SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 6 (Our California Times) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said President Donald Trump and the Justice Department were targeting him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, in what he called a “fishing expedition” and a “hit list.”
But multiple reports citing people familiar with the matter say at least one federal inquiry tied to Newsom’s orbit began before Trump returned to office, and that the early work was centered in California rather than at Justice Department headquarters in Washington.
Newsom made the accusation in a Monday post on X and in a video statement, saying the administration was using federal power against him and his family. He said Trump was pursuing him because he is weighing a future presidential run.
People familiar with the investigations told several news outlets that the inquiries began last year, during the Biden administration. Those sources said the work originated in Sacramento and involved the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
The reporting was not uniform on how the matters started. Some sources said the investigations grew out of whistleblower complaints and local reports in Sacramento. One source said Washington leadership was involved in opening them, while others said the probes were handled in California.
The scope of the inquiries also remains unclear. Some reports said they involved matters tied to Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s taxes and to former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson, but the available reporting did not include charging documents, docket numbers or other court filings showing the full reach of the investigations.
In a separate case, Williamson pleaded guilty in May in a corruption matter that did not implicate Newsom.
Newsom’s office has not publicly identified any formal charges against the governor. The Justice Department has also not publicly detailed the full scope of the reported inquiries.
