SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 6 (Our California Times) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump of ordering a Justice Department probe into him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, but reports citing people familiar with the matter say at least one related inquiry began during the Biden administration.
In a post on X and a video Monday, Newsom called the investigation a “fishing expedition” and said Trump had put him and his wife on a “hit list.”
A Justice Department source familiar with the matter told reporters that at least two criminal investigations tied to Newsom’s orbit have been open in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California for about a year and grew out of whistleblowers and local complaints in Sacramento. Those reports said the inquiries started in California rather than at Justice Department headquarters in Washington.
One report said an inquiry involving former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson was opened under Biden. The reports did not make clear whether Newsom himself is a formal target, and they described the scope of the investigations differently.
Williamson pleaded guilty in May in a corruption case that did not implicate Newsom, according to the court case described in the reports.
