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Rob and Mia Bonta built their power in California on money from a human trafficking front, fraudulent nonprofits, and a donor network now under active FBI indictment.
Mia Bonta’s 2021 Assembly campaign received thousands in straw donor contributions from “Music Cafe,” an Oakland karaoke bar raided by state authorities for ketamine and ecstasy distribution, prostitution, and human trafficking. The man investigators believe was the real owner of that front called Rob Bonta “brother,” partied with the Bontas in limousines, and sat courtside with them at Warriors games.
Just months after those donations, Mia Bonta abstained on a bipartisan bill making the commercial sexual exploitation of children a serious felony under California’s Three Strikes law. She only reversed course after nationwide outrage and public threats forced her hand.
This is the same couple whose operation includes Mia running Oakland Promise without a valid federal 501(c)(3) determination. She filed IRS Form 990s using a duplicate EIN from another nonprofit in clear violation of California corporation law. While the organization operated in legal limbo, she collected base salaries of $160,625, $147,000, and $128,125 in different years. Rob Bonta used his position in the Legislature to behest corporate and lobbyist money directly into organizations paying his wife six figures, including a $25,000 transfer from his own foundation that he initially tried to disguise as a loan on tax filings.
Her 2021 campaign headquarters was located at 1241 High Street in Oakland — the exact former corporate address of Viridis Fuels, the failed biofuel company that received a $3.4 million state grant after Rob Bonta personally intervened with the California Energy Commission on behalf of its president, a donor with a documented history of tax liens and financial failure.
The Duong family and their associates, now federally indicted alongside former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao on bribery and corruption charges, pumped over $172,000 into Rob and Mia Bonta’s campaigns — more than 30x their average contribution to other local politicians. When the FBI raids hit, Rob returned $155,000 “out of an abundance of caution.” His campaign then spent nearly $469,000 on private legal counsel from one of the most expensive firms in the country to navigate the investigation, including after receiving a letter warning that one of the targets possessed a “compromising video” of the Attorney General.
While this was happening, Rob Bonta’s Department of Justice leaked the full personal data of over 240,000 Californians who held concealed carry permits — names, addresses, dates of birth, and license numbers — days after the Supreme Court struck down similar restrictions in Bruen. The same Attorney General who has positioned himself as a national champion of data privacy and sued companies for far less presided over one of the most reckless state-sponsored data breaches in California history.
Mia Bonta authored AB 2624, legislation already being called the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” by critics. It attempts to criminalize journalists and citizens who document misconduct by taxpayer-funded nonprofits and government contractors — the exact structures her own record shows were used to move money and shield operations from scrutiny.
Rob Bonta has used the powers of the Attorney General’s office to manipulate ballot language against tough-on-crime measures that later passed with overwhelming voter support, lost a 6-3 Supreme Court case for violating First Amendment donor privacy rights, and allowed foreign-linked money to flow into litigation he then personally promoted for political gain.
They function as one closed system. She advances the agenda and shields the nonprofit pipeline. He controls the Department of Justice, the budget fights, and the legal apparatus that protects the machine. When one is threatened, the other’s power is deployed. – at Oakland, CA
Rob Bonta’s donors took millions in free PPP money. Then they kept writing him checks.
Kevin Halpern at @SpearingSharks cross-referenced California campaign filings with the federal PPP database and found a pattern that is hard to ignore. Multiple elite firms and longtime Bonta backers received large, fully forgiven PPP loans during the pandemic. They later donated to his Attorney General campaigns.
The examples are specific. Durie Tangri, the firm co-founded by Ragesh Tangri, received $1,042,500 that was fully forgiven. Tangri has donated to every Bonta campaign from the Assembly onward. Keker Van Nest & Peters, where Bonta himself worked as a lawyer from 1999 to 2003, received $3,774,900 that was also fully forgiven. Keker lawyers have given Bonta 180 donations totaling roughly $187,000.
