By Maya C. Miller,
Wendy Fry and Lynn La
CalMatters Writers
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday accused President Donald Trump of placing him and his wife on a political “hit list” and directing federal investigators to go on a “fishing expedition” for a crime it could use to indict him.
The Democratic governor declared that the president was targeting him because Newsom is considering a run for president in 2028.
“In recent days, federal agents have knocked on the doors of family friends and former employees,” Newsom said in the video. “Not because they found a crime, but because they simply are trying to find one.”
Newsom stated that he was “proud” to join Trump’s so-called “enemies list” that has also included former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former vice presidential candidate.
According to a person in the Department of Justice who is familiar with the investigation, there have been at least two criminal investigations into Newsom ongoing for a year in the Eastern District of California.
They originated from whistleblowers and people in Sacramento regarding the first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s taxes and the separate investigation into Newsom’s former chief of staff Dana Williamson, who pleaded guilty in May in a corruption scandal that has not implicated the governor.
Newsom’s office characterized the investigative activity as an unfounded attack federal prosecutors undertook when they hit a dead end with the Williamson investigation. Investigators have been digging into private and “deeply personal matters” of the Newsom family, including the couple’s marriage, his office said.
The governor claimed that federal agents were demanding records and “abusing the grand jury process” by “digging through years and years of random documents.” Neither the governor nor Siebel Newsom have received subpoenas yet, Newsom’s office said, but he “looks forward” to receiving them.
Newsom’s office told reporters that given how specific some of the investigators’ questions were, they believe federal agents have issued subpoenas for the financial records for businesses associated with the Newsoms.
Newsom came to office with a successful hospitality company called PlumpJack, which he has placed in a blind trust. Siebel Newsom is a filmmaker who leads nonprofit groups called the California Partners Project and the Representation Project.
Newsom solicited at least $1.9 million in charitable payments known as “behested payments” in 2024 and 2025 for Siebel Newsom’s California Partners Project, which champions gender equity, including $1 million from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, according to disclosure reports filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission.
His office said federal agents have contacted more than a dozen friends, former employees, business associates, donors, and organizations connected to the Newsoms but did not specify further.
The accusations first came in a fiery video statement released Monday, but provided no concrete evidence that the president had orchestrated such a probe and did not identify any of the associated groups or people he said the Justice Department was looking into.
Newsom’s office insists that the department is hunting for a new crime to pin on the governor after coming up empty-handed following its arrest of Williamson. That initial probe was first opened by the Department of Justice during the Biden administration.
Williamson was indicted on wire fraud charges for funneling money from a dormant campaign account belonging to Xavier Becerra, the former Biden health secretary and the frontrunner to succeed Newsom as governor.
An attorney for Williamson, Matthew Rowan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The White House referred questions about Newsom’s comments to the Department of Justice. A Department of Justice spokesperson did not immediately respond.
“You can subpoena my records. You can investigate me. You can harass me. Put my name on any and every enemies list that you have,” Newsom said. “But leave my wife and family out of your personal vendetta.”
