SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 6 (Our California Times) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump and the Justice Department on Monday of mounting a politically motivated investigation into him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, calling it a “fishing expedition” and a “hit list.”
But people familiar with the matter said some federal investigative activity tied to Newsom’s orbit began during the Biden administration, before Trump returned to office. Those sources said the inquiries started in California, including Sacramento, and grew out of whistleblowers and local complaints rather than at Justice Department headquarters in Washington.
The exact scope of the inquiries remains unclear. Sources familiar with the matter said there have been at least two criminal investigations in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California for about a year.
One of those inquiries involved former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson, who pleaded guilty in May in a separate corruption case that did not implicate the governor.
In his post, Newsom said Trump was targeting him because he is considering a presidential run and said the probe also reaches his wife. The reports reviewed for this article did not identify public charges against Newsom.
