This complaint is submitted on behalf of the Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018 committee.

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1 777 S. Figueroa Street 34th Floor Los Angeles, CA T F Amber Maltbie D amaltbie@nossaman.com Refer To File #: May 24, 2018 Fair Political Practices Commission Attn: Enforcement Division 1102 Q Street, Suite 3000 Sacramento, CA Re: COMPLAINT AGAINST CITIZENS SUPPORTING BY GAVIN NEWSOM FOR GOVERNOR 2018, SPONSORED BY LABOR ORGANIZATIONS AND BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA (FPPC ID # ) To Whom it May Concern: This complaint is submitted on behalf of the Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018 committee. According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC): Committees that make an independent expenditure of $1,000 or more to support or oppose a single state candidate or a single state ballot measure during the candidate s or measure s 90 day election cycle must file a separate Form 496 within 24 hours for each candidate or ballot measure supported or opposed. The report must be filed electronically within 24 hours regardless of the day of the week. Between May 8 and May 20, 2018, Citizens Supporting Gavin Newsom for Governor 2018, sponsored by Labor Organizations and Blue Shield of California ( I.E. Committee )(FPPC ID # ) raised nearly $5 million from less than 20 donors, and spent at least $2.5 million on television advertising attempting to influence the June 5, 2018 primary election. This I.E. Committee has failed to report its independent expenditures in an accurate, timely, and transparent manner. Violations of Rules Requiring Timely Disclosure Citizens Supporting Gavin Newsom for Governor 2018, sponsored by Labor Organizations and Blue Shield of California failed to file a Form 496 within 24 hours of making an independent expenditure of $1,000 or more. On May 11, 2018, shortly before 5:30AM, a television advertisement paid for by this I.E. Committee began airing on stations across California. The I.E. Committee failed to file a Form 496 until May 14, 2018 at 3:42PM a clear violation of the 24-hour reporting requirement. By the time this I.E. Committee filed its Form 496, the I.E. Committee s television advertisement had already aired 195 times across the state.

2 Page 2 With less than two weeks until the primary election, and the millions this I.E. Committee is quickly raising from a small group of donors, it is imperative it files timely disclosure reports so voters are informed of who is paying for the political messages they are seeing and how much is being spent. As the FPPC notes, The 24-hour reports are the most important of the independent expenditure disclosure reports because they provide real time information before the election about who is spending money to influence voters about candidates and measures in a particular jurisdiction. Violations of Rules Regarding Clear & Accurate Disclosure of Support or Opposition to a Candidate by a Committee Making Independent Expenditures Citizens Supporting Gavin Newsom for Governor 2018, sponsored by Labor Organizations and Blue Shield of California, failed to file a required Form 496 disclosing independent expenditures in support of Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox in the June 5, 2018 primary election. The television advertisement this I.E. Committee began airing on May 11, 2018 is 30 seconds long, with the first 15 seconds dedicated to Republican candidate John Cox, and the second 15 seconds focused on Gavin Newsom. As of the date of this complaint, this I.E. Committee had only filed Form 496s disclosing support for Gavin Newsom. This I.E. Committee must file separate Form 496s disclosing expenditures to support Republican John Cox, which is clearly the purpose of them. To boost Republican John Cox with conservatives, this I.E. Committee is running a television advertisement that states, Republican John Cox says he s glad Trump is President. Cox says we need tough border security, including Trump s wall. Cox is a conservative businessman who supports Trump s tax cuts. Gavin Newsom has been transparent in his desire to face a Republican in the general election. The media has overwhelmingly agreed that Gavin Newsom s campaign strategy going into the general election is to boost the candidacy of John Cox to avoid a real general election contest against a democratic rival. (See multiple articles below.) Marching in lock step with the independent expenditures supporting him, Newsom has been waging an aggressive campaign through the airwaves to drive voter turnout among Cox s predictable supporters. In the last week, Newsom s campaign took a more direct approach, by targeting Republic voters with direct contact by Newsom campaign operatives. In a sophisticated text messaging scheme, Newsom operatives are directly contacting Republican voters to make sure they know Cox has the endorsement of Donald Trump. Based on a glaring loophole in the law, Newsom s campaign is not required to report these express advocacy payments in support of Cox as independent expenditures subject to 24 hour reporting. However, the independent expenditure campaign supporting him is not off the hook. In order to provide accurate and meaningful information to the public, it must be compelled to disclose its independent expenditures as payments to SUPPORT JOHN COX, and not payments to support Gavin

