Newsom accuses – California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the Justice Department is pursuing investigations into him and his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, at President Trump’s direction, describing federal visits to friends and former employees and accusing prosecutors
For the second time in a week, Gavin Newsom said the president’s reach felt like it had found a new doorway.
In a video address Monday. the California governor accused the Justice Department of launching what he called a baseless. politically motivated investigation into him and his wife. First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom—pushed. in his account. by President Donald Trump. Newsom told viewers that Trump had directed the Justice Department to investigate him after Newsom called for Trump’s arrest last year. and that Trump’s campaign has since “reached my own home” by “coming after my wife. Jen.”.
Newsom denied any wrongdoing by him or his wife. He also said federal agents in recent days had knocked on the doors of family friends and former employees. demanding records and. as he put it. “digging through years and years of random documents” while “abusing the grand jury process” in search of wrongdoing.
“Not because they found a crime. Because they are simply trying to find one,” Newsom said.
The White House declined to respond to Newsom’s claims about Trump’s alleged involvement, referring questions to the Justice Department, which declined to comment.
There are two federal probes underway, a source familiar with the matter told The Times. The source. who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. said one investigation is related to Newsom’s former chief of staff. Dana Williamson. and the other concerns Siebel Newsom’s taxes. The source said both investigations have been ongoing for about a year and were launched by federal prosecutors in Sacramento based on information provided by whistleblowers and other local sources in California. not on directives from Washington or the White House.
Lauren Horwood, a spokesperson for the office of U.S. Atty. Eric Grant, a Trump appointee who oversees federal prosecutors in Sacramento, said the office “does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.” Siebel Newsom made her own statement, accusing Trump of initiating the probes.
“There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way,” Siebel Newsom said. “This is not presidential behavior, and the Governor and I will continue to speak truth to power because the American people deserve so much more.”
Newsom did not specify the exact nature of the alleged investigation, the line of questioning friends and employees faced, or the types of records taken.
His office said earlier allegations of wrongdoing involving Newsom’s handling of Activision Blizzard Inc.—a video game company that Williamson’s consulting company formerly represented—were baseless and went nowhere and did not appear to be a focus of the current investigations.
The governor’s team said the current probes appear to involve Siebel Newsom’s professional and personal affairs. and that donors. business associates. and organizations connected to both Newsom and his wife have also been contacted. The office said neither Newsom nor his wife has been subpoenaed yet, but that they expect to be. It added that both release annual reports on their income, assets, and any gifts they receive.
The scrutiny comes against a larger backdrop Newsom described as a widening use of federal power against prominent Democrats. In his video. Newsom alleged Trump instigated the probes because Newsom is considering running for president in 2028 and because Trump “hates that I’ve consistently called him out — over and over again — for his lies and deceit.”.
“He has turned the levers of government into his own personal power ministries to reward cronies and to try to jail his opponents,” Newsom said.
He cited Justice Department investigations of several other political opponents of Trump, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James, former FBI director James Comey, former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and former vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Newsom said. “One by one. anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hit list. ” adding. “And today. I proudly join that list.”.
Schiff, for his part, denounced the investigations of Newsom and his wife as more of the same. On Monday. Schiff posted to X that the president’s “abuse of the Justice Department continues. with new targets every day.” He wrote that “The Governor won’t be silenced” and said he and Senate colleagues would remain “defiant and unbowed. ” describing the probes as “vindictive and baseless investigations.”.
The federal action tied to Williamson is central to the governor’s broader argument. Federal authorities arrested Williamson last year following a three-year-long investigation that began during the Biden administration. Williamson pleaded guilty to three counts, including lying to authorities, last month.
Her attorney, McGregor Scott—described as a former U.S. attorney in Sacramento—told The Times that federal authorities had approached Williamson before her arrest seeking help with an investigation of the governor himself. Scott said it was his belief that investigators were looking into the governor and Activision.
Williamson’s plea agreement stated she lied to the FBI when she was interviewed about her role in “passing information to former clients and business partners to give them an advantage in litigation against the state.” She admitted she lied to FBI agents about her role in the state’s handling of alleged sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard Inc. which she had represented as a consultant before joining Newsom’s office as chief of staff.
That Activision case began at the state level in 2021. when the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Activision Blizzard. The department alleged company officials discriminated against women, paid them less than men, and ignored reports of egregious sexual harassment. Activision officials denied the allegations.
The controversy drew national attention the next year when the lawyer overseeing the case for the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Janette Wipper. was fired by the Newsom administration. and her chief deputy resigned. The deputy alleged she resigned to protest alleged interference of Newsom’s office in the investigation. Newsom’s office denied any interference.
As Newsom framed it. his situation is another chapter in a wave of federal pressure on Democrats since Trump returned to office. The source familiar with the matter said the Sacramento probes have had ongoing momentum for about a year. while the Justice Department has not confirmed or denied any details.
This is happening in a federal office led by Eric Grant, a Trump appointee overseeing the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento. Grant was first appointed as an interim leader of the office in August by then-Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, after the acting U.S. attorney there. Michele Beckwith. said she was fired for telling the Border Patrol chief in charge of immigration raids in California that his agents were not allowed to arrest people without probable cause in the Central Valley.
When Grant’s interim term expired, district judges voted to re-appoint him, a contrast with how judges approached other controversial Trump appointees, according to the account in the source material.
Unlike some other cases involving federal prosecutors in politically charged investigations, Grant has a decades-long career in the Justice Department. In the early 1990s, he worked as an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel. From 2017 to 2021. he served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Environment and Natural Resources Division. where he supervised more than a hundred department litigators. The Justice Department said he served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas during the Supreme Court’s October 1994 term.
In a March interview. Grant said it is “a very important principle of all federal prosecutors. and certainly of mine and my office. to prosecute and investigate without fear or favor. and that means without regard to partisan affiliation. without regard to whether the target is rich and powerful. or friend. or a foe of any particular person.” He added. “So. whatever you read about the rest of the country. ” and said that in the Eastern District of California. the principle was one “to which we adhere” and “to which we shall adhere. as long as I hold this office.”.
Newsom, in choosing to speak publicly Monday, said he believed it was important to tell the public directly about what he sees as a Trump-directed attack on him and his wife. He made clear he expects the scrutiny to deepen, even as he insists there is no wrongdoing to be found.
The federal investigations. however. continue without public confirmation from the Justice Department. with the Sacramento office declining to acknowledge their existence. And for Newsom. the question now isn’t just what prosecutors will pursue. but what the governor believes federal investigators are trying to locate—before the process reaches a point where subpoenas and charges. he says. become unavoidable.
Gavin Newsom Jennifer Siebel Newsom DOJ Eric Grant Dana Williamson federal investigations Sacramento taxes grand jury Activision Blizzard representation project Activision Blizzard lawsuit