Team Owner's Apparent About-Face Stirs Giant Controversy

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — When published reports earlier this year surfaced that an embattled San Francisco Giants owner had contributed to the campaign of a far-right QAnon backer, Charles B. Johnson pledged to seek a refund from the conspiracy theorist and promised to “reject and denounce” anyone who dishonored the Constitution or publicly supported or assisted violence.

All indications are that Johnson has broken that pledge.

The Giants principal owner with a propensity for funding the far right has contributed the maximum allowable amount to U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker, SFGate reports.

Walker is challenging incumbent Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock in the 2022 race with the backing of former President Donald Trump.

Walker, a former Heisman Trophy winner, Olympian, and NFL and USFL star, haspublicly promoted Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud and backed conspiracy theories endorsed by MAGA-land attorneys Lin Wood and Sydney Powell.

Walker in a Jan. 6 tweet implied that the insurrection on the Capitol was a “false flag” event.

“Have you noticed were not talking about election fraud and election integrity now? Seems like this was well planned to shut everything down and run the clock out,” Walker tweeted.

In a Jan. 4 tweet two days before the insurrection, Walker called for “TRUE PATRIOTS” to act against unsubstantiated claims of election fraud with the former President’s backing.

“Lin Wood's tweets are eye opening along with Country wide election fraud,” Walker tweeted.

“America needs a total cleansing only @realDonaldTrump can do with the help of TRUE PATRIOTS. Let's get back to real Law & Order and prosecute all the bad actors. Whatever it takes to get the job done.”

Johnson’s pledge not to contribute to far-right candidates or causes followed a San Francisco Chronicle report earlier this year that he and his wife, Ann, each contributed the maximum allowable amount of $2,800 to the 2020 campaign of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), according to the report, which cites Federal Election Commission filings.

Boebert does not identify as a QAnon follower but has expressed support for the far-right conspiracy group that purports to believe the world is run by an elite group of Satan worshippers running a global child sex-trafficking ring, and that a "deep state" is engaged in a secretive war against Trump. QAnon has been classified by the FBI asa domestic terror threat, USA Today reports.

Boebert in May of 2020 said in a since-deleted YouTube video she hopes QAnon "is real because it only means America is getting stronger and better and people are returning to conservative values," Axios reports.

In July of 2020 the conservative firebrand told Axios she was glad the inspector general and attorney general "are investigating deep state activities that undermine the president." Such probes are not known to exist.

Boebert faced calls to resign after tweeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's whereabouts during the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol as rioters were heard saying they were "coming for" Pelosi in video of the mob incursion.

Boebert's former campaign manager, Sherronna Bishop, has expressed support for the Proud Boys, a far-right neo-fascist group involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection and classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group, ABC News reports.

In other markets, a team owner’s political contributions to far right candidates and causes might not generate much buzz, but his role with the team has been called into question in one of the nation’s bluest media markets.

In 2018, the Giants faced boycott calls when Johnson plunged the team into controversy over his $1,000 contribution to a super PAC that ran a racially charged radio ad, USA Today reports.

Black Americans for the President's Agenda posted the ad amid Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination battle in which he faced sexual assault allegations.

"What will happen to our husbands, our fathers or our sons when white girls lie on them?" a woman is heard in the ad asking.

"White Democrats will be lynching black folk again," another person replies.

Johnson also contributed $5,400 to the 2018 senatorial campaign of Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), The Chronicle reports.

Hyde-Smith said amid her campaign that if invited to a public hanging, "I'd be in the front row," remarks viewed as especially incendiary considering Mississippi's history of lynchings, The Washington Post reports. Hyde-Smith later apologized for the remark.

Both donations were returned upon his request, The Chronicle reports.

The Giants issued a statement obliquely addressing Johnson's contributions amid the 2018 controversy. The statement did not mention the team's controversial owner by name.

"In no way does the Giants organization condone any racist and hateful language and behavior by anyone. It is abhorrent and in direct conflict with the core values of the San Francisco Giants," the team said.

Johnson' prolific support of conservative candidates was the subject of a Deadspin article listing all those to whom he has contributed.

In a 2018 interview with The Chronicle Johnson said he understood the concerns of fans in one of the nation's most progressive regions but that he has no plans to divest his ownership stake.

"I'm sorry that they feel that way," Johnson told the news outlet.

"I try to do the best thing that I can. Some things are good and some things are mistakes, and you live the best way you can with your own philosophy."

Johnson’s ties to the far right have roiled some of the team’s staunchest supporters.

Longtime Giants public address announcer Renel Brooks-Moon expressed her frustration with the team’s owner in a tweet Tuesday morning.

“I’m just at my wit’s end,” Brooks-Moon tweeted.

“I’ve voiced my concerns and frustrations (as well as those that many fans have shared with me).”

Read more in SFGate