Gov. Gavin Newsom accused President Trump on Monday of directing the US Department of Justice to investigate him, his wife, and other family members as an act of political retaliation as he considers a run for president in 2028.
But a source familiar with the matter told The Post that the Newsom administration is facing multiple investigations, touching on accusations of public corruption that stretch back at least a year into himself, wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, as well as former and even current staff.
The US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of California is also specifically probing allegations brought forward by California whistleblowers regarding Newsom’s wife’s taxes as well as his former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, and potentially some current staff, the source said.
Williamson entered into a plea agreement in May and admitted to lying to the FBI, filing a false tax return and funneling campaign funds from ex-HHS head and current California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra to his chief of staff, Sean McCluskie.
“In recent days, federal agents have knocked on the doors of family, friends, and former employees, not because they found a crime, because they’re simply trying to find one,” Newsom said in a video posted to X.
“They’re demanding records, they’re abusing the grand jury process, digging through years and years of random documents. Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets, he’s coming after me because I’m considering running for president, because he hates that I’ve consistently called him out over and over again for his lies and deceit.”
“Donald Trump is simply the most corrupt president in American history,” Newsom added.
Then less than two hours after announcing the investigation on social media, Newsom’s political operation sent a fundraising email with the subject line: “Because I am thinking of running for president.”
The email asked supporters to donate to his Campaign for Democracy, saying the fight against Trump would require “a legal strategy and a political strategy.”
The White House referred The Post to the DOJ, which declined to comment.
Siebel Newsom’s nonprofit work appears to be a key part of the probe.
The Post previously revealed the governor helped funnel more than $4.4 million from special interests and wealthy individuals to California Partners Project, one of the Siebel Newsom’s pet projects.
She also founded the Representation Project, a gender equity nonprofit, and owns Girls Club Entertainment, a film production company listed as a contractor on the nonprofit’s tax returns.
The Representation Project paid Girls Club Entertainment $161,250 for film production work in 2024, according to the most recent IRS filings, and total payments over the years have resulted in millions in salary.
State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) told The Post that Newsom’s frequent courting of money from special interests to fund his wife’s political and professional pursuits deserves scrutiny.
“It stinks to high heaven and, unfortunately, it appears that they are able to legally do this, because politicians have always legalized grift like this,” DeMaio said.
“But it’s possible they’ve engaged in activity that has gotten on the radar of the federal government.”
The governor’s office framed the investigation as a months-long effort by Trump’s Justice Department to find wrongdoing after the president publicly called for federal agents to arrest Newsom last year.
According to the governor’s office, federal investigators spent months looking into allegations involving Newsom and people around him but failed to identify a crime.
Rather than closing the investigation, officials said, federal authorities widened the inquiry to include people and organizations connected to Newsom and Siebel Newsom.
Federal agents have contacted friends, former employees and associates of the couple, seeking records and conducting interviews tied to years of personal and professional activity, according to the governor’s office.
State officials said agents also subpoenaed records as part of what it described as an investigation that has expanded despite “the absence of any credible evidence of an offense.”
Federal investigators sought information from Williamson, according to Newsom’s office, but she said she had none because the governor had not committed a crime.
By June 2026, the Governor’s Office said, the Justice Department had shifted to a broader search involving Newsom’s family and professional network.
The office said the inquiry expanded in recent weeks as Todd Blanche took over as acting US attorney general.
Newsom accused Trump of using the federal government to reward allies and target political foes.
“He’s turned the levers of government into his own personal power ministries to reward cronies and to try to jail his opponents,” Newsom said.
Trump’s “personal attorney now runs the Department of Justice,” said Newsom, who also noted that Trump has “repeatedly gone after his political enemies,” citing examples like US Sen. Adam Schiff, ex-FBI Director James Comey and former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
“One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hit list. And today I proudly join that list,” Newsom added.
The governor said Trump was also targeting Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and gender equity advocate who serves as California’s first partner.
“If they can’t intimidate me, they’ll go after the mother of our children,” Newsom said. “Donald Trump picked the wrong target. We have nothing to hide.”
Matt Klink, a political strategist in Los Angeles who is owner and president of Klink Campaigns, said that Newsom’s decision to come forward looks designed to give him “added street cred in the Democratic Party.”
“Typically, the way the federal government works is they announce they’re investigating you and if the investigation closes, no one says anything,” Klink said.
“Gavin Newsom is trying to do the opposite — he’s saying he is being investigated and the federal government is being quiet. It keeps him at the center of, ‘I’m fighting Trump and Trump is out to get me.’”
Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson suggested that supporters of both Newsom and Trump should take caution in jumping to conclusions.
“What we have learned,” Levinson said, “is that not all investigations and cases against the president’s political enemies are the same.”
In his social media post, Newsom accused Trump of using the presidency for personal financial gain.
“Donald Trump is selling the presidency. He’s running the largest cash heist in American political history, trading foreign tariff relief for approval of his golf courses, day trading behind the Resolute Desk, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in personal profit,” Newsom said.
He added, “This is the behavior of a regime, not a republic.”
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