California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) pledged in October 2022 to combat anti-Semitism "wherever it rears its ugly head." But when a powerful California National Guard general was credibly accused of denigrating a Jewish subordinate as a "kike" lawyer, Newsom's Military Department dismissed the allegations on a technicality, and the governor promoted the alleged perpetrator, Matthew Beevers, to lead the state's National Guard.
In June 2022, the National Guard's top two leaders held a private meeting to discuss a funding request from the California State Guard, a state militia with approximately 1,200 volunteers that supports its National Guard counterpart. At the time, the State Guard was led by Major General Jay Coggan, a Jewish attorney.
Not long into the meeting, the then-head of the California National Guard, Dave Baldwin, got the sense that that Beevers, his deputy, didn't like "something fundamental" about the volunteer militia. Later in the conversation, Baldwin's hunch was allegedly confirmed, California Military Department Inspector General records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.
"The SMR is run by a bunch of kike lawyers," Beevers, a Democrat, allegedly told his superior officer, referring to the "State Military Reserve," a former name for the State Guard. Baldwin admonished Beevers on the spot.
"He kind of, you know, rolled his eyes and was a little bit dismissive," Baldwin later told investigators. "I was kind of taken aback because I mean, that's—as I understand it, using the word kike is like using the N word."
Coggan caught wind of the alleged exchange and in November 2022 filed a complaint with the California Military Department Inspector General's office. One month later, in December 2022, Newsom's administration ordered an investigation into Beevers's comments.
But just weeks later, in January 2023, the California Military Department Inspector General closed its probe on a technicality. Though Baldwin testified to the "kike lawyers" comment under oath, investigators said there was "insufficient evidence" to substantiate the allegation because Baldwin didn't file a written report of the incident to the California National Guard Adjutant General, a position he himself held at the time. Beevers also denied making the comment.
Baldwin retired in July 2022, at which time Beevers took over as the California National Guard's acting adjutant general. After the Newsom administration cleared Beevers of the anti-Semitism allegations, the governor appointed Beevers to lead the guard in May 2023.
Newsom spokesman Izzy Gardon told the Free Beacon that the allegations against Beevers "were thoroughly and independently investigated by the appropriate authorities and were found to be fully unsubstantiated." But the inspector general, Saul Rangel, in the Jan. 2023 report did not disprove that Beevers made the comment. He also recommended that Beevers's office undergo mandatory Equal Employment Opportunity training.
"If the alleged offensive remark was made, [Major General] Baldwin testified that he believed he took appropriate action by issuing a verbal admonishment," Rangel reported. "Absent additional witnesses or documentary evidence, this office is unable to substantiate this allegation."
As head of the California National Guard, Beevers used his authority to bring the hammer down on Coggan and the State Guard, according to documents obtained by the Free Beacon and interviews with several current and former senior California National Guard members.
In January 2023, Beevers cut off a critical line of funding for the State Guard. As an all-volunteer force, State Guard service members are only compensated when they're called for active duty—service members have to pay their own way for training events and other activities.
That's where the California State Guard Foundation used to come in. A now-defunct charity that was chaired by Coggan, the foundation helped State Guard members pay for service-related expenses that typically would have come out of their own pockets.
Beevers put a stop to that. He issued a memo on January 24, 2023, prohibiting the State Guard from accepting "gifts" from any outside group. Any donations to the State Guard to support its service members, Beevers ruled, must be conveyed through the California Military Department Foundation, a fund he controlled. When Coggan's charity attempted to get around the rule by making a $137,680 contribution to the foundation, the Beevers-controlled fund refused to accept it, according to records obtained by the Free Beacon.
California Military Department spokesman Lt. Col. Brandon Hill would not say why the department refused to accept the contribution through legally available channels.
"The State Guard had previously accepted funds illegally," Hill said. "This practice was stopped by Major General Beevers."
The California State Guard Foundation dissolved in March 2024 and donated its remaining funds—which totaled approximately $170,000—to the Veterans Legal Institute, according to charity records obtained by the Free Beacon.
"We believe the State Guard could be more of an integral part of emergency response for the state of California. Beevers thinks it's a waste of time and doesn't like it," a former senior State Guard official told the Free Beacon. "He wanted the State Guard to die."
Beevers also went after Coggan and the State Guard in pettier ways.
On December 22, 2022, just weeks after Coggan filed his anti-Semitism complaint, Beevers abruptly denied the State Guard's participation in an upcoming parade.
"I'm denying the CSG's mounted unit participation in this year's Rose Parade," Beevers wrote to Coggan in an email obtained by the Free Beacon. "The main issue is that we don't know to what standard the mounted team is trained, or even if they were trained, to operate in such an environment."
Beevers's email blindsided Coggan. The California Military Department's public affairs office had historically approved the State Guard's request for its mounted unit to participate in the parade. Organizers had already informed the public that the unit would participate.
"This unit has ridden in dozens of events and parades over the past 9 years without any incident," Coggan responded to Beevers in an email the next day. "There have been public announcements and national press about California participation, and it would certainly be embarrassing to the Department not have the representation of the State Unit show up when expected."
Beevers later relented and allowed the State Guard to participate in the parade after Coggan produced a flurry of paperwork proving his force was capable.
"Upon being presented the salient facts with the corresponding Military Department staff assessment, Major General Beevers approved the proposal," Hill, the California Military Department spokesman, told the Free Beacon.
Coggan retired as commander of the State Guard in May 2023. The Jewish general felt that Beevers's personal animus toward him was damaging his force and that his departure was the best remaining option to stop the bleeding.
Months later, Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attack prompted anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence across the United States. Beevers's response to the attack also prompted concerns from rank-and-file California National Guardsmen.
Several active Jewish service members referred to the service-wide memo Beevers issued on Oct. 18, which did not criticize Hamas, did not condemn the terrorist rampage, and referred to "an immensely complex and sensitive issue that has evoked strong emotions from so many." That memo, the service members told the Free Beacon, confirmed their worst fears about Beevers.
"I was astonished," a Jewish member of the California National Guard told the Free Beacon. "He drew a moral equivalency between Israel and Hamas, a terrorist organization that was holding American hostages."
"When that memo came out, the Secretary of Defense, the president, even Gavin Newsom were saying something completely different," the service member added. "It was a gut punch." Indeed, on the afternoon of Oct. 7, Newsom issued a statement saying there was no justification for the Hamas attacks and unequivocally expressed his support for Israel.
"People who make false moral equivalencies between Jews and terrorists are anti-Semites," another Jewish member of the California National Guard told the Free Beacon. "That memo read as if it was written by an anti-Semite, which is why so many of us Jewish service members are so angered by it."