{"id":1118,"date":"2026-06-16T23:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2026-06-16T23:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:00:09","slug":"sensing-political-opportunity-newsom-touts-investigation-he-says-is-trumps-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1118","title":{"rendered":"Sensing political opportunity, Newsom touts investigation he says is Trump\u2019s doing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SACRAMENTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span>Gov. Gavin Newsom did something this week that most politicians would only in a nightmare: He announced that the federal government is investigating him and his wife.<\/p>\n

Read more People are betting on elections in prediction markets. Congress is watching<\/a><\/p>\n

The revelation, delivered in a direct-to-camera 4\u00bd-minute video set against a backdrop of U.S. and California flags, became a top headline across the country.<\/p>\n

In the upside-down politics of the Trump era, that was exactly as intended.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe seems to be wearing this as a badge of honor because his brand is being the strongest opponent of Donald Trump,\u201d said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego. \u201cThe ability to show that you\u2019re going on offense and that you know how to effectively fight back against this president is part of making your case for office.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he eyes a run for president in 2028, an antagonistic relationship with President Trump is Newsom\u2019s political currency. <\/p>\n

So when friends and former employees said the FBI and Internal Revenue Service had knocked on their doors and asked about him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, last Wednesday, the governor took advantage of the situation to boost his political profile. <\/p>\n

\u201cMr. President, come after me,\u201d Newsom said in the video he posted online. \u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere, and the country is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom, who is in his final year as California\u2019s governor, has not declared his intent to run for president, though his claim that Trump is targeting him because he\u2019s considering a bid for the White House was an open acknowledgment of his thoughts about the future. Announcing the probe himself \u2014 before federal authorities had a chance to describe it on their terms \u2014 allowed him to get ahead of and try to discredit any findings as a \u201cpersonal vendetta\u201d long before potential charges are brought. <\/p>\n

Celinda Lake, a Democratic strategist and national pollster, said Newsom publicly defending his wife could also play well with voters. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s positioned himself as the front-runner because he\u2019s the one who\u2019s under attack,\u201d Lake said. \u201cPrimary voters love it when he engages Trump, and I think the combination of engaging Trump and then also the sexism of going after your wife is just a real home run for a primary electorate that\u2019s 59% female.\u201d <\/p>\n

The video released Monday seemed similar to a speech Newsom delivered after Trump sent federal troops to Los Angeles last summer. <\/p>\n

That address, in which he countered Trump\u2019s version of events and challenged the president to come after him instead of women and child immigrants, made Newsom the captain of the Democratic response to the unprecedented deployment and ended his attempt to play the part of respectful statesman and ease political tensions following the 2024 election. <\/p>\n

Liberals have since seemed to relish Newsom\u2019s near-constant derision of the president on social media.<\/p>\n

But David McCuan, a professor of political science at Sonoma State University, said casting the case as another instance of Trump\u2019s political weaponization ignores questions about the murky timeline and origin of the investigation. <\/p>\n

Newsom\u2019s aides point to Trump saying that the governor should be arrested during last summer\u2019s anti-ICE protests as evidence that he personally called for the inquiry. The claim has gained oxygen \u2014 and been echoed by other Democratic leaders in the state \u2014 while going largely unchallenged by federal officials. The Justice Department has declined to comment, as has the White House.<\/p>\n

A source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly, said two federal probes have been going on for about a year, and that they originated not from Washington, D.C. but from conversations between whistleblowers and federal prosecutors based in Sacramento. The probes are linked to Newsom\u2019s former chief-of-staff, Dana Williamson, and Siebel Newsom\u2019s taxes, the source said. <\/p>\n

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Newsom\u2019s critics have also noted that federal prosecutors under the Biden administration had pursued questions about his involvement in a state lawsuit against Activision Blizzard Inc., a major video game distributor, before Trump retook office. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that could lead to other elements that blow up, so there\u2019s a risk,\u201d McCuan said.<\/p>\n

Newsom\u2019s aides described the investigation as a fishing expedition, with federal authorities searching for anything they can use against the governor.<\/p>\n

They said federal authorities appeared to initially investigate allegations that turned up nothing about the Activision <\/u>case before refocusing their questions on nonprofits and other entities tied to the couple. Investigators also asked about personal information related to the family\u2019s household, Newsom\u2019s office said. <\/p>\n

McCuan said three nonprofits that surround the couple have received millions of dollars from donors and political interests and are not subject to campaign finance limits. <\/p>\n

The California Partners Project is a nonprofit that promotes gender equity. The Representation Project is an avenue for Siebel Newsom\u2019s documentary films. The California State Protocol Foundation uses private donations to pay for gubernatorial expenses and was founded under former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long-running game,\u201d McCuan said. \u201cIt\u2019s just the Newsom first couple has perfected it and moved it forward.\u201d <\/p>\n

Newsom getting out ahead of prosecutors and framing their probes as nothing but a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d \u2014 borrowing a phrase often used by Trump during his own previous prosecutions \u2014 carries risk.<\/p>\n

If prosecutors do turn up evidence of wrongdoing, Newsom\u2019s decision to parade his indignation could backfire. <\/p>\n

Publicly challenging Trump also runs the risk that the president could instruct the Justice Department to dig in deeper on an investigation that might have otherwise petered out. <\/p>\n

But Lake and others said there\u2019s no placating Trump, who has targeted Newsom and other Democrats. <\/p>\n

While traditional politics suggest facing federal charges could sink Newsom\u2019s political ambitions, the rules have been thrown out under Trump. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou know the last person who got tied up in courts on the campaign trail?\u201d Kousser asked. \u201cThat was Donald Trump, and nothing elevated Donald Trump more than doing courthouse press appearances and being seen as the target of an unfair political prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more El Ni\u00f1o turns crumbling California pier into climate battleground over what to save \u2014 and who pays<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As he eyes a run for president in 2028, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California is taking advantage of a federal investigation into him and his wife to boost his national profile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nSensing political opportunity, Newsom touts investigation he says is Trump\u2019s doing - California Relocation Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1118\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sensing political opportunity, Newsom touts investigation he says is Trump\u2019s doing - California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As he eyes a run for president in 2028, Gov. 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