Daily Business Report: June 16, 2026
By Katy Grimes | California Globe
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced today on X that the U.S. Department of Justice under President Trump is investigating he and his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
After covering the Newsoms for many years, I suspect there’s a lot of ‘there’ there.
Globe Executive Editor Megan Barth reported earlier today on the long list of dubious financial dealings by California’s first couple. “The Globe’s reporting has consistently highlighted how vendors and donors connected to the Newsom orbit have profited handsomely while the First Partner’s nonprofit extracted millions through salaries and licensing fees from an organization she controls.”
Whistleblower Warned County of Ex-Contractor’s Past Crimes
by Lisa Halverstadt | Voice of San Diego
County officials knew by January 2023 that a top executive for an ex-county contractor now embroiled in a criminal case involving public money previously served time for embezzlement – and still awarded the organization she helped lead a contract worth more than $1 million annually the following year.
Rather than order the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego to remove COO Amy Knox from her post as the nonprofit’s finance chief, the county conducted an audit of the organization’s then roughly $1.3 million annual contract. County officials called for more financial controls at the nonprofit, yet it’s unclear what they did to ensure improvements were implemented after the review ended.
In 2024, county staff awarded a second contract to the organization worth more than $1 million annually.
No Citywide Vote on La Jolla Secession?
by Will Huntsberry | Voice of San Diego
Jack McGrory, the city’s former city manager among many other things, did a podcast interview recently with Discover La Jolla. He discussed La Jolla’s effort to secede from the city of San Diego and he said something no one has been talking about.
He indicated the citizens of greater San Diego may not have any say at all in whether La Jolla gets to break away.
If true, that would be huge. And to be clear, the officials overseeing this process don’t think it’s true. But this is a largely untested legal territory.
