Governor’s former communications director charged with domestic violence

An attorney and prominent advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing two domestic violence charges related to an Oct. 18 incident, according to the Napa County district attorney.

Nathan F. Ballard, 51, is a graduate of UC Hastings College of Law and the founder of The Press Shop. The San Francisco-based firm bills itself as a "full-service public relations agency" with expertise in "high-stakes" crisis communications. Ballard served as Newsom's communications director while he was mayor of the city and has maintained close ties to the governor.

"We did send over a two-count felony complaint today to be filed with the court, one count of domestic violence against his spouse and one county of child abuse," assistant district attorney Paul R. Gero said when reached on Thursday.

Gero said Ballard was arrested on Oct. 20 and released the same day on $75,000 bail. Ballard is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 29 in Napa Superior Court, Gero added.

The Napa court's website also shows that Ballard's wife filed a domestic violence restraining order against him on Oct. 19. She filed for a divorce four days later, according to records shown on the Marin County Superior Court website.

The incident was first reported in Politico on Thursday. That story stated the incident occurred at an expensive resort and involved one adult victim and two children. It reported that Ballard was intoxicated on alcohol and cannabis at the time; he allegedly pushed the adult woman into a door and then "attempted to suffocate the child victim with [a] pillow."

Ballard defense attorney, Anthony J. Brass, denied his client had been violent towards his wife or children.

"I am confident that my client, Nathan Ballard, will be fully acquitted of these charges after the District Attorney's Office has a chance to review the facts and learn all sides of the story," Brass said in a statement sent by text.

Brass said Ballard "has a spotless ethical record" and "no criminal record." He added that Ballard had been sober for the last eight years until April, after the death of his father.

Ballard is a former deputy San Francisco city attorney. According to his website, he is "a 'preeminent media whisperer' who represents 'a veritable Yellow Pages of powerful clients.'" These have included former Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic National Committee, and the Golden State Warriors, among others. He has also served as a spokesman for the wealthy Getty family, which has business ties with Newsom, including after the death of John Getty last month.

Ballard was a board member with The Representation Project, an organization founded by California First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom to fight gender and racial stereotypes, though his name did not appear on the board member list on the Project's website on Thursday. On Oct. 28, days after the alleged Napa incident, Marin magazine published Ballard's glowing profile of the Newsoms, which hinted at a possible future presidential run by the governor.

-- Malcolm Maclachlan