Gov. Newsom's staff changes story on funding for 'personal' Mexico whale-watching trip, report says

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Our media partner, the San Francisco Standard, is digging into a "fishy" story involving Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Last year, Newsom took part in a whale-watching tour in Mexico that his staff had initially called a "personal trip."

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But as the Standard reports in a new article, the governor's staff has since changed their story, and we're learning a nonprofit paid for the excursion.

Gabe Greschler, the Standard's politics reporter who wrote the article, joined ABC7 News to give more details.

Watch the full interview in the player above.

Izzy Gardon, Governor Newsom's Director of Communications, released the following statement:
"We've identified a clerical error with the Governor's Form 700 related to the SF Standard's inquiry. The gifting entity was mistakenly listed as 'One Earth,' when it should have been listed as 'Re-Earth,' the organization that sponsored the educational trip. We've corrected this with an amended public filing to the FPPC - listing Re-Earth as the gifting entity."

Gardon says following Gabe's inquiry the Governor's office noticed a clerical error on the Governor's Form 700 indicating one of his staffers confused the two organizations.

"The Governor participated in this educational trip on his personal time, accompanied by members of his administration working on environmental protection and conservation. The trip was focused on conservation and understanding the challenges facing marine ecosystems - which are crucial to California's environment and economy. To avoid any burden on taxpayers, the trip was funded by a nonprofit and was fully disclosed to the public on the Governor's Form 700 - in complete compliance with all legal, ethical, and reporting requirements."