Alex Padilla is Governor Gavin Newsom’s diversity appointment who filled the Senate seat vacated by Kamala Harris. As the first Latino Senator from the State of California, it was the usual Kabuki theater and fanfare in the announcement of his appointment, with a video of Newsom calling Padilla, and Padilla weeping, making the rounds.

Unfortunately, we can expect another 5 million puff pieces from political outlets to be spewed out today, half of them on Padilla.

One of those puff pieces is a CalMatters interview where reporter Laurel Rosenhall asked Padilla about his “historic” appointment, and the business of the Senate with the looming Trump Impeachment II trial. Rosenhall wanted to know what Padilla’s approach would be in addressing the Impeachment charges.

Padilla responded,

“I will respect the process of the hearing in the Senate, as a juror. But Donald Trump, and a lot of his enablers, must be held accountable.”

When Rosenhall pressed further, asking whether he would vote to censure or expel Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, Padilla said, in part,

“Yes, I think they have to be held accountable.”

I’ll take “Accountability” for $35 million, Alex! You see, thanks to his appointment by Newsom, Padilla gets to escape the mess he left as Secretary of State by approving, without proper permission, a $35 million no-bid contract to SKDKnickerbocker.

Secretary Alex Padilla Facing Lawsuit Over $35 Million Contract with ‘Team Biden’ PR Firm – https://t.co/ZBJASRqTK8 pic.twitter.com/kJaS4nAXRQ

— California Globe (@CaliforniaGlobe) October 13, 2020

I wrote back in November,

“Under the Emergency Orders issued by Governor Gavin Newsom, Secretary of State Alex Padilla entered a controversial $35 million no-bid contract with SKDKnickerbocker, a company with ties to the Biden campaign, and claimed it was to educate people on the new form of mail-in voting due to the pandemic.”

As Secretary of State, Padilla had no authorization to approve this taxpayer-funded contract. State Controller Betty Yee, who holds the power of disbursements, had previously told SOS Padilla that the transaction would not be approved.

Padilla went above Yee’s head and did it anyway.

Dan Ball of One America News Network interviewed California State Senator Melissa Melendez on the details of the matter.

In another “get to know Alex Padilla” piece by a local CBS8 station, they write:

“[T]he contract also didn’t go over well with the state’s Democratic controller, Betty Yee, who is responsible for approving all state government payments. According to Yee’s staff, Padilla’s office planned to draw the necessary $35 million from a pot of cash that was supposed to fund county government voter outreach operations. In a letter Padlla wrote to Yee, he argued that the SKDKnickerbocker campaign was being conducted ‘on behalf of counties.’ “

The commercials and GOTV information has already been disseminated, so the work has been done and the money is now owing. Because California is a Democrat Super Majority, the votes in the Presidential election were called early, and called for Biden. California leads the way… in voter fraud.

It seems the SKDKnickerbocker contract served its ultimate purpose. We have a Biden-Harris presidency, and Padilla has himself a Senate seat.

As per usez, Gavin Newsom has been mum on the details of this deal, and refuses to comment. RecallGavin2020.com could not come sooner.

In a press conference after Newsom announced his Senate appointment, Padilla claimed that he would resolve the SKDKnickerbocker issue before he ascended to his Senate seat:

“As California’s Secretary of State prepares to take a new job as U.S. Senator, he’s not going to let a politically charged $35 million invoice get in the way of a smooth promotion.

“In a press conference Wednesday, Alex Padilla assured reporters that the multimillion-dollar tab his office owes to SKDKnickerbocker, a Biden-affiliated PR shop, will be ‘resolved soon.’ ”

Well, it’s swearing in day, and Padilla is nowhere near California or the Secretary of State’s office, and last I saw, there is no indication on who will pay for the SKDKnickerbocker contract. So, it appears that the taxpayers are still on the hook for that $35 million. With half the state out of work, not sure where they plan to pull that money from. Maybe out of Newsom’s greasy scalp.

But Padilla is going to hold Trump enablers and two Senators “accountable”.

As Inigo Montoya said in The Princess Bride, “You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means.”