SACRAMENTO, September 19 — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of California is refusing to release subpoenas tied to a federal investigation into California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s international travel expenses, The Center Square reported after attempting to obtain the documents. “Subpoenas are not public record, and our office never releases them,” Lauren Horwood, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of California, told The Center Square.
The Center Square also could not obtain the subpoenas from federal courthouses, visiting two locations of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District this week. At the courthouse in downtown Fresno, no one in the clerk’s office or the U.S. Attorney’s office there could look up the subpoenas because no case number had been assigned to the documents, and employees of two judges in that building would not talk to The Center Square.
At the main courthouse in the Eastern District of California, in downtown Sacramento, no one in the clerk’s office was able to look up the subpoenas; visits to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the courtroom of Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley were equally unsuccessful.
What the Subpoenas Seek
The San Francisco Standard reported last weekend that subpoenas filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California were issued in early September and that communications with Newsom and his associates, as well as six years of records showing Newsom’s international travel and related expenses, be turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice. The records involve the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit that pays for the governor’s travel, the Standard reported.
The Standard reported that its review of state records showed Newsom directed more than $7.5 million in donations from outside groups to the foundation, and that about $5.1 million of that came from two foundations that paid for inauguration costs for Newsom in 2019 and 2023. The Center Square previously reported that Newsom has reported more than $340 million in behested payments to various organizations since he took office in 2019; behested payments go to a third party such as a nonprofit a politician likes.
No one was available at the California State Protocol Foundation to answer The Center Square’s questions Friday.
Newsom’s Office Pushes Back
“Governor Newsom went after the king — and as he warned in June, the tyrant is now coming after everyone around him,” Tara Gallegos, director of communications for the Democratic governor’s office, told The Center Square via email. “This is what Donald Trump does to his enemies: investigate first, hunt for a crime that doesn’t exist second. This is a baseless MAGA conspiracy theory.” Gallegos added that there is no crime to investigate.
“There is just a sick man in the White House weaponizing the federal government to settle personal scores,” Gallegos wrote. “It’s deeply upsetting to see innocent staff, friends, and family have their names dragged through the mud just because they’re associated with the Governor.” The Center Square reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
Names Tied to the Foundation’s Travel Payments
The Standard also reported that aides, advisers and other people close to Newsom who had their international travel expenses paid by the foundation included Rebecca Prowda, Newsom’s chief protocol officer and wife of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. The subpoenas also requested information about international travel expenses paid by the foundation for Steve Kawa, Newsom’s former chief of staff; Jim DeBoo, former executive secretary for Newsom, and Matina Kolokotronis, COO of the Sacramento Kings, among others.
The Center Square attempted to reach some of the people named in the Standard’s story; none responded before press time on Friday. The report was originally published on thecentersquare.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
What to watch next is whether a case number is eventually assigned in the Eastern District, which would make the subpoenas traceable through the courts, and whether the Justice Department offers any public confirmation of the investigation’s scope.
