Newsom Says Doj Conducting Baseless Investigation Of Him And His Wife At Trump's Direction

Gov. Gavin Newsom connected Monday accused nan Justice Department of launching — astatine President Trump’s petition — a baseless and politically-motivated investigation into him and his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

“After calling for my apprehension past year, Donald Trump directed his Department of Justice to analyse me,” Newsom said. “And conscionable successful nan past week, I’ve learned his run has reached my ain home: to get me, he’s coming aft my wife, Jen.”

Newsom adamantly denied immoderate wrongdoing by him aliases his wife. The White House referred questions to nan Justice Department, which declined to comment.

A root acquainted pinch nan matter who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk it publically told The Times that location are 2 probes underway, 1 related to Newsom’s erstwhile main of staff, Dana Williamson, and 1 related to Siebel Newsom’s taxes.

The root said some investigations person been ongoing for astir a year; were launched by prosecutors successful Sacramento based connected accusation provided by whistleblowers and different section sources successful California; and were not nan consequence of directives retired of Washington aliases nan White House.

Newsom said that successful caller days, “federal agents person knocked connected nan doors of family friends and erstwhile employees,” and person been “demanding records,” “digging done years and years of random documents” and “abusing nan expansive assemblage process” successful a quest to find immoderate benignant of wrongdoing by him aliases his wife.

“Not because they recovered a crime. Because they are simply trying to find one,” he said.

Newsom did not picture nan circumstantial quality of nan alleged probe, nan statement of questioning faced by friends and labor aliases nan types of records taken aliases reviewed by national investigators. But he alleged that Trump instigated nan probe because Newsom is considering moving for president successful 2028, and because Trump “hates that I’ve consistently called him retired — complete and complete again — for his lies and deceit.”

“He has turned nan levers of authorities into his ain individual powerfulness ministries to reward cronies and to effort to jailhouse his opponents,” Newsom said.

Newsom cited Justice Department investigations of respective different of nan president’s governmental opponents, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James, erstwhile FBI head James Comey, erstwhile Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and erstwhile vice statesmanlike campaigner Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up connected his deed list,” he said. “And today, I proudly subordinate that list.”

This article will beryllium updated.