These are not struggling corner shops. They are high-end litigation firms with billionaire and corporate clients. Other state attorneys general have used their own theft, fraud, and false-statement statutes to pursue PPP cases. Bonta’s office has not shown the same interest in his own donor network.
The same circle appears again in the OpenAI nonprofit conversion. Tangri is counsel to OpenAI. Morrison Foerster, where Tangri’s firm later landed, is also heavily involved. Bonta approved the conversion that let OpenAI raise far larger sums. Keker is lead counsel for OpenAI in multiple copyright cases involving billions of pages of training data. The office that could have conditioned approval on settlements for creators instead cleared the path.
Bonta spent years branding himself the People’s Attorney. The record shows a tight San Francisco legal and donor network that took pandemic relief, kept donating, and then received favorable treatment on matters that generate ongoing legal fees.
The full donor and loan matching is public. – at California, USA
BontaFiles.com retweeted
Rob Bonta’s donors took millions in free PPP money. Then they kept writing him checks.
Kevin Halpern at @SpearingSharks cross-referenced California campaign filings with the federal PPP database and found a pattern that is hard to ignore. Multiple elite firms and longtime Bonta backers received large, fully forgiven PPP loans during the pandemic. They later donated to his Attorney General campaigns.
The examples are specific. Durie Tangri, the firm co-founded by Ragesh Tangri, received $1,042,500 that was fully forgiven. Tangri has donated to every Bonta campaign from the Assembly onward. Keker Van Nest & Peters, where Bonta himself worked as a lawyer from 1999 to 2003, received $3,774,900 that was also fully forgiven. Keker lawyers have given Bonta 180 donations totaling roughly $187,000.
These are not struggling corner shops. They are high-end litigation firms with billionaire and corporate clients. Other state attorneys general have used their own theft, fraud, and false-statement statutes to pursue PPP cases. Bonta’s office has not shown the same interest in his own donor network.
The same circle appears again in the OpenAI nonprofit conversion. Tangri is counsel to OpenAI. Morrison Foerster, where Tangri’s firm later landed, is also heavily involved. Bonta approved the conversion that let OpenAI raise far larger sums. Keker is lead counsel for OpenAI in multiple copyright cases involving billions of pages of training data. The office that could have conditioned approval on settlements for creators instead cleared the path.
Bonta spent years branding himself the People’s Attorney. The record shows a tight San Francisco legal and donor network that took pandemic relief, kept donating, and then received favorable treatment on matters that generate ongoing legal fees.
The full donor and loan matching is public. – at California, USA
BontaFiles.com retweeted
Rob Bonta's astonishing response when grilled on biggest voter fraud bust in California history trib.al/tusZqeU
BontaFiles.com retweeted
The big Oakland, Calif. federal corruption case begins in court today - the one in which Calif. Attorney General Rob Bonta says he spent $468,000 from his re-election campaign on private legal representation to assist federal prosecutors.
Bonta has consistently maintained he committed no wrongdoing and was not a target of the investigation.
SHENG THAO CORRUPTION TRIAL JUDGE STARTS DAY WITH A SHARP WARNING — Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers tells attorneys for both sides, “If you see a juror in an elevator, do not get in it!”
That came after a request from David Duong attorney, Ed Swanson, that the judge tell the jury that attorneys can’t speak to them outside of court.
Former Sheng Thao chief of staff Leigh Hanson back on stand after a full day Thursday.
BontaFiles.com retweeted
This just in: Paramount says its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery will close on Tuesday, Oct. 6 ir.wbd.com/news-and-events/f…
BontaFiles.com retweeted
Bonta wants State funded news in California……
Local journalism is vital to ensuring diverse sources of news content.
That’s why I’m supporting Assemblymember Ward & Assemblymember Wick’s #AB2222 offering tax incentives to local news outlets that hire qualifying journalists in CA.
Every community deserves access to quality local news.
