A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
California Governor Gavin Newsom says he is facing an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Newsom took the unusual step of discussing the alleged probe before any announcement from federal prosecutors. From member station KQED, here's Guy Marzorati.
GUY MARZORATI, BYLINE: In a video released Monday, Newsom says federal agents have been knocking on the doors of his friends and family members.
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GAVIN NEWSOM: They're demanding records. They're abusing the grand jury process, digging through years and years of random documents.
MARZORATI: Newsom's office says agents have asked questions on a wide range of topics and, they believe, subpoenaed bank records from the governor and his wife. Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a filmmaker and founder of a nonprofit that raises awareness about gender stereotypes.
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NEWSOM: A public servant. A woman who's dedicated her life to supporting women and girls. Someone who has done nothing wrong other than having the temerity to advocate for what she believes in. If they can't intimidate me, they'll go after the mother of our children.
MARZORATI: Newsom has been a leading Democratic critic of President Donald Trump. He thinks the probe is political payback.
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NEWSOM: Donald Trump isn't just coming after me because of my mean tweets. He's coming after me because I'm considering running for president.
MARZORATI: But there could be politics in Newsom's response, too, says Laurie Levenson, professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
LAURIE LEVENSON: This could be part of a good defense is an offense, which is to say the Justice Department's not playing fair and whatever they end up charging me with is not fair.
MARZORATI: The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment. Last month, Newsom's former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, pleaded guilty in a wide-ranging corruption investigation that did not implicate the governor. Levenson says it will be important to see if federal prosecutors have impaneled a grand jury in a potential investigation of Newsom.
LEVENSON: It used to be that the grand jury, almost pro forma, would issue an indictment and go along with the prosecutor.
MARZORATI: But Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, says that may be changing. A grand jury in Virginia last year refused to indict another outspoken Trump critic, New York attorney general Letitia James.
LEVENSON: We are seeing grand juries across the nation pushing back against the Trump Department of Justice and really being fairly vocal, now that we're getting some of the transcripts, that they don't trust the prosecutors on what's being investigated and how the investigation is occurring.
MARZORATI: On Monday night, Newsom's office filed a public records request in an attempt to learn more about the investigation.
For NPR News, I'm Guy Marzorati in San Jose, California. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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