California Governor Gavin Newsom may not lead the Democratic Party, but he expects his allies in Congress to stand with him in his ongoing battle with President Donald Trump.
Newsom's Talking Points Memo
A day after the Democrat announced that he and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, were targets of a "baseless" Justice Department investigation, Axios published a memo reportedly drafted by the governor's team and distributed to congressional Democrats. Newsom's office has not confirmed the document's authenticity.
The memo, with bright red text at the top, asserts that Newsom is being targeted due to his potential 2028 presidential run and that the DOJ is "searching for a crime that does NOT exist." Bolded bullet points accuse Trump of weaponizing the Justice Department and label him a "coward and abuser" for targeting Newsom's wife.
"Trump is running an open-air corruption market out of the White House and openly profiting from the presidency," the memo states.
Q&A Section Dismisses Probe
A Q&A section alleges the DOJ is "chasing conspiracy theories" and dismisses the investigation as a "lawless fishing expedition" designed to find "dirt" on the governor.
While it remains unclear which members of Congress received the memo, several top Democrats echoed its sentiments. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told MSNBC that the investigation likely ties to Newsom's presidential ambitions. "You can't tell me this is a pure coincidence that they decide to go after a Democratic candidate, likely candidate for president, and his family, that this was purely random," Schiff said. "The president makes it clear, this is deliberate."
Harris Weighs In
Speaking at a climate conference in Austria on Tuesday, former Vice President Kamala Harris expressed no surprise at Trump's actions. "He told us most of what we would know would happen, including that he would go after his political enemies using the Department of Justice," she said.
Other Trump opponents, including former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Schiff, have also faced DOJ scrutiny.
After Newsom announced on X that he and his wife were on Trump's "hit list," his office sent a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding all documents related to the investigation. "The American people deserve to know who ordered this abuse of power and how far it goes," Newsom wrote.
