Newsom says federal agents questioned wife’s associates

June 17, 2026

1–2 minutes

Summary

Newsom said federal agents questioned associates of him and his wife as part of investigations whose scope remains unclear.

Why this matters

The story points to federal scrutiny of a high-profile governor and his wife, while key facts about the investigations remain undisclosed. It also raises questions about oversight of nonprofit ties to public officials and the independence of federal investigations.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that federal agents had questioned friends and associates of him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, as part of investigations whose full scope remained unclear.

“Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Newsom said in a video statement. “He’s coming after me because I am considering running for president.” He added, “To get me, he’s coming after my wife.”

Newsom’s office said former employees of the governor and people affiliated with Siebel Newsom’s nonprofit groups were among those questioned in the past week. Aides said they believed agents had also subpoenaed banking records, but said they had seen no written evidence.

A person familiar with the matter said multiple federal investigations involving the governor were underway, including one examining Siebel Newsom’s finances. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, disputed Newsom’s claim that the inquiries were politically motivated and said federal law enforcement officials in California, not Washington, initiated them.

Siebel Newsom is a documentary filmmaker and founder of the Representation Project, a nonprofit focused on gender equity. Tax filings show the nonprofit paid her production company, Girls Club Entertainment, $161,250 in 2024 for film production work.

She is also a co-founder of the California Partners Project, a nonprofit that works to increase the number of women on corporate boards, address the gender pay gap, and improve children’s online safety. Newsom reported soliciting $4.3 million in donations to that nonprofit since 2020, including $1.8 million from a Native American tribe with a casino agreement with the state.

Critics have for years raised questions about possible self-dealing involving entities tied to Siebel Newsom, but no public evidence of wrongdoing has surfaced. It remained unclear what specific issues investigators were examining.

Newsom’s office said the investigation followed earlier Justice Department questions about his 2022 firing of the lawyer leading California’s sex-discrimination suit against Activision Blizzard. The office also said the latest inquiries began around the time Trump said he planned to nominate Todd Blanche as attorney general.

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Berger previously supported medical marijuana. In 2024, the Senate passed a bill, 36-10, to legalize medical marijuana and restrict hemp-based consumables. Senate Rules Chairman Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, a cancer survivor, backed the measure and said cannabis helped him endure chemotherapy for colon cancer.

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According to federal court documents, Christopher Carnes, 33, was charged with knowingly and willfully making a threat to take the life of, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon the president of the United States. A U.S. magistrate judge signed the criminal complaint Wednesday.

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State and federal Medicaid spending on applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, exceeded $505 million in 2025, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. That was up from $1.9 million five years earlier.

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“The FY27 consolidated budget totals $70.17 million, including $24.4 million in capital projects,” Marshall told council. “This budget reflects a deliberate balance between addressing today’s needs and preparing for tomorrow’s opportunities.”

Marshall said that after consulting bond counsel, staff learned the city’s TIF II district should have been dissolved about 10 years ago and could no longer be used as a budget revenue source.

“Following that meeting and through discussions with legal counsel about whether we could use our TIF II funds on projects that were outside the TIF district, we were advised that the TIF should have been dissolved nearly 10 years ago,” Marshall said. “This means we cannot use these funds.”

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The proposal marked a shift for Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who had pushed for months to end the exemption. With budget negotiations stalled and the state facing a June 30 deadline, the plan signaled a compromise while seeking new revenue from the industry.

“We know technology is not bad. You know, we all can benefit from technology, but we, as a government, have not done a good job in managing the regulations and the impact on our communities and that’s what we’ve got to rein in,” Lucas said Tuesday night at a middle school in Chesterfield during a stop on her data center listening tour.

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$45 per permitted kilowatt electric on Tier 1 and Tier 2 generators;

$37 per permitted kilowatt electric on Tier 2 generators retrofitted to Tier 4-equivalent status, Tier 3 generators, and natural gas-powered generators;

$35 per permitted kilowatt electric on Tier 4 generators and other generators.

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Older Tier 1 and Tier 2 diesel generators produce more pollution. State law now requires new data centers seeking air permits to use Tier 4 models, which, along with Tier 3 generators, are cleaner.

Like the House plan, the Senate proposal also called for a work group to recommend how to phase out the data center sales tax exemption and report to the General Assembly in the fall.