California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on June 15 that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and accused President Donald Trump of personally ordering the probe [1][2][3]. "Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump's hit list," Newsom stated in a video posted to social media [1]. The DOJ has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of any such investigation, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to answer reporters' questions on the matter during a photo opportunity with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley [5][10].
Newsom said federal agents have questioned friends and family members and reviewed years of documentation [6]. He described the investigation as an abuse of the grand jury process and said the DOJ was attempting to "manufacture" a crime [19]. "Donald Trump isn't just coming after me because of my mean tweets," Newsom stated. "He's coming after me because I'm considering running for president" [3][5]. Jennifer Siebel Newsom issued a separate statement: "There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way" [3][5].
Anonymous sources cited by multiple outlets offered a different account of the probes' origins. A person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that there are multiple federal investigations involving people close to Newsom, including one related to his wife's taxes, and that the inquiries began after whistleblower complaints from within the California state government, not from political leadership in Washington [21]. France 24 and Japan Today carried similar accounts from unnamed sources, with one source stating that no investigation specifically targets the governor himself [5]. The Los Angeles Times reported that two distinct federal probes are underway in the Eastern District of California — one involving Newsom's former chief of staff Dana Williamson and another involving his wife's tax filings connected to a nonprofit she co-founded [8]. Politico reported that the investigations have been running for approximately a year and that Newsom's office alleges the White House pressured investigators to shift their focus after an earlier line of inquiry related to Activision stalled [9].
El País provided background on the substance under scrutiny, noting that the New York Times had previously reported connections between donors to Jennifer Siebel Newsom's nonprofit, The Representation Project, and the California state government, while adding that no evidence of wrongdoing had been established [2]. Yonhap, South Korea's national news agency, reported that federal investigators are examining corruption allegations involving Newsom's chief of staff alongside tax evasion allegations involving the Newsoms [17]. Thanh Niên, citing Reuters, reported that federal agents in Sacramento have opened several investigations since 2025, including a tax probe tied to the nonprofit co-founded by Jennifer Siebel Newsom [14].
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton characterized the Newsoms as a "grifter family," framing the investigations as warranted scrutiny rather than political persecution [4][7]. No Trump administration officials or White House spokespeople were directly quoted in any of the outlets reviewed defending or explaining the DOJ's actions.
Several international outlets placed the Newsom case within a broader context of DOJ actions against figures who have publicly opposed Trump. Al Jazeera listed other Trump critics who have faced DOJ scrutiny, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey [1]. Le Monde framed the dispute as a political rivalry between a Democratic governor and a Republican president, with implications for the rule of law and the separation of powers [11]. Die Zeit reported that Trump's DOJ has pursued several alleged political opponents during his second term, raising questions about judicial independence [12]. Haberler.com, a Turkish news portal, included Newsom's characterization of Trump as attempting to build an authoritarian regime in the United States [13].
The competing accounts — Newsom's assertion of presidential direction and the anonymous sources' account of whistleblower-initiated probes — remain unreconciled [1][3][5][21]. ABC News Australia noted that details of any investigation directly targeting Newsom remain unclear [20]. Europa Press reported Newsom's description of the investigation as "infundada" (baseless) and an abuse of the grand jury process [18].
The DOJ's silence leaves the factual basis of the probes and the question of who initiated them unresolved. Todd Blanche, who is being considered for the attorney general position, met with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, where the independence of the Justice Department is already a subject of debate [5]. No timeline for any charges, clearances, or further public disclosures has been announced by any party.