California Update: First Couple Under Investigation; Wealth-Tax Deal Underway?

from Matters of Policy & Politics · host Hoover Institution

This week’s bombshell news in Sacramento: California Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing that he and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom are under federal investigation reportedly for tax and financial improprieties – Newsom claiming he’s the victim of a political vendetta as a critic of President Trump, but the story also a window into the unseemly practice of “behested payments” that special interests use to curry favor with elected officials, especially sitting governors. As the June primary results are closer to being finalized, why did former reality-tv “villain” Spencer Pratt, billionaire Tom Steyer, AOC-clone Saikat Chakrabarti, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan all fail to advance to the general election? Finally, as legislators race to finish a new state budget before its July 1 deadline, will Gov. Newsom, his political allies, and a powerful California labor union cut a deal to keep a billionaire wealth tax off the November ballot? Recorded on June 18, 2026.

What this episode covers

Monthly update on the implications of California’s First Couple under federal investigation for tax and financial improprieties; the possibility of a deal in the coming days to keep a billionaire wealth tax off the November ballot, and more.