California Gov. Gavin Newsom says DOJ is investigating him and his wife

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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics California Gov. Gavin Newsom says DOJ is investigating him and his wife California's Democratic Gov.

+ Politics California Gov. Gavin Newsom says DOJ is investigating him and his wife June 16, 20264:45 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition From By Guy Marzorati California Gov. Gavin Newsom says DOJ is investigating him and his wife Listen &middot; 2:45 2:45 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5859437/nx-s1-9811947" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom says the Trump administration is targeting him and his wife with an investigation because he could be a presidential contender. Sponsor Message A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: California Governor Gavin Newsom says he is facing an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Newsom took the unusual step of discussing the alleged probe before any announcement from federal prosecutors. From member station KQED, here's Guy Marzorati.

+ GUY MARZORATI, BYLINE: In a video released Monday, Newsom says federal agents have been knocking on the doors of his friends and family members. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) GAVIN NEWSOM: They're demanding records. They're abusing the grand jury process, digging through years and years of random documents. MARZORATI: Newsom's office says agents have asked questions on a wide range of topics and, they believe, subpoenaed bank records from the governor and his wife. Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a filmmaker and founder of a nonprofit that raises awareness about gender stereotypes. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) NEWSOM: A public servant. A woman who's dedicated her life to supporting women and girls. Someone who has done nothing wrong other than having the temerity to advocate for what she believes in. If they can't intimidate me, they'll go after the mother of our children. MARZORATI: Newsom has been a leading Democratic critic of President Donald Trump. He thinks the probe is political payback. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) NEWSOM: Donald Trump isn't just coming after me because of my mean tweets. He's coming after me because I'm considering running for president. MARZORATI: But there could be politics in Newsom's response, too, says Laurie Levenson, professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. LAURIE LEVENSON: This could be part of a good defense is an offense, which is to say the Justice Department's not playing fair and whatever they end up charging me with is not fair. MARZORATI: The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment. Last month, Newsom's former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, pleaded guilty in a wide-ranging corruption investigation that did not implicate the governor. Levenson says it will be important to see if federal prosecutors have impaneled a grand jury in a potential investigation of Newsom. LEVENSON: It used to be that the grand jury, almost pro forma, would issue an indictment and go along with the prosecutor. MARZORATI: But Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, says that may be changing. A grand jury in Virginia last year refused to indict another outspoken Trump critic, New York attorney general Letitia James. LEVENSON: We are seeing grand juries across the nation pushing back against the Trump Department of Justice and really being fairly vocal, now that we're getting some of the transcripts, that they don't trust the prosecutors on what's being investigated and how the investigation is occurring. MARZORATI: On Monday night, Newsom's office filed a public records request in an attempt to learn more about the investigation. For NPR News, I'm Guy Marzorati in San Jose, California. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(81)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();