Newsom says Trump DOJ launched probe, but multiple reports trace parts of the investigation to the Biden era

California Gov. Gavin Newsom renewed criticism of the federal Justice Department investigation into his and his wife’s finances, saying President Donald Trump’s Justice Department launched a politically motivated “fishing expedition.” Newsom’s allegation has been met with new attention to the timeline of investigative activity described by multiple outlets citing sources familiar with the matter.

According to reporting cited by Fox News, the chronology now being debated centers on whether key portions of the investigation began before President Trump’s second term. Fox News reported that multiple outlets have pointed to investigative steps that predate Trump returning to office, complicating Newsom’s contention that the probe was directed by the Trump Justice Department.

CalMatters reported that at least two criminal investigations involving Newsom’s orbit have been underway for about a year in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. CalMatters said the outlet’s sources linked the start of those inquiries to whistleblowers and local complaints in Sacramento, and that one inquiry involving Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was opened during the Biden administration.

Fox News also reported that the timeline has become central to the dispute, with multiple outlets citing sources familiar with the investigations and describing how earlier inquiries could have predated any Trump-directed expansion. The outlets’ reporting, as summarized by Fox News, indicates that questions about the origin of the investigations have become part of the broader argument over whether the Justice Department’s current actions reflect new direction or continuity from earlier work.

Newsom has continued to characterize the current investigative posture as politically motivated. In related coverage referenced by the research package, CNBC reported that Newsom accused the Trump Justice Department of launching the inquiry into him and his wife. The research package also includes a CalMatters account describing Newsom’s broader allegations that federal agents conducted interviews as part of the probe.

The Justice Department itself was not cited in the provided materials with an official timeline, charging decision, or public filing that would confirm when the investigative activity began or whether it was expanded under President Trump’s administration. Under the supplied record, the detailed chronology remains contested and is attributed to reporting and sources familiar with the investigations.

For now, the practical focus remains on whether the investigative work that affected Newsom’s orbit is best understood as continuation of earlier matters or as new, centrally directed action by the current administration. Absent a Department of Justice statement or court filing in the supplied materials, the reported dates do not resolve the dispute over intent, even as they may bear on Newsom’s claim about who started the probe and when.