Newsom Says DOJ Probe Puts Him and Wife on Trump's Political 'Hit List'

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said the US Department of Justice was investigating both him and his wife in what he described as an abuse of power being carried out on behalf of President Donald Trump.

In a video posted on social media, Newsom claimed federal agents in recent days "have knocked on the doors of family, friends, and former employees, not because they've found a crime" but "because they're simply trying to find one."

Newsom charged that Trump himself was behind the investigation, which he said was being done in response to his prospective 2028 presidential campaign.

"Donald Trump is simply the most corrupt president in American history," Newsom said. "He's turned the levers of government into his own personal power ministry, to reward cronies and to try to jail his opponents. His personal attorney now runs the Department of Justice, which has repeatedly gone after his political enemies."

Newsom then linked the current DOJ investigation into him to federal investigations of New York Attorney General Letitia James, former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and former FBI Director James Comey as yet another politically motivated assault on the rule of law.

"One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hit list," Newsom explained. "And today, I proudly join that list. After calling for my arrest last year, Donald Trump directed his Department of Justice to investigate me."

The governor said that investigators in recent days had shown particular interest in his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

"If they can't intimidate me, they'll go after the mother of our children," said Newsom. "Donald Trump picked the wrong target. We have nothing to hide."

A source told The New York Times that the investigations into Newsom "were initiated by federal law enforcement officials in California, based on government witnesses offering information there, and were not launched by officials in Washington."

However, Trump has gotten directly involved in multiple DOJ investigations of his political opponents that have led to criminal charges.

Last year, the president inadvertently posted a message on his Truth Social platform that was intended to be a private message to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, in which he pushed her to move more quickly on indicting Comey, James, and US Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

James and Comey would subsequently be hit with criminal charges, although cases against them were dismissed last year by a federal judge. Comey has since been indicted again for posting a purportedly threatening message on social media that some legal experts have described as an "embarrassing" case.