Vienna, Austria - Former Vice President Kamala Harris has shared her thoughts after California Governor Gavin Newsom claimed President Donald Trump's administration launched an investigation into him and his wife.

During a panel at the Austrian World Summit of the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative on Tuesday, Harris – who lost to Trump in the 2024 election – argued that the president made it clear during his campaign that he would "go after his political enemies using the Department of Justice" if he won re-election.

"I am not surprised that he may be using the Department of Justice to go after a political enemy in the current governor of California," she said of Newsom.

Her remarks came after Newsom claimed in a social media post Monday that Trump had directed his DOJ to investigate him and his wife in an attempt to find something to prosecute them over, describing it as a "personal vendetta."

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A source familiar with the investigations conversely told the AFP that they were instead launched by the Sacramento-based US attorney for the Eastern District of California a year ago and were triggered by information from whistleblowers.

Newsom has vehemently denied those claims.

In his second term, Trump has faced intense criticism for directing federal agencies to target politicians, public figures, and news outlets that have been publicly critical of him.