Others contended that the trip is a way for Newsom to gain valuable international experience for a future run for higher office, the Globe reported.
Perhaps the standout moment of his China visit was when Newsom was filmed behind the wheel of the Build Your Dreams (BYD) Company’s newest electric vehicle – while a California Fox News Anchor traveling with Newsom never apparently puts 2 and 2 together.
Gavin in China: Visits BYD Electric Car Maker – Company He Awarded $1.4B Mask Contracts.
Well, well. @GavinNewsom gets behind the wheel of@BYDCompany’s newest vehicle & checks out the self turning mode. Hmmm. Wasn’t it @BYDCompany Newsom purchased $1 Billion of masks from Chinese company BYD at outset of COVID pandemic using taxpayers funds? Oh yes, it was.… https://t.co/tX9LRGF6i8
If BYD rings a bell, you’ll recall that Newsom purchased $1 Billion of masks from Chinese company BYD at outset of COVID pandemic using taxpayers funds? Oh yes, it was. #corruption – electric vehicle company creates mask division at outset of Covid.
And he even went back for more masks, spending another $315 million dollars. The Globe reported on it. RedState reported on it. Even some in California’s mainstream media reported on it. There were some unhappy Democrat members of the California Legislature who wanted Newsom’s unauthorized investigated and audited, but they quieted down after one demand letter to the Governor.
And then POOF – the media lost interest. Well, the mainstream media did.
Newsom’s current China trip and visit to BYD kind of feels as if he is rubbing our faces in it.
Despite mainstream media pivoting to the next shiny object, the Globe continued to dig. The Governor’s BYD $1.4 billion contract looked like well-connected insider trading. Here’s what we found:
The Build Your Dreams company, BYD, is based in Shenzen, China. The electric bus manufacturer has a California subsidiary in Lancaster, where it employs 1,000 people.
California Globe has uncovered a trail of well-connected players in the odd $1.4 billion mask deal which seems to lead up to the cabinet level inside the governor’s office.
The prominent lobbyist who represents BYD is Mark Weideman of The Weideman Group. The governor’s campaign received $40,000 from BYD’s automotive division.
Weideman also represents Bloom Energy, a fuel cell manufacturer in San Jose, which recently retooled its facility to rehabilitate ventilators for COVID-19 patients.
Weideman also represents NextGen America, owned by Tom Steyer, Newsom’s economic recovery committee chairman whose failed presidential campaign petered out in late February.
California Globe called and emailed Weideman to ask about the BYD contract. A phone call placed to his office at 1:07 pm May 19, 2020 did not receive a response. A follow-up email sent to Weideman via his company website May 25th also did not receive a response.
Mark Weideman’s wife is Jennifer Wada, an attorney who now has a government relations business – Wada Government Relations Group. It is not common knowledge even among Sacramento insiders that Wada and Weideman are married.
Anthony Williams was a senior adviser for former Democratic state Senate leaders John Burton and Darrell Steinberg, and lobbied for the Judicial Counsel of California and the State Bar.
A source said the governor was able to pivot so quickly from the bad Blue Flame Medical deal to BYD because of the connections between Weideman, Wada and Williams.
In the email California Globe sent, we asked Weidemen about these close connections, and if the deal came together because of Weideman, Wada and Williams.
“Newsom and his aides singled out BYD-America, which manufactures electric buses in Lancaster and has been a beneficiary of California’s efforts to combat climate change,” CalMatters reported April 8, 2020. “Mark Ghilarducci, Newsom’s director of the Office of Emergency Services, said BYD has a direct reachback into China to be able to build a sustainable amount of monthly masks that will be coming in to assist us.’”
BYD America is a subsidiary of BYD China.
As for “Gov Newsom and his aides singled out BYD-America…” Anthony Williams is one of Newsom’s top level aides, as this organizational chart of the governor’s office shows (Williams is at the far right, below First Partner Jennifer Newsom’s staff).
When Gov. Newsom made the deals in 2020 to purchase $1 Billion worth of masks from BYD, he claimed it was “to combat a growing need for masks in California and to secure them before other states and countries sign similar deals,” California Globe reported.
The question still is “Why did he really make this deal?”
The governor’s “chief Lobbyist” and Legislative Secretary, Anthony Williams announced his resignation Thursday, along with his deputy cabinet secretary Dan Seeman. CalMatters Tweeted about this odd high-level staff departure, and reported they were told by the Newsom administration to hold off on reporting it, then deleted their Tweet.
Next, the Legislature cancelled the August 11, 2020 hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, abandoning all efforts highlight the spending of billions of taxpayer dollars on personal protective equipment with companies like China-owned BYD and Blue Flame.
