SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday accused the Justice Department of launching a politically motivated investigation into him and his wife, saying the Trump administration was targeting him as he weighs a presidential bid.

Newsom, a longtime political rival of the Republican president, said in a video posted on X that federal agents have knocked on the doors of his friends and former employees, and have asked for records. Newsom didn’t provide specifics on the nature of the probe, but his office said the inquiry appears to have recently expanded into “increasingly personal matters involving the Governor’s family and professional network.”

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

The full details of any Justice Department inquires related to Newsom were not immediately clear.

A person familiar with the matter denied the existence of an investigation specifically targeting the governor, but said there are multiple federal probes into people around him, including one related to his wife’s taxes.

The probes began last year after whistleblower complaints in California government, and political leadership in Washington was not involved in the decision to open them, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss ongoing investigations.

Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list. He has........

© The Times of Israel