Exclusive | Gavin Newsom ‘preparing’ to release long-delayed tax returns amid DOJ probe 61%

By Annie Gaus0%

6/20/2026, 1:05:29 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 20 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Ambiguity (Equivocation), and Availability Heuristic, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 29.6% saturation with 151 hits. Analysis detected 980 faulty-reasoning hits from 510 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 57.3% and a BS Rank of 61% (7,967 of 20,369 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 60.90% of the article peer group.

Gavin Newsom has pledged to publicly release all his tax returns as governor in a dramatic development in the ongoing Department of Justice probe into his family’s finances. 
Newsom's office said Friday it is “working to prepare” the governor’s tax returns spanning his current term in office as federal officials reportedly investigate his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom's finances and other individuals close to the governor. 
Newsom previously pledged to release annual tax returns during his 2018 campaign for governor, calling it a “moral duty” in what was viewed as a shot at President Donald Trump, who broke tradition by declining to voluntarily release his returns. 
But the one-time wine entrepreneur and now presidential aspirant stopped posting his returns after the 2022 reelection. 
His last release was for the tax year 2020, which were released more than four years ago. 
“The Governor and First Partner publicly disclose their income annually. 
They have released every tax return that had been filed while he was a candidate for statewide office, covering 2015 through his 2022 re-election,” said Newsom’s spokesperson Tara Gallegos in an email. 
His office didn’t provide a timeline for the tax disclosures. 
“Gavin Newsom’s lack of transparency is unsurprising and deeply hypocritical. 
After making a big deal of promising to release his tax returns, he has failed to turn over any returns for years,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust. 
The couple earned about $1.5 million in income and paid $480,000 in taxes, according to Newsom’s 2020 tax return. 
The pair took out a massive mortgage of $6.5 million to purchase their estate in Kentfield, about 20 minutes north of San Francisco, through an LLC created by Siebel Newsom. 
No “entities outside of the family” provided financial help, CalMatters reported. 
Newsom earns $246,000 in salary as governor while Siebel Newsom has paid herself between $150,000 and $300,000 annually through her gender justice nonprofit, the Representation Project, and a for-profit documentary film company called Girls Club Entertainment. 
The governor also earned $100,000 in book royalties and fees from his memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry.” 
Siebel Newsom, who comes from a wealthy Republican family in Marin County, has a blind trust worth over $1 million, according to economic disclosures. 
Newsom said in a video Monday that federal investigations “knocked on the doors of family, friends, and former employees” for political reasons as he considers running for president in 2028. 
“There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. 
“This is not presidential behavior, and the Governor and I will continue to speak truth to power because the American people deserve so much more,” she said. 
The US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of California is specifically probing allegations brought forward by California whistleblowers regarding Siebel Newsom's taxes, a source said, along with his former chief of staff, Dana Williamson and potentially current staffers. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 7.8%Annie Gaus: 6.8%California Post: 4.1%Confirmation Bias7.8%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 2.0%California Post: 1.4%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 13.5%Annie Gaus: 5.6%California Post: 4.2%Availability Heuristic13.5%This article: 4.7%Annie Gaus: 1.8%California Post: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic4.7%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.4%California Post: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 1.9%California Post: 2.2%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 8.0%Annie Gaus: 12.3%California Post: 10.4%Framing Effect8.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.4%California Post: 0.9%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.6%California Post: 0.6%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.0%California Post: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.7%California Post: 2.5%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 5.3%Annie Gaus: 2.5%California Post: 1.5%Pessimism Bias5.3%This article: 29.6%Annie Gaus: 23.7%California Post: 16.1%Negativity Bias29.6%This article: 12.2%Annie Gaus: 5.1%California Post: 2.4%Self-Serving Bias12.2%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 1.7%California Post: 1.5%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.9%California Post: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 1.9%California Post: 1.6%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 1.5%California Post: 1.1%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 1.6%California Post: 3.0%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.6%California Post: 0.6%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.1%California Post: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 6.7%Annie Gaus: 1.3%California Post: 1.6%Recency Bias6.7%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.7%California Post: 0.5%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.1%California Post: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 4.6%California Post: 2.6%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.4%California Post: 0.5%Straw Man0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 2.6%California Post: 4.2%Appeal to Authority0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.8%California Post: 1.5%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 5.1%California Post: 1.0%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.1%California Post: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 6.3%Annie Gaus: 8.5%California Post: 5.5%Hasty Generalization6.3%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 1.7%California Post: 0.7%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.3%California Post: 1.4%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 13.1%Annie Gaus: 7.9%California Post: 9.0%Appeal to Emotion13.1%This article: 7.3%Annie Gaus: 1.5%California Post: 1.1%Begging the Question7.3%This article: 5.9%Annie Gaus: 2.8%California Post: 2.7%Post Hoc (False Cause)5.9%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.7%California Post: 0.2%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 6.3%Annie Gaus: 0.7%California Post: 0.8%Burden of Proof6.3%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.6%California Post: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.0%California Post: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 4.2%California Post: 3.6%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.0%California Post: 0.0%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 13.7%Annie Gaus: 3.1%California Post: 2.0%Ambiguity (Equivocation)13.7%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.0%California Post: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.0%California Post: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.3%California Post: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 6.3%Annie Gaus: 0.3%California Post: 0.2%Special Pleading6.3%This article: 4.7%Annie Gaus: 1.4%California Post: 0.4%Genetic Fallacy4.7%This article: 11.6%Annie Gaus: 4.6%California Post: 3.2%Unattributed Quote11.6%This article: 2.0%Annie Gaus: 1.9%California Post: 2.1%Quote-first Misdirection2.0%This article: 22.5%Annie Gaus: 17.9%California Post: 13.2%Biased Writer Voice22.5%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.8%California Post: 1.4%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.6%California Post: 0.4%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 4.7%Annie Gaus: 2.0%California Post: 3.1%Politically Right Leaning Bias4.7%This article: 0.0%Annie Gaus: 0.8%California Post: 6.0%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

510 words analyzed.

Speakers

5speakers32%attributed speech348writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 37 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 40 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageTara Gallegos • 32 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageCaitlin Sutherland • 32 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 30 words • 100.0% coverageCalMatters • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 36 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 100.0% coverageGavin Newsom • 30 words • 0.0% coverageJennifer Siebel Newsom • 30 words • 0.0% coverageJennifer Siebel Newsom • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 100.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
57 attributed words35% of attributed speech68% writer coverage
0%17.5%35.0%Biased Writer Voice-33.0 ptsWriter: 33.0%Jennifer Siebel Newsom: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-17.0 ptsWriter: 17.0%Jennifer Siebel Newsom: 0.0%0.0%Politically Right Leaning -6.9 ptsWriter: 6.9%Jennifer Siebel Newsom: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-2.9 ptsWriter: 2.9%Jennifer Siebel Newsom: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.