Behested payments have funded the California State Protocol Foundation. In 2025, Newsom “behested” a payment of $220,000 from the University of California Berkeley for the “charitable” purpose of paying the costs of attending the Vatican climate summit. He “behested” the U.S. Energy Foundation out of $150,000 to pay for his “delegation” to the COP30 climate change conference in Brazil, also described as a “charitable” purpose.
Newsom hit up Zoox, Inc., an autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Amazon, and Centene Management Company, LLC, of St. Louis, “a leading provider of government-sponsored healthcare,” for $25,000 each “in support of general operations” of the Protocol Foundation.