California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally on September 5 in Monroe, North Carolina, in support of US Senate candidate Roy Cooper. Nell Redmond/AP
The Justice Department’s probe into Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is related to his international travel and how it was paid for, according to subpoenas reviewed by the San Francisco Standard in a story on Saturday.
These subpoenas were reportedly issued earlier this month and order six years of records from a nonprofit that paid for the governor’s travel. It also seeks internal communications among his current and former aides and associates.
Federal probes into Newsom’s circle reportedly began at least a year ago, and in June, Newsom said the probe was a politically motivated “fishing expedition.” He claimed the Trump administration was targeting him because he was considering a bid for president in 2028. (The president, of course, has a long history of going after his political enemies.)
“In recent days, federal agents have knocked on the doors of family friends and former employees,” Newsom said in a video message at the time. “Not because they found a crime, but because they simply are trying to find one.”
And in a statement Saturday, Newsom’s office said, “Governor Newsom went after the king—and as he warned in June, the tyrant is now coming after everyone around him. This is what Donald Trump does to his enemies: investigate first, hunt for a crime that doesn’t exist second.”
The California governor has a history of criticizing Trump. On Tuesday, he said the president lied when he told a story of two firefighters lifting him out of One Liberty Plaza on September 11, 2001.
