SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 6 (Our California Times) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump of ordering a politically motivated Justice Department probe into him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, but people familiar with the matter say at least one inquiry began during the Biden administration.
Newsom said in an X post and video Monday that Trump had put him and his wife on a “hit list” and opened a “fishing expedition.” He said the president was targeting him because he is considering a presidential run.
A Justice Department source familiar with the investigations said they originated in California, not in Washington, and grew out of whistleblower complaints and local reports in Sacramento.
A person in the Justice Department familiar with one of the inquiries said at least two criminal investigations have been open in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California for about a year, and that one involving former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson was opened during the Biden administration.
Williamson pleaded guilty in May in a separate corruption case that did not implicate the governor.