MAJOR GARRETT:
00:00:59
It does. Looks very official. What we know is that sources telling CBS News that, right now, it looks like there are two investigations, one into Jennifer Siebel Newsom's taxes. That, of course, is his wife. And there have long been sort of discussions-- public discussions and reporting on how some of Newsom's biggest donors, corporate entities like PG&E, are donors to her nonprofits. That's not uncommon in California politics. A lot of spouses of politicians have nonprofits that are funded by these types of supporters, political supporters. And then the other investigation, we're told, has to do with Dana Williamson or some connection to Dana Williamson. That is the governor's former chief of staff, who just pled guilty to federal charges related to conspiring to steal money or funnel funds. I shouldn't say steal money but funnel funds from former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra's dormant campaign fund, and both she and his then chief of staff were charged federally. Both have pled guilty to different charges related to that. We are told, though, that, initially, talking both with folks who are familiar with that investigation early on, that, initially, the DOJ was reaching out to Williamson sort of looking into Newsom. And he even said publicly-- or several people have said publicly that because they couldn't find anything on Newsom, they then turned on Dana Williamson, his chief of staff, and Xavier Becerra's chief of staff. Xavier Becerra was not indicted on any of those charges. He, of course, is the front-runner right now for California governor to replace Governor Newsom. And, Julie, you mentioned the look of that video. It was five minutes long. And the governor said something he has been coy about previously, like he would think about or look into. He basically said, I'm considering running for president. To my ear-- correct me if I'm wrong-- that's the most definitive he's been. I think that is probably the most definitive he has been. I mean, it's really difficult. California media, we all know he's running. We've all known for a long time. So you sort of hear everything through a certain filter. I will say, one of my favorite print reporters, Emily Hoeven-- she is at the Chroniclenow, formerly at CalMatters. She tweeted that and said, well, I guess it's official. He's running. So certainly a lot of folks in the California sort of journalism sphere feel like this was his official announcement. And very quickly, Julie, he wants the Justice Department to come after him because he wants to continue to portray himself as a fighter against what Trump represents politically and judicially. I can't speak for the governor, but were I advising him, I would certainly say it is good for him to have Trump attacking him. He wants his name coming out of Trump's mouth as much as possible. It's great for a presidential run. Julie Watts, appreciate the time. Thank you.
