Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) appears eager to portray himself as the victim of a politically motivated investigation by the Trump administration.
“I think the governor seems to have a case of Trump prosecution envy. I think he wants to be able to say that he’s been targeted for prosecution by Donald Trump, who’s weaponizing the Justice Department against him,” York said on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle Tuesday.
Newsom claimed that he and his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are under federal investigation and that authorities have sought information from associates, arguing the effort is politically motivated.
“The problem is, it doesn’t seem to be the case,” York said, noting that the investigation originated in California during the Biden administration. “It originated during the Joe Biden years, so it just literally can’t have been started by Trump,” York said.
York pointed to financial arrangements involving Newsom’s wife as the type of activity that often attracts scrutiny from investigators. Siebel Newsom operates both a nonprofit organization, the Representation Project, and a for-profit film production company, Girls Club Entertainment.
“Her nonprofit pays her for-profit group,” York said. “Now, there may be nothing wrong with this, legally … but it is the kind of thing that attracts scrutiny.”
He further noted that Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, who also worked for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, pleaded guilty last month to three felony corruption charges.
NEWSOM CAMP SAYS INVESTIGATION IS NOT ABOUT FINDING A CRIME, BUT SENDING A MESSAGE
York emphasized that there is no evidence that Newsom was involved but argued that, whatever the outcome of the investigation, the available facts suggest it predates the Trump administration and stems from issues that investigators were already examining years before Trump returned to office.
“So it’s just not a case of some sort of unfounded, made-up prosecution,” York said.