(AFP) – California’s Governor Gavin Newsom hit back Tuesday at US Justice Department claims that federal investigations into him and his entourage were long-standing, insisting he was being targeted at Donald Trump’s behest. Newsom, a likely Democratic White House contender in 2028, accused the Republican president on Monday of launching a criminal investigation into him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, as a “personal vendetta.”
A source at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington told AFP this was not the case, insisting the probes were not initiated by “main Justice” but were begun about a year ago by the Sacramento-based US attorney for the Eastern District of California after being triggered by information from whistleblowers. The source, who requested anonymity, said the investigations were focused on “tax activity” involving Newsom’s wife, a documentary filmmaker, and activities related to his former chief of staff and possibly current aides. Dana Williamson, a former Newsom chief of staff, pleaded guilty in May to bank and wire fraud and other felony charges stemming from a position she held prior to working for the governor.
In a media release on Tuesday, Newsom slammed the attempt by “anonymous” sources to muddy the waters. “Note DOJ’s specific and consistent use of the word ‘originated’ in their anonymous media statements yesterday,” the statement said. “Under Donald Trump, the DOJ has shown a willingness to seize on virtually ANY allegation — no matter how flimsy (see, for example, the investigation into [former Federal Reserve chief] Jerome Powell) — as a pretext for political appointees to then weaponize the justice system against the President’s enemies.”
Newsom, in a video on Monday, said federal agents had questioned friends and associates of him and his wife and have been sifting through “years and years of random documents.” “Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Newsom said. “He’s coming after me because I am considering running for president.” To get me, he’s coming after my wife,” he said. The California governor noted that Trump has called for investigations into a number of his perceived political opponents since returning to the White House in January of last year. “One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hit list,” Newsom said.
In its statement Tuesday, Newsom’s office noted that Trump has publicly called for the governor’s arrest and claimed his allies were bending reality to try to fulfill the wishes of their boss. “Trump’s political appointees were pressuring prosecutors to build a case against Governor Newsom and the First Partner and federal investigators have been searching for evidence of ‘wrongdoing.’ Trump’s DOJ chose a target and has gone looking for a crime.”
California Senator Alex Padilla condemned the investigations into his fellow Democrat. “The Trump Administration’s decision to investigate Governor Newsom fits a pattern: speak out against this President, hold him accountable for his own corruption and failures, and you become a target,” Padilla said in a post on X. “Every American should be alarmed when the nation’s top law enforcement agency is reduced to a tool of political retribution rather than an independent institution charged with enforcing the law fairly.”
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