Newsom memo – A day after Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Justice Department opened a “baseless” investigation into him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, his office circulated a fiery memo to allies and reporters arguing the probe is political retribution tied to his 2028 Wh
By the time the memo landed in inboxes, the argument had already been drawn in bold red: the Justice Department was “searching for a crime that does NOT exist,” and the target was Gov. Gavin Newsom because he plans to run for president in 2028.
It was a combative counterstrike from Newsom’s camp—sent out a day after the California governor announced he and his wife were the subject of what he called a “baseless” investigation by the Justice Department. In the one-page “talking points” document. Newsom’s team accused President Donald Trump of using the DOJ as a political weapon and went further. calling Trump a “coward and abuser” for also going after Newsom’s wife.
Newsom’s staff insisted the memo wasn’t a directive for fellow Democrats, but a standard package of talking points. Brandon Richards. Newsom’s deputy director for rapid response. said in an email to reporters that the “one-sheet was a standard part of their communications and not a messaging decree for fellow Democrats. ” adding. “Our office always shares stakeholder talking points for any major announcement.” Richards also said. “As the Governor has said. we have nothing to hide and are happy to provide information to reporters and others seeking context.”.
Still, the language inside the document is unmistakably political. Near the top. in bright red. it states Newsom is being targeted because of plans to run for president in 2028 and that the DOJ is looking for something that “does NOT exist.” It also accuses Trump of leveraging federal power in retaliation. arguing that Trump is “running an open-air corruption market out of the White House and openly profiting from the presidency.”.
The memo’s fiercest tone turns toward the personal. It characterizes the administration’s actions against Newsom as an attack that includes his wife—framing Trump’s pursuit of Jennifer Siebel Newsom as part of a campaign of intimidation.
The dispute has been playing out in public from multiple angles. After Newsom announced his family was on Trump’s “hit list” in a post on X. Newsom’s office sent what it described as a legal counterpunch: a letter demanding all documents related to the investigation from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. In the letter—posted alongside the X post—Newsom wrote. “The American people deserve to know who ordered this abuse of power and how far it goes.”.
Newsom’s office also addressed claims that the memo reflected a broader strategy. The Q&A section in the talking points alleges the DOJ is “chasing conspiracy theories” and dismisses the probe as a “lawless fishing expedition” designed to “find ‘dirt’ on the Governor.”
For Democrats who watched the announcement unfold, the timeline and the rhetoric fit too neatly to ignore. Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said on MS NOW that he found it hard to believe the investigation had nothing to do with Newsom’s White House ambitions.
“You can’t tell me this is a pure coincidence that they decide to go after a Democratic candidate, likely candidate for president, and his family, that this was purely random,” Schiff said. “The president makes it clear, this is deliberate.”
Schiff’s warning landed alongside similar complaints from other Trump critics who have watched the DOJ’s actions closely. Trump foes—ranging from former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to New York Attorney General Leticia James. Schiff. and more—have previously said they found themselves among the targets of the Justice Department.
And in Austria on Tuesday, former Vice President Kamala Harris told attendees she wasn’t surprised by the pattern. “He told us most of what we would knew would happen, including that he would go after his political enemies using the Department of Justice,” Harris said during a climate conference.
The talking points were also circulated in a way that quickly became part of the political story itself. The day after Newsom’s Monday announcement, Axios reported that Newsom’s office had sent a list of talking points to his allies in Congress.
Even Newsom’s team acknowledges not everyone agreed on what the document represented—so they clarified it. Newsom’s office told MISRYOUM that the fact sheet was offered to answer questions about where the document was available, after an earlier version of a report lacked that context.
For now. Newsom and his allies are trying to force a specific question into the center of the national debate: whether a federal investigation can truly be separated from the political moment it arrives in. The memo tries to answer that question in its own terms—asserting there is no crime and calling the effort a deliberate retaliation plot—while Democrats like Schiff point to timing and intent as the reason the explanation doesn’t hold.
What’s changed is the way the confrontation is being fought—not just over the investigation itself. but over who gets to define it. In Newsom’s framing, this is abuse of power. In his opponents’ view, it’s another example of political maneuvering using federal authority. Either way. the dispute has already moved beyond court documents and into the blunt. public language of power: hit lists. letters to the acting attorney general. and a red-topped brief insisting the DOJ is searching for something that can’t be found.
Gavin Newsom Jennifer Siebel Newsom Justice Department Donald Trump Todd Blanche Adam Schiff Kamala Harris DOJ investigation 2028 presidential run political retribution hit list acting attorney general