3 Page 3 Newsom. The clear and cynical short-term goal shared by Gavin Newsom s campaign, and the well-funded independent expenditure committee formed to support him, is to manipulate the primary election and to make sure a Republican advances to the general election. According to the FPPC: The purpose of California s Political Reform Act (Act) is to ensure that disclosure of political payments is accurate, timely, and made in a transparent manner. Clear and accurate disclosure is essential for making voters aware of who is paying for political messages so they can evaluate the content and make informed decisions when voting. Press Coverage of Newson s Pro-Cox Strategy On May 8, 2018, at a gubernatorial candidate debate hosted by NBC News, Gavin Newsom said, I think a Republican would be ideal in the general election. Capital Public Radio reported, in April 2018, Gavin Newsom said, I obviously, would love to see a Republican in this race, if I m in it. That would be ideal. Newsom s campaign aired a television advertisement that, according to multiple newspapers, aimed at helping Republican John Cox with conservative voters. The San Jose Mercury News reported, While the ad does highlight Newsom s gun control positions...the ad is likely to enhance Cox s appeal among conservative, pro-gun voters as he tries to consolidate the Republican support he needs to get into the top two. The Los Angeles Times reported, The attack ad could deliver a two-pronged political benefit to Newsom. Newsom s criticism of Cox for being a gun-rights advocate will likely boost Cox s appeal to conservatives. Appearing on KPIX in San Francisco on May 12, 2018, former California Assembly Speaker and former Mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown explained Newsom s strategy, He s trying to help Cox! That helps Cox against what s happening with Antonio, because Cox has almost no money and if his name is constantly elevated, even under attack from Newsom, that helps Cox. On May 22, 2018, The Los Angeles Times reported, With the second slot up for grabs and a substantial bloc of undecided voters two weeks from the election, Newsom's campaign has unleashed a barrage of ads in an attempt to manipulate the primary vote. The strategy aims to influence who he'll face in the general election, with Cox a conservative out of step with California's left-leaning voters on many issues including immigration policy among his top choices. On May 22, 2018, The San Francisco Chronicle reported, Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom is firing off a double-barrel blast of TV attack ads aimed at fellow Democratic rivals Antonio Villaraigosa and John Chiang, all with the goal of helping Republican John Cox win the No. 2 slot in the upcoming primary In addition to bashing the rival Democrats, the SCN plan also includes a backhanded TV ad aimed at helping Cox by attacking him for standing with Donald Trump and the NRA knowing full well that s exactly the kind of message that will stoke GOP turnout.

4 Page 4 On May 23, 2018, CALmatters reported, Newsom and his advisors know that if a Republican places second in the June 5 primary voting and thus wins a place on the November ballot, it would make Newsom s election a near-certainty. Conversely, were Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa to finish second on June 5, Newsom would have a real fight on his hands. Therefore, the anti-cox ad is not truly aimed at dragging him down, but rather to build him up among Republican primary voters, who are likely to be more pro-nra and also likely to resent attacks on Cox by Democrat Newsom. On May 23, 2018, Politico reported, In the bizarre machinations of California s top-two primary, Cox has found an ally not only in Trump, but in Newsom, whose media strategy has increasingly appeared designed to ensure he faces a Republican not a Democrat who would be more difficult to defeat in the fall. On May 24, 2018, The Los Angeles Times reported, Newsom has candidly acknowledged he'd love to run against an easy-mark Republican. So he has been surreptitiously helping Cox attract GOP voters through TV ads. In a wink-wink attack ad run statewide, a narrator says that Cox stands with Donald Trump and the NRA and has called gun laws a 'waste of time,' opposed background checks and a ban on assault weapons. Newsom's shorthand message to Republican voters: John Cox is your guy. On May 24, 2018, Capital Public Radio reported, Newsom s campaign is pulling out all the stops to ensure that he faces off against Cox, running ads attacking him not to hurt him but to help. Republican strategist Cassandra Pye called this maneuvering a little bit of a game of driving up name ID to make sure GOP voters know who Cox is. She says Newsom would much rather face Cox in November instead of, say, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Democrat closest to Newsom in the polls. The Washington D.C. publication The Hill reported, Newsom s tactics recall those of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who used a barrage of advertising just before the 2012 Republican primary to attack one of her potential rivals, then-rep. Todd Akin (R), as being too conservative. Sen. McCaskill later explained her strategy in an op-ed in Politico: I had successfully manipulated the Republican primary so that in the general election I would face the candidate I was most likely to beat Using the guidance of my campaign staff and consultants, we came up with the idea for a dog whistle ad, a message that was pitched in such a way that it would be heard only by a certain group of people. I told my team we needed to put Akin s uber-conservative bona fides in an ad and then, using reverse psychology, tell voters not to vote for him. And we needed to run the hell out of that ad. My consultants put together a $1.7 million plan. Four weeks out we would begin with a television ad boosting Akin As it turned out, we spent more money for Todd Akin in the last two weeks of the primary than he spent on his whole primary campaign. The Citizens Supporting Gavin Newsom for Governor 2018, sponsored by Labor Organizations and Blue Shield of California Committee is deploying the same strategy. The difference is that independent expenditures to support a candidate in California must be clearly and accurately disclosed by an I.E. Committee.

5 Page 5 It is understandable that this I.E. Committee would like to hide that it spending millions of dollars to promote the same candidate that s endorsed by President Donald Trump, but that is what the law requires. Citizens Supporting by Gavin Newsom for Governor 2018, sponsored by Labor Organizations and Blue Shield of California must report that it is making independent expenditures to support Republican John Cox in the June 5, 2018 primary election. Sincerely, Amber Maltbie For Nossaman, LLP AM:am2