BontaFiles.com retweeted
Why distraught Bonta 'caved across the board' on Paramount, 'he was close to tears' trib.al/odX8CHw
BontaFiles.com retweeted
Mia Bonta replaced her husband in the assembly when Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him attorney general, but while he warmed his wife’s seat, Bonta directed campaign funds, foundation money, and fundraising solicitations to nonprofits led by his wife. thevoicesf.org/as-an-assembl…
California Assemblywoman Mia Bonta collected a six-figure 501(c)3 nonprofit salary while her husband Attorney General Rob Bonta steered more than half a million dollars to the groups that employed her. She allegedly used these funds to purchase multiple Gucci bags.
That is not a rumor from a random account. CalMatters documented it years ago. While Rob Bonta sat in the Assembly, he solicited $517,500 in behested payments for nonprofits that paid his wife. The bulk was a $500,000 Google grant to Bring Me a Book, where she was a top executive. He also sent $21,000 in campaign cash to Literacy Lab while she was CEO there, then more money to Oakland Promise after she took that CEO job. They got letters saying the funds would not go to her salary. That is how you know the conflict was obvious.
Bob Stern, who helped write California’s Political Reform Act, said the law should be changed so politicians cannot do this. The law was not changed. Rob became Attorney General. Mia took Rob’s Assembly seat. She later chaired the budget subcommittee that oversees his Department of Justice.
Then she wrote AB 2624, the bill nicknamed the Stop Nick Shirley Act, after reporters started digging into the same family money trail.
He asks donors with business before the state to fund her nonprofits. She draws the paycheck. He becomes the state’s top cop. She writes a law that makes it harder to put cameras on the network.
That is not public service. That is a corrupt family business. – at California, USA
The files are public.
BontaFiles.com – at California, USA
thevoicesf.org/as-an-assembl… – at California, USA
Rob Bonta spent two months calling the Paramount-Warner Bros merger illegal. Today he cleared it.
He said it was a black-and-white antitrust case. He demanded structural breakups. He told CNBC behavioral promises would not fix the markets he sued over. He called Paramount’s threat to leave California blackmail. He said he was not talking settlement.
Then October 1 got close, the $7 million-a-day fee started staring him down, and the “People’s Attorney” folded.
What he took is a five-year homework packet. Release 30 movies. Spend $1.5 billion more in the U.S. Put $47.5 million in a worker fund. Negotiate cable channels separately. Install an editorial board. Stay in California for now.
That is not a breakup. That is David Ellison’s own talking points with a court stamp. No forced sale of CNN. No forced sale of the cable stack. The merger he called illegal is now on a path to close in October.
He even said at the press conference he still does not think these companies should merge. Then he signed the paper that lets them do it.
He gambled California’s film industry so he could play tough on TV. Then he lost. – at Los Angeles, CA
Explore the full record of Rob and Mia Bonta at BontaFiles.com. – at California, USA
Rob Bonta spent the summer calling Paramount’s California exit threat blackmail. This weekend he is the one begging for a settlement.
CNN says the AG who led the 12-state lawsuit to kill the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is now pressing to take a deal. His own coalition is cracking. New York wants more. Connecticut wants actual independence for CNN and CBS. At least two other states are holding out. Mark Ruffalo is telling him not to cave.
Bonta said the merger was illegal. He demanded structural breakups. He canceled talks and accused Paramount of leaking. He posed in front of the Hollywood sign like he was saving the industry.
Then the meter started running. Seven million dollars a day. An October 1 deadline. Suddenly the People’s Attorney is shopping promises, a film quota, and a please-don’t-leave-California clause.
Netflix-tied money helped put him in office. Netflix wins if this merger dies. Bonta played the hardliner until the bill came due. Now the states that followed him are watching him blink.
He did not stop the deal. He is trying to survive it. – at Los Angeles, CA
See the full Bonta family scam at BontaFiles.com. – at Los Angeles, CA



















