California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the Trump administration’s Justice Department has opened a federal investigation into him and his wife, casting the probe as political retaliation by a president who he said is trying to derail his expected 2028 presidential campaign.

In a statement and video remarks delivered from Sacramento, Newsom said federal agents in recent days have approached family friends and former employees, demanded records, and used grand jury subpoenas to comb through years of documents. He said the inquiry has now extended to First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

“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.” He added that investigators were “not because they found a crime” but “because they are simply trying to find one.”

The governor framed the probe as the latest in a pattern of Justice Department actions against prominent Trump critics, invoking the names of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, all of whom have faced federal scrutiny under the current administration. Newsom said Trump had directed the department against him after publicly calling for his arrest last year.

The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the existence or scope of an investigation into Newsom, and no charges have been filed against the governor or his wife. The department generally does not comment on ongoing investigations. Spokesmen did not immediately respond to the governor’s characterization.

While Monday’s statement marks the first time Newsom has publicly described himself as a target, federal prosecutors have been examining figures in his orbit for some time. In November, the Justice Department charged Dana Williamson, Newsom’s former chief of staff, in connection with an alleged $225,000 fraud and false-contract scheme. U.S. Attorney Eric Grant described that case as “a crucial step in an ongoing political corruption investigation that began more than three years ago.” Newsom was not named or charged in that matter.

Separately, the administration has pointed to California’s homelessness spending — more than $24 billion since 2020 — as an area of federal interest, and Siebel Newsom’s nonprofit work has drawn scrutiny over reported payments to her and her firm. Newsom and his wife have denied wrongdoing.

Newsom on Monday turned the corruption charge back on the president, accusing Trump of “selling the presidency” through cryptocurrency ventures, foreign business dealings and the acceptance of a $400 million private jet from a foreign government. The White House has defended the president’s financial arrangements as lawful and disclosed.

“You can subpoena my records. You can investigate me. You can harass me,” Newsom said, addressing Trump directly. “Put my name on every and any enemy’s list you have, but leave my wife and family out of your personal vendetta.”

The governor’s remarks reflect a calculated political posture as much as a legal defense. Newsom, who is term-limited and leaves office in January 2027, is widely viewed as a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, and he has spent the past year positioning himself as the party’s most combative counterweight to Trump. A federal investigation, paradoxically, may serve his primary ambitions by casting him as a victim of an administration that has repeatedly deployed the Justice Department against its opponents.

It also carries real legal and reputational risk. The probe surfaces against a backdrop of mounting questions about the conduct of Trump-era prosecutions, including a recent case in Illinois where a judge released grand jury transcripts showing jurors had been dismissed after expressing doubts about the government’s evidence.

Newsom closed his remarks with a direct challenge. “Mr. President, come after me. I am not going anywhere,” he said. “And the country is watching.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)