“We don’t know whether these investigations are politically motivated or not,” California Post opinion editor Joel Pollak told FOX Business<\/a>.<\/p>\n “It didn’t help John Bolton when he said that the investigation into his misuse of classified information was politically motivated. He just recently pleaded guilty, so that doesn’t actually explain whether Newsom is guilty or not.”<\/p>\n Pollak said the controversy extends beyond charitable donations and centers on so-called “behested payments” \u2014 contributions solicited by elected officials for causes or organizations they support.<\/p>\n GAVIN NEWSOM CLAIMS TRUMP ORDERED DOJ PROBE TARGETING HIM AND HIS WIFE<\/a><\/p>\n California Gov. Gavin Newsom looks on during a bill signing event related to redrawing the state\u2019s congressional maps on Aug. 21, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif.\u00a0 (Justin Sullivan \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n In Newsom’s case, Pollak noted that some of the payments were directed to organizations<\/a> linked to Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n “It wasn’t just charitable donations,” Pollak said.<\/p>\n “He was fined<\/a> for failing to report what are called behested payments… and if Newsom were being honest with the voters of California, he would come clean about what these behested payments are, instead of waiting until beyond the deadline to account for them,” he added.<\/p>\n Pollak argued that the arrangement creates the appearance that donors could receive favorable treatment from the governor.<\/p>\n CNN PANELIST COMPARES HUNTER BIDEN, GAVIN NEWSOM MASH UP TO ‘WEIRD TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n California Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, attend a black-tie dinner for US governors and their spouses following the National Governors Association meetings in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2024. (SAUL LOEB\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The governor has accused the Trump Department of Justice’s investigation of being politically motivated and linked it to his expected 2028 presidential run.<\/p>\n “After calling for my arrest last year, Donald Trump directed his\u00a0Department of Justice<\/a>\u00a0to investigate me,” Newsom said in a video statement. “And just in the last week, I\u2019ve learned his campaign has reached my own home: to get me, he\u2019s coming after my wife, Jen.”<\/p>\n In a statement to Fox News, Jennifer Siebel Newsom blasted the Trump administration for the alleged overreach.<\/p>\n “There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way. This is not presidential behavior, and the Governor and I will continue to speak truth to power because the American people deserve so much more,” she said.<\/p>\n![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/gavin-newsom-california-governor-getty.jpg\")
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