Oh What a Tangled Web They Weave
John Wolthuis is #3 on Engardio anti-recall campaign donor leaderboard
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott
Scott, in his poem — Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field, published in 1808 — illustrates how deceitful actions give rise to complex and chaotic consequences. He concludes that when one engages in dishonesty it becomes increasingly difficult to remove and unravel oneself from the web of lies — a cautionary reminder of the far-reaching repercussions of dishonesty and betrayal.
I thought about that a quote quite a bit lately, as I have been researching Joel Engario’s top donors for this series of essays here on my Substack.
John Wolthuis, CEO, Twilio and major Engardio donor
Just a reminder:
1. Chris Larsen ($200,000) — Crypto-bro, CEO of Ripple
2. Jeremy Stoppelman ($175,000) — PayPal Mafia, Tech-bro, CEO of Yelp
3. John Wolthuis ($100,000) — Tech-bro, CEO of Twilio
John Wolthuis is a bit out of synch with Chris and Jeremy. Or perhaps it is more difficult to bring Wolthuis’ part in all of this into focus.
I have written before about these large donors to Engardio’s anti-recall campaign.
The Wolthuis trail, however, is more difficult to follow. He has loudly proclaimed that he believes that the influence of business in American politics needs to be reduced. But then he turns around and throws a handful of $25,000 checks to Joel Engardio.
Wolthuis has tallied large donations to Democrats seeking the Presidency and other federal offices, huge amounts. Perhaps he thinks the influence of billionaire oligarchs should replace the influence of corporations, maybe that explains the disconnect.
Wolthuis has not been shy about giving to candidates and causes. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on giving in the 2024 federal election cycle — These are the 50 San Francisco residents making the biggest campaign donations this election (September 2, 2024), Lydia Sidhom and Leila Darwiche — which examined “data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to find the top San Francisco donors to federal candidates and committees in the [2024] election cycle.” The data analyzed came from the June 30, 2024, FEC report.
The number four donor on the Chronicle 50 list was John Wolthuis at just shy of $2.3 million, which is quite impressive. His contributions went almost exclusively to Democratic candidates and state Democratic parties. By way of comparison, Chis Larsen came in seventh on that list, certainly did not restrict his giving to Democrats and his total given in that cycle was $1.88 million.
[San Francisco Chronicle top 7 donors in 2024 election cycle — FEC data, 6/30/24]
So, John Wolthuis has been a big political donor, and it is not easy to tease apart all of Wolthuis other political and philanthropic giving. But it does appear that he had been behaving more as a sort of free-agent and not joining the Chris Larson & Jeremy Stoppelman crypto & tech bro club, at least not until recently.
In the first months of 2024, somebody in the PayPal Mafia or the Grow-Abundant-Neighbors-Together tech & crypto bro cult got John Wolthuis to sit down for a cup of coffee — or whatever billionaires drink for this type of meeting — and sold him on their billionaires’ plan to take control of the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) in San Francisco.
That hypothetical meeting took place on or about February 13, 2024. Because it was almost Valentine’s Day, maybe they ate chocolates. I’ll bet it was hot chocolate with a peppermint stick, there you go. Whatever they drank, wherever they met, whomever he met with, John Wolthuis left that meeting $50,000 lighter.
Of course, I don’t KNOW that any of that happened. But what I do know is that on February 13, 2024, John Wolthius threw $50,000 into the pot over at Families for a Vibrant SF, a new, tech-bro heavy San Francisco PAC.
Why this particular tech-bro PAC? What was the pitch that pulled Wolthuis into the tech-bro club, or perhaps deeper into the tech-bro club? Families for a Vibrant SF was where the tech & crypto-bros had decided to pool their money to support a push for Abundant-YIMBY Moderates, in partnership with more conservative traditional Moderates, to claim a majority of the seats on the DCCC.
Families for a Vibrant SF was the largest single donor to DCCC races in 2024. And the PAC had already given out about $240,000 when Wolthuis threw in his $50K. Vibrant SF PAC still had at least another $200,000, which the PAC had already “raised” by mid-February, to intermingle with Wolthuis’ cash when he came aboard. My research indicates that virtually all of that cash was also poured into DCCC races as well, bringing the Families for a Vibrant SF contributions to just shy of $500,000 across more than a dozen DCCC races. Chris Larsen and other members of the tech & crypto bros club also gave money directly to a handful of specific DCCC candidates.
On March 5, 2024, when the dust settled and the Moderates were firmly in charge, faction lines between Tech-bro/YIMBYs and Traditionalist Mods were largely painted over by all of that tech & crypto cash and the excitement of winning the day.
Cracks in that internal alliance have begun to appear more recently — like in the Recall of Joel Engardio — but that is a different story. Right now, we are considering the trajectory of the political engagement of John Wolthuis.
“A spider spinning its web intends, whether conscious of the outcome or not, to catch a fly. That is the meaning of the web.” E. O. Wilson, American biologist
One year, nearly to the day, from when Wolthuis was inducted into the tech & crypto-bro club, seems his annual dues came up for renewal. On February 11, 2025 Chris Larsen and Jeremy Stoppelman came knocking, figuratively at least, to pick up that renewal, but this time they were talking about saving Supervisor Joel Engardio’s political career.
John ponied up his club dues in four $25,000 installments — on February 11th, April 8th and May 22nd — the day that the Recall Engardio Campaign submitted 10,985 signatures to the Department of Elections on the official petition to put the Recall of Joel Engardio on the ballot. And then, for good measure, John gave one more $25,000 check on June 24th.
[SFethics.org]
I must admit, honestly, that I do not understand John Wolthuis’ motivation, nor his turn toward the dark side, if indeed he was ever really turned away from it. I do not know enough about John to fully understand his actions in this arena. And perhaps I never will.
However, I know what I know. And I know that if there was ever any truth to the things that John Wolthuis said prior to 2024, then he must be very internally conflicted now. If he is not conflicted now, then he was not being honest back then, least of all with himself.
John Crabtree
P.S. Meanwhile, the Recall Engardio Campaign trudges forward. The campaign does not have enough money, but I guess that is, as they say, what it is. As for me, I am happy. I am happy because I would rather spend an entire lifetime in rightful struggle, win or lose, than spend one day in the hell of unprincipled compromise. Joel Engardio, Chris Larsen, Jeremy Stoppelman and John Wolthuis cannot even say that because they are already spending each and every day in the hell of unprincipled compromise. Sorry fellas, I don’t think you can get it back now… JBC
P.P.S. Tomorrow my tour down the Engardio donor leaderboard turns to Big Donor #4 — the SF Police Officers Association. Good news is that the research is done and unlike John Wolthuis, following the SFPOA’s money is a much straighter line and understanding their motivation is a much easier task… JBC
