Report: newsom could personally benefit from federal help with SVB failure

By COLE LAUTERBACH

THE CENTER SQUARE

(The Center Square) – New reports say California Gov. Gavin Newsom might be one of the account holders that will benefit from federal aid propping up the now-insolvent Silicon Valley Bank.

Gov. Newsom announced Saturday that he was “in touch with the highest levels of leadership at the White House and Treasury. 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.”

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took control of the bank after a disclosure showing steep losses to maintain liquidity created a panicked rush to pull funds by account holders.

The FDIC announced Monday that it had transferred the remaining bank assets to a bridge entity and that accounts with more than the governmentinsured cap of $250,000 would be made whole.

The Intercept found SVB listings of clients that included CADE, Odette, and PlumpJack wines – all owned by Gov. Newsom but operated by family members and held in a blind trust managed by an attorney.

The Intercept spoke to an anonymous source who identified as a former employee of Gov. Newsom. The source said the successful California businessman also had personal accounts at SVB but the Intercept didn’t confirm that information from Newsom’s office or SVB’s bridge bank. California laws regarding conflict of interest by public officials say “a public official has a disqualifying conflict of interest in a governmental decision if it is foreseeable that the decision will have a financial impact on his or her personal finances or other financial interests.”

By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

The cruise ship Discovery Princess visited Santa Barbara Wednesday morning, bringing many tourists to Stearns Wharf on a day where the sun and blue sky returned.

But the sun wasn’t everywhere in Santa Barbara County. Clouds blanketed the sky above Solvang, and fog dominated the area at the top of State Route 154.

In fact, the impact of Tuesday’s storm, which dumped 4 inches of rain on San Marcos Pass, was still being experienced on Wednesday.

You could hear the storm’s impact at Montecito Creek, where