages from PG&E wildfires, some of which have been waiting for payment since 2015.
The settlement of some victims should come from holding and selling PG&E stock. The victim was allowed to vote on this, but did not have much choice: either choose this solution or get nothing.
PG&E in Biden’s America and felony? good luck. The judge responsible for compensating the victims listed “federal tax issues” as the reason for the delay in selling PG&E stock.
A victim in heaven spoke out:
“There should be some adults in a room in the government, and a certain type of leader will say’no’. You should not make the victim liable to pay the victim.”
according to Los Angeles TimesA spokesperson for Axiom Advisors denied that Kinney played any lobbying role in the PG&E settlement. PG&E’s official committee of unsecured creditors represents financial institutions, contractors, and power workers.The committee paid $20,000 to Axiom A month Lobbying on behalf of the bankruptcy case for nearly a year.
During the pandemic of the COVID lockdown, an incumbent governor who facilitated the bankruptcy transaction and a lobbyist who helped the company close the transaction enjoyed a $400 dinner plate indoors without wearing a mask.
