Newsom says Justice Department is investigating him and wife

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that President Donald Trump has directed the Justice Department to investigate him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, accusing the administration of targeting a political opponent and trying to find a crime.

“Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list. He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us,” Newsom wrote in a post on X.

In a video also posted to X, the Democratic governor said federal agents had contacted family friends and former employees in recent days, demanded records and searched through years of documents. He said investigators were seeking “random documents” and accused the department of “abusing the grand jury process.”

Agents have “knocked on the doors on family friends and former employees. Not because they’ve found a crime, but because they’re trying to find one,” Newsom said.

Newsom did not say what he or his wife are being investigated for, and it was not clear what specific information or documents investigators have sought, CBS News reported. NBC News said it had reached out to the Justice Department and the White House for comment. The Guardian said it had also contacted the Justice Department.

Newsom, who has repeatedly clashed with Trump, said the inquiry was politically motivated because of his criticism of the president and because he is considering a presidential run.

“Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Newsom said. “He’s coming after me because I’m considering running for president, because he hates that I consistently called him out over and over again for his lies and deceit.”

The governor said he had done nothing wrong. “We have nothing to hide,” he said, according to NBC News.

In the video, Newsom also addressed Trump directly: “You can subpoena my records, you can investigate me, you can harass me, put my name on every and any enemies list you have, but leave my wife and family out of your personal vendetta.”

Newsom said he learned in the last week that the investigation had reached his home. “To get me, he’s coming after my wife,” he said, according to CBS News.

CBS News reported that Newsom cited other perceived political enemies of Trump who have faced Justice Department investigations, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey and former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

According to CBS News, a former interim U.S. attorney in eastern Virginia secured indictments against James and Comey last year, but a judge dismissed the charges after finding that prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed. Comey was indicted a second time in North Carolina over a now-deleted Instagram photo showing seashells arranged to say “86 47.” He has denied wrongdoing.

CBS News also reported that federal prosecutors investigated Powell, then the Federal Reserve chairman, and renovations at the central bank’s Washington headquarters earlier this year. Trump had criticized Powell over interest rate decisions and suggested the renovation project could be grounds to fire him. The probe was dropped in April after a key senator vowed to block confirmation of Trump’s choice to succeed Powell as Fed chair while the investigation remained active.

Trump has often attacked Newsom, calling him “dumb” and using the derogatory nickname “Newscum,” CBS News reported.