Alec Baldwin, a $227,000 payment and San Jose fundraiser at heart of allegations against ex-lawmaker
31 March
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Former California Assemblymember Evan Low used his technology-focused nonprofit to pay actor Alec Baldwin more than $227,000 to appear at a tech event and a separate fundraiser for Low, then deliberately tried to conceal the payments, the California Fair Political Practices Commission determined in a filing released Friday.
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
The agency charged with enforcing California’s campaign finance laws charged Low with 18 violations, including failing to report the payments on time and poor recordkeeping. As part of a settlement with the agency, Low and his political committee have agreed to pay a $106,000 fine.
Low, his attorney Amber Maltbie and an attorney representing the tech nonprofit did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations from CalMatters.
Low initially told investigators that Baldwin came to his Feb. 7, 2020, fundraiser on his “own accord” as a volunteer. But the commission cited numerous messages between organizers seeking to conceal the nonprofit’s payments to Baldwin in draft contracts.
The allegations were included in a scathing report released Friday by the agency in charge of enforcing the state’s campaign finance and ethics laws. It found that Low also missed the deadline to disclose almost $228,000 he raised for various nonprofits, failed to keep track of campaign transactions and illegally shut down his campaign account without repaying the nonprofit fees for Baldwin’s appearance.
Probe sparked by CalMatters reporting
The proposed penalty stems from a five-year FPPC investigation into Low and the nonprofit he founded, The Foundation for California’s Technology and Innovation Economy. The probe began the same day CalMatters published its third installment of its “Sweet Charity” series detailing the relationship between Low and the group.
The findings show a “knowing and willing attempt to skirt the law,” said Sean McMorris of California Common Cause, an ethics watchdog group. “I think the public at a minimum will feel deceived and likely that impropriety occurred.”
Low has agreed to the settlement, paid off the Baldwin-related expenses and disclosed those payments to settle the case, according to the agency.
Low, who co-founded and co-chaired the state Legislature’s tech caucus, raised money from tech giants for the foundation — a nonprofit overseen by three people closely affiliated with him. His then-chief of staff Gina Frisby served as its treasurer.
The foundation hosted annual policy summits where tech leaders and lobbyists paid five figures to privately mingle with state officials.
In 2020, Baldwin appeared at the tech policy summit in Cupertino for a lunchtime visit, CalMatters reported.
Later that night, Baldwin was shuttled in a luxury vehicle to a Chinese restaurant in the heart of San Jose’s Little Saigon as the “special celebrity guest” for Low’s ticketed fundraiser, which doubled as his Lunar New Year celebration, according to FPPC findings and a Facebook page of the event.
“For the Year of the Rat, expect big surprises and a big name,” reads the description of Low’s fundraiser. “Trust me, you won't want to miss out on this special ‘presidential-esque’ event!”
Baldwin had a recurring appearance playing President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live at the time.
‘So two separate contracts but the money under one?’
The nonprofit foundation paid Baldwin to split his time evenly between two events, but tried to conceal the payment amount for the fundraiser, the FPPC found.
Staff who worked for both Low and the nonprofit proposed drafting two separate contracts with Baldwin, with one stating that he would voluntarily attend Low’s event, the findings show. But officials with Baldwin’s representative, Creative Artists Agency, appeared confused by the arrangement.
“So two separate contracts but all the money under one? But its not voluntary. If he doesn’t do it, he would still be paid his full fee,” a representative wrote in a 2019 email to the nonprofit on behalf of Baldwin.
Low told investigators in April 2023 that Baldwin volunteered at his fundraiser and that he was not involved in hiring the actor. But this January, Low admitted that he knowingly failed to disclose those payments and should have repaid the cost, the FPPC noted.
Low, a Campbell Democrat who represented Silicon Valley for 10 years in the state Legislature, unsuccessfully ran for Congress last year, losing to former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo after a close primary. He is now the president and CEO of the national LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.
In his legislative years, Low helped establish multiple legislative caucuses and chaired three of them, and his staff worked for caucus-affiliated foundations. Frisby, for example, filed legislative reports on funds Low raised for the tech foundation as the foundation’s treasurer while also serving as Low’s chief of staff. Danielle Sires, a consultant who worked for an Assembly committee Low chaired in 2018, served as a consultant for the tech foundation, the FPPC found.
The staff crossover between Low and the foundation speaks to a “clear coordination” between the two, McMorris said.
“It does emphasize the seriousness and overtness of the violation,” he said. “At all stages of this process, the same people were involved with everything.”
Low also was late — sometimes by almost two years — to disclose $227,500 he raised for nonprofits including the tech foundation, despite the law requiring most of these payments to be disclosed within 30 days, the FPPC concluded.
Given that Frisby served as a director of the foundation and Low himself established the tech foundation, information about those payments “should have been easily obtained and timely disclosed,” FPPC staff said.
Over the years, Low reported raising $505,000 for the tech foundation. Those funds are called “behested payments” — donations to an organization or agency at a politician’s behest. Ethics advocates have cautioned that the payments could give special interest groups access to lawmakers and ways to curry favor with them.
Low had raised more than $400,000 for the nonprofit before it picked up the tab on Baldwin’s presence at Low’s fundraiser, according to a CalMatters analysis of state campaign finance records.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
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