California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Monday, June 15, that President Donald Trump has directed federal authorities to investigate him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, in what he characterized as a politically motivated attack targeting his potential 2028 presidential campaign.
“Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list. He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us,” Newsom said in a post on X, accompanied by a video statement posted to YouTube.
In the video, the Democratic governor said law enforcement officials visited the homes of personal contacts and past staff members between June 10 and June 14. “Not because they’ve found a crime, but because they’re trying to find one,” Newsom said, describing the probe as a fishing expedition designed to manufacture charges against him.
Newsom directly linked the investigation to his political opposition to Trump and his consideration of a White House run. “Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” he said. “He’s coming after me because I’m considering running for president.”
According to aides who briefed reporters Monday afternoon, over a dozen individuals received visits from federal law enforcement regarding the couple, the aides said. Some questions involved specific financial transactions that indicated investigators had subpoenaed business records and credit card statements. However, the governor’s team said they were not aware of any subpoenas issued directly to Newsom or his wife.
The focus of the probe appears to be centered on Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and founder of two nonprofits focused on women’s empowerment: The Representation Project and California Partners Project. Investigators contacted Siebel Newsom at the couple’s home in the past week, according to the governor.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to the BBC that there were “several investigations ongoing” for roughly a year. The source said the investigations “all originated out of California, working through whistleblowers and government sources” and denied Trump’s direct involvement. Federal prosecutors in the state capital of Sacramento, working out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, are handling the investigations, the source said.
One investigation pertains to Siebel Newsom’s taxes, according to the source, while another relates to Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson. Williamson pleaded guilty in May to federal charges including plotting bank and wire fraud, filing a false tax return, and lying to investigators in a case out of the Eastern District of California. Prosecutors said Williamson took part in a scheme to divert campaign money from an account belonging to Xavier Becerra for the benefit of one of his associates. Newsom and Becerra, now serving as U.S. attorney general under President Joe Biden during his previous term, were not implicated in the Williamson case.
Authorities may be reviewing financial records from Siebel Newsom’s charitable organizations and examining whether contributors seeking government business received favorable treatment, according to reports from multiple outlets.
A “fact sheet” released by Newsom’s office stated that the probe has grown to encompass more personal aspects of the governor’s family and associates since late May and mid-June, after Todd Blanche—President Trump’s personal attorney—took over as acting head of the Department of Justice.
Newsom fiercely defended his wife, stating that she “has done nothing wrong, other than having the temerity to advocate for what she believes in.” He criticized the administration for targeting his family, saying: “If they can’t intimidate me, they’ll go after the mother of our children. Donald Trump picked the wrong target. We have nothing to hide.”
The California governor also delivered a direct message to the president, saying Trump could pursue him but should not involve his family in what Newsom called a personal vendetta.
Newsom’s office on Monday evening requested the Trump administration disclose documents related to the probe, sharing a Freedom of Information Act filing on social media. “The American people deserve to know who ordered this abuse of power and how far it goes,” Newsom said.
Newsom portrayed the investigation as part of a broader pattern of political persecution by Trump. “One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hitlist. And today, I proudly join that list,” he said in his video statement.
The governor accused Trump of corruption and abuse of power, saying: “Donald Trump is simply the most corrupt president in history.” He added: “This is the behavior of a regime, not a republic.”
The reported investigation marks Newsom as the first potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate to be targeted by a federal investigation under Trump’s second term. Since 2024, the Justice Department has opened prosecutions or investigations into prominent Trump critics or political adversaries. In all of those cases, Trump had publicly urged Justice Department officials to go after them, and all have denied wrongdoing.
Federal prosecutors have twice brought charges against former FBI Director James Comey. A judge threw out the first case after finding the prosecutor leading the case was improperly appointed, while the second case is ongoing. Comey has denied wrongdoing.
The Justice Department also unsuccessfully sought to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James, who took Trump and his businesses to court over financial fraud allegations during his first term. Additionally, Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who led Trump’s first impeachment inquiry, has been targeted by federal investigators.
Top federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., also opened an inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before dropping it after the investigation threatened to derail Senate approval of Trump’s nominee to replace Powell.
Newsom’s allegations echo a historical pattern. In 2019, Trump attempted to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into announcing a corruption investigation into Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election. That effort led to Trump’s first impeachment by the House of Representatives.
Newsom and Trump have clashed repeatedly throughout the president’s second term over issues ranging from wildfire management and immigration to redistricting and the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard to California. Trump frequently refers to Newsom by the derogatory nickname “Newscum” in social media posts.
Newsom has raised his visibility nationwide by presenting himself as Trump’s antagonist. His communications team regularly uses social media to ridicule the president’s online behavior, and he initiated an effort to redraw California’s congressional boundaries after Trump encouraged Republican states to do the same before upcoming midterm elections. The state has filed more than 60 lawsuits against the Trump administration during its current term, including challenging the deployment of military forces to Los Angeles last summer.
Political commentators have long speculated that Newsom will use his elevated platform to seek the presidency in the 2028 election, making him a potential threat to Trump’s preferred successor or continued political influence.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom has faced growing criticism from conservative voices since March as her husband has become a leading Democratic prospect for the presidential nomination. Right-wing figures have attacked her advocacy for workplace equality and women’s rights. Conservative commentator Steve Hilton has referred to the Newsoms as a “grifter family.”
The White House referred NBC News to the Department of Justice for comment on the investigation. The DOJ, FBI, and IRS all declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.