On Tuesday’s CNN This Morning, after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a possible federal investigation into his wife, Jennifer Siebel-Newsom, and her charities, host Audie Cornish framed the case as Trump's retribution. But when Concerned Women for America President Penny Nance attempted to share details of the investigation, Cornish shut her down.
Cornish portrayed the case through a lens of retribution with a graphic of investigations, past, ongoing, or potential, into foes of the President paired with her words:
I wish I could show you, you know, an indictment or some investigatory question, but I will show you the number of people the administration has investigated that various people in the cabinet have deemed kind of enemies. Um, whether that is Jim Comey or Lisa Cook or whoever.
Comey posts "86 47" memes and he's "kind of" an enemy? Cornish said the statement was a warning and a message to the media that his family could be on a list of possible investigations.
Nance then said Newsom was probably “loving this” before she noted the investigation’s origins under the Biden-era DOJ and detailed the possible Jennifer Newsom misdoings:
But the timing is really good for Gavin Newsom to announce it right now. And the issue is $3.7 million that went into the coffers of the Rep project, which is a Jennifer Newsom project. By the way, I -- full disclosure, served on a on a board with her --”
Cornish stopped Nance because she could not confirm any of the investigation, even though it was her segment that triggered the topic of a Newsom investigation:
“But, do you mind pausing because we don't have confirmation and I do not know if this is true right now, because we literally are not hearing anything, I don't want to be talking about Newsom's wife as though she has committed crimes when we have not heard this.”
Can you imagine a CNN anchor shutting down talk about a Trump investigation?
The Sacramento Bee noted in their report on the story that a federal source said “there were several investigations into the Newsoms that had been ongoing for roughly one year, “which “originated out of whistleblower complaints submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.”
The Washington Free Beacon and a recent California Post opinion piece also noted possible alleged financial irregularities related to Siebel-Newsom charities.
After CNN's Audie Cornish framed the investigation of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife as a case of retribution, panelist Penny Nance started to describe details of the investigation and it's Biden era orgins, until Cornish stopped her and shifted towards Newsom's presidential ambitions. pic.twitter.com/fXw7l6wFZy
— Nick (@nspin310) June 16, 2026
The rest of the discussion based on the possible Newsom investigation focused on a future presidential run, as Democrat strategist Chuck Rocha said Newsom was positioning himself for a run and jokingly said he was surprised Newsom “hasn’t run away to another country saying ‘I’m going to go into exile until Donald Trump leaves me alone’ and tweet it out.”
In a segment that was seemingly focused on an investigation into Newsom, Cornish was oddly hesitant to allow any possible details on an investigation and seemed more focused on a Newsom presidential run as she was enamored with his social media troll posting.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
CNN This Morning
June 16, 2026
6:46:09 AM Eastern
(...)
AUDIE CORNISH: Okay, weird. Sources tell CNN that Newsom is not the subject of an investigation, but that his wife, Jennifer Newsom, is part of a greater investigation into tax crimes.
So, the group chat is back. I wish I could show you, you know, an indictment or some investigatory question, but I will show you the number of people the administration has investigated that various people in the cabinet have deemed kind of enemies. Um, whether that is Jim Comey or Lisa Cook or whoever.
So, clearly Newsom is trying to say, “Hey, yeah, my friends and family, my wife could end up on this list as well.
PENNY NANCE: He is loving this, by the way. It makes him more interesting. It brings him back into the news. He's having a great day today. But the truth is what - this started under Joe Biden. This whole investigation started.
But the timing is really good for Gavin Newsom to announce it right now. And the issue is $3.7 million that went into the coffers of the Rep Project, which is a Jennifer Newsom project. By the way, I - full disclosure, served on a on a board with her -
CORNISH: But, do you mind pausing because we don't have confirmation and I do not know if this is true right now, because we literally are not hearing anything, I don't want to be talking about Newsom's wife as though she has committed crimes when we have not heard this.
And I want to understand, though, why Newsom would come out ahead of an investigation to talk about it.
CHUCK ROCHA: Presidential politics are about two things. It's about money and votes, and he's working on both right now. He wants to get out and try to make himself be a victim. We've seen politicians, some of which may be in the White House, always want to be the victim of press or whatever investigation may be happening. And Newsom is positioning himself politically to do that.
And as, Sabrina, a consultant, it's a chef's kiss, is what this is.
[Laughter from panel]
A chef's kiss of getting ahead of it on camera with the flags behind him. I'm surprised he hasn't run away to another country saying, “I'm going to go into exile until Donald Trump leaves me alone” and tweet it out.
CORNISH: Let's let people know. Back in May, Emerson College actually did do a poll looking at people's potential choices, Democratic nominee for president. And Newsom was not the first name on it.
SABRINA RODRIGUEZ: I mean, there's no question that Newsom is amongst the top contenders. He does come up amongst the -
CORNISH: I mean, I'm amongst the top contenders. [Laughter] That list is so long at this point.
RODRIGUEZ: No, but he is certainly one of - he has established himself under Trump's second term as like one of the leading people trying to take him on.
CORNISH: Yes. We’ll post a sample tweet so people can see.
RODRIGUEZ: So, this furthers that national profile that he's tried to build. I mean, he has specifically, strategically, over the last year and a half, tried to take on President Trump consistently.
CORNISH: Redistricting. Yeah.
RODRIGUEZ: Whether it's with redistricting, whether it was last year with the National Guard deployment in Los Angeles, he has at every turn tried to take on President Trump. And this does further that.
CORNISH: YEAH
RODRIGUEZ: And we do see it. I mean, he is already fundraising off of it and sending emails. So it's clearly a position.
CORNISH: Right. And we just showed that tweet. Not because we think it's funny, but because to your point, Newsom likes to quote, unquote, do online battle with the Trump administration in the language they quote, unquote understand, so to speak, the language of memes and jokes. And he's been at the forefront of that.
(...)
