Gavin Newsom hires anti-Trump big gun as bombshell case into his wife escalates

By BREANNE DEPPISCH, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 22:21, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 22:29, 17 July 2026 California Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, have retained a top Washington litigator, Abbe Lowell, to represent them amid an escalating Trump DOJ investigation.  In June, the 58-year-old governor announced on social media that he and his wife, 51, are the subjects of an ongoing investigation.  Newsom blasted the effort as 'politically motivated' and a bid to end his rumored 2028 presidential ambitions.  But Lowell indicates that the investigation - believed to have stemmed from whistleblower complaints about possible tax issues tied to his wife's nonprofits - may be ramping up behind the scenes.  There are multiple federal investigations underway regarding the governor, a person with knowledge of the probe previously told the Daily Mail. Lowell, who started his own firm in 2025, has made a name for himself by representing some of Washington's most powerful politicians. His list of high-profile clients has mushroomed during Trump's second presidential term, amid a spike in what critics have panned as a string of politically motivated criminal prosecutions brought against some of Trump's most prominent public foes. Since Trump returned to the White House last year, Lowell has taken on big-name clients including former national security adviser John Bolton, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook, and former CNN journalist Don Lemon, among others. California Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, attend the White House Correspondents' Garden Brunch in Washington, DC Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, depart the Supreme Court after oral arguments in January  Gavin Newsom and his family wave to the crowd at an election night party in Los Angeles after Newsom was elected as California's 40th governor  He has also represented Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden and DHS whistleblower Miles Taylor. His clients also include former federal prosecutors and FBI agents who were involved in Trump-related cases, and who sued the government for wrongful termination after they were abruptly terminated last year. It is unclear what, exactly, the Justice Department is investigating in the case of Newsom and his wife, Jennifer. The two have reportedly retained Lowell in a personal capacity.  Hunter Biden and his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, speak to reporters after a House Oversight Committee meeting in Washington, DC A giant portrait of President Donald Trump looks down from the Justice Department in Washington, DC The Justice Department has not publicly commented on the matter.  But it comes as Newsom has repeatedly decried the investigation as a politically motivated 'witch hunt' designed to thwart his political ambitions - including a possible 2028 presidential bid. Newsom has argued he is just the latest on a long list of political foes Trump has sought to prosecute during his second term in office. 'Donald Trump isn't just coming after me because of my mean tweets,' Newsom said in a video shared to social media last month.  'He's coming after me because I am considering running for president.' Neither Newsom nor Lowell's office immediately responded to requests for comment on the investigation.