They both refuse to answer pressing questions.

While the world wonders what on earth is going on with Kate Middleton (Is it just amateur editing or are multiple pictures merged? What’s with the two types of bricks? Seriously, where is she and is she ok?!), here in California, we have our own mystery brewing, and it’s called PaneraGate.

To recap: a billionaire buddy and donor of Gavin Newsom’s, Greg Flynn, was recently launched into the spotlight when Bloomberg discovered that Flynn’s many Panera Bread locations across California would benefit from a carveout that exempts them from the ill-conceived AB 1228 - a fast food minimum wage increase to $20/hour. Bloomberg also reported that Newsom personally pushed for this exemption, which very specifically applies to restaurant chains that bake and sell their own bread.

Similar to Princess Kate who waited 24 hours to blame her amateur editing skills, Newsom’s office waited 24 hours to offer a weak response and called these pay-to-play accusations “absurd,” claiming Panera isn’t even a part of the exemption. Right.

So who does the exemption apply to, if not Panera? Does Panera agree that it doesn’t apply to Panera? How did this exemption come to be? What was Flynn’s role, who was an outspoken critic of AB 1228? Why did Newsom push for the exemption? Why didn’t the Democrat author of this job-killing bill know about the exemption or participate in final negotiations?

Gavin Newsom calls it all “part of the sausage-making,” and unfortunately, that’s all we may ever know.

The powerful SEIU forced all participants in the bill negotiation to sign non-disclosure agreements, sacrificing transparency in the process and raising even more questions about potential backroom dealings that favor friends of Newsom. Even Democrat Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire is aghast at the tactic, telling KCRA, "I have never been involved in a negotiation that has included a non-disclosure agreement during my tenure in the Legislature – full stop.”

California Legislative Republicans are rightly calling foul. They are urging Newsom to publicly disclose any documents related to this bill’s exemption negotiations and calling for Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate the matter.