Federal investigators are reportedly probing nonprofits linked to California first lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom, putting renewed scrutiny on two organizations that conservative watchdogs and media reports have criticized over alleged conflicts of interest tied to their proximity to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political orbit.
Newsom has accused President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of launching a politically motivated “fishing expedition” against him and his wife, but the DOJ has not publicly confirmed any probe. The reported inquiries have revived questions about The Representation Project and California Partners Project, two nonprofits connected to Siebel Newsom that have received donations from corporations, tribes and other entities with interests before California state government.
While Newsom has cast the purported investigation as a political witch hunt, the DOJ has yet to publicly confirm that a probe is even taking place, though internal sources speaking to media outlets have confirmed as much. Most recently, a source speaking to the California Post claimed that the FBI was looking into Siebel Newsom’s taxes.
“The sheer amount of cash, combined with the nature and timing of government activity, is eye-catching — especially when unexpected windfalls are benefiting the contributors,” Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland told the Washington Free Beacon in July 2025, around the time sources claim the probe into Newsom’s wife began. “It’s past time for this cash flow to fall under intense scrutiny.”
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Siebel Newsom’s finances first came under major scrutiny in 2021 when the Sacramento Bee reported that TRP had received more than $800,000 from a dozen corporations that frequently lobby the state of California for policy concessions. The outlet also found that many of the companies that donated to TRP later received favorable treatment from Newsom.
Data analyzed by the Sacramento Bee showed that Siebel Newsom’s charity saw its revenue spike whenever her husband’s political career advanced between 2011 and 2019.
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Siebel Newsom pays herself directly from TRP, pulling a salary of over $160,000 a year.
TRP also cuts six-figure checks to a media production company owned by Siebel Newsom each year, tax documents show.
Newsom claims federal investigators have questioned people connected to his wife, including those affiliated with her nonprofits, as part of an inquiry involving their finances.
The California governor has called the investigation a politically motivated “fishing expedition” by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department and said he and his wife have “nothing to hide.” He said the inquiry is aimed at him because he is considering running for president and that “to get me, he’s coming after my wife.”
The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the investigation and has declined to comment. Sources speaking to CNN on the condition of anonymity insist that the investigation was not requested by DOJ leadership in D.C. but was instigated by local officials after they received whistleblower reports.
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Years after the Sacramento Bee report, the Washington Free Beacon released a follow-up investigation in 2025 that reportedly uncovered a similar pattern.
California has a unique system through which politicians can “behest,” basically request, that a given individual or organization make a contribution to a charity. Through this system, Newsom routed roughly $4.3 million to TCPP between February 2020 and March 2026.
Cross-referencing California state records and nonprofit tax documents shows that behests made by Newsom accounted for over 80% of the TCPP revenue between 2020 and 2024.
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Critics have pointed to several donors to Siebel Newsom-linked nonprofits that later benefited from actions by Newsom’s administration, though Newsom has denied any connection between the donations and state decisions.
Newsom made headlines in 2024 for opposing the construction of a casino project north of San Francisco, writing a letter to the Biden administration urging it to block the project, then suing the federal government when development was allowed to continue.
Just months before Newsom sent his letter to the Biden administration, however, he requested that an American Indian tribe give $500,000 to TCPP. He asked for another half a million dollars just before suing the federal government in April 2025. The American Indian tribe agreed to both requests.
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The payments are significant because the proposed casino project would have competed directly with a casino run by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria just 15 miles away.
Entities that have donated to Newsom’s family charities typically deny that their contribution had political strings attached, stating instead that they cut the checks because they genuinely believed in feminist mission statements of the groups. Multiple conservative media outlets, however, have characterized the arrangement as a “pay for play” scheme.
While, unlike TRP, Newsom’s wife doesn’t draw a salary from TCPP, the funds transferred to it at the request of her husband nonetheless provide her with resources to spend on activist causes she cares about.
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The Newsoms have also been hit with allegations of self-dealing. Many of the films produced by Siebel Newsom’s enterprise are shown in California public schools, generating revenue for California’s first family by routing tax dollars to their personal enterprises.
Following the public scrutiny, Siebel Newsom’s charity appears to have become less transparent.
A TRP spokeswoman told the Sacramento Bee in 2021 that the charity discloses all donors over $5,000 on its website; however, as of publishing, no such webpage exists.
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Newsom has separately faced scrutiny over whether donors received state benefits after contributions.
After donating to Newsom, wealthy contributors have secured multimillion-dollar public contracts, access to large tax credits, favorable executive action and appointments to prestigious public posts, a 2025 Washington Examiner investigation found.
Newsom has denied any conflict of interest or quid pro quo involving donations to his wife’s nonprofits, saying of the donations in 2021, that “there’s no correlation, period, full stop. Absolutely none,” explaining that his decisions were made on the basis of policy judgement.
TRP, TCPP, Newsom’s office and the DOJ did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.