Gov. Gavin Newsom says no ‘imminent threat’ to California after FBI memo on possible Iran drone attacks

By Holmes Lybrand, Josh Campbell, CNN

(CNN) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday there is no “imminent threat” to the state following reports that federal authorities had alerted state officials of unverified claims by Iranian-affiliated actors desiring to conduct potential drone attacks.

The FBI memo sent to local law enforcement and officials in California contained unvetted and unverified information for their awareness, according to several officials who had seen it.

“We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United States Homeland,” the memo reads, according to reports, “specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran.”

Following initial reports on the memo, the FBI’s Assistant Director for Public Affairs, Ben Williamson, said those reports left out the word “unverified” in the initial line: “We recently acquired unverified information.”

ABC News was first to report the memo.

According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the memo was “one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip. The email even states the tip was based on *unverified* intelligence,” she wrote on social media.

“TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did,” she added, criticizing initial reports on the memo.

Federal investigators often share information of questionable credibility with local law enforcement partners out of an abundance of caution.

One law enforcement source told CNN Wednesday federal and state security officials have deemed the information to be “aspirational” in nature and do not currently believe there is an imminent threat.

The US intelligence community routinely collects intelligence on adversaries signaling their desire to cause harm, one law enforcement official source said, but mere claims do not mean adversaries are capable of carrying out an attack.

These types of reports are shared with local law enforcement “daily,” the source said.

Newsom posted on social media Wednesday that he is “in constant coordination with security and intelligence officials” over potential threats to California, “including those tied to the conflict in the Middle East.”

“While we are not aware of any imminent threats at this time, we remain prepared for any emergency in our state,” Newsom wrote.

President Donald Trump said later Wednesday that the government is investigating the unverified claim.

“It’s being investigated,” the president told reporters when asked about the FBI memo. “But you have a lot of things happening, and all we could do is take them as they come.”

Pressed on if he has been briefed on the potential number of Iranian sleeper cells located within the United States, the president told reporters, “I have been.”

Increased security

California is no stranger to managing national security concerns.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it has increased patrols around places of worship and other prominent locations “out of an abundance of caution.”

Law enforcement was heightened in the Bay Area last month as thousands poured in to attend the Super Bowl and the same is planned for this weekend in Los Angeles as a massive influx of stars and other visitors attend the Academy Awards on Sunday.

“We monitor what’s going on in the world. We have the support of the FBI and the LAPD and it’s a close collaboration,” said Oscars executive producer Raj Kapoor during a news conference Wednesday.

While it’s typical for officials to ramp up security around major events, this year organizers are working to reassure the public amid the heightened sense of tension residents are feeling over global events.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re in a place at this time that we have to be concerned, that’s even a topic of conversation,” Jay Barrera, a Los Angeles visitor, told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS.

University of California Los Angeles leaders met with federal officials to discuss the reports and determined “there is no increased threat to UCLA or the Southern California region,” the university said in a memo to students.

It’s not at all uncommon for these FBI notices to go out to law enforcement agencies, Justin MacLaurin, CEO of Digital Force Technologies, told CNN.

His company works with clients, mainly military or government agencies, to detect threats, including drones, and deploy technology to respond to them.

“California residents could rest assured that the capability exists within the government to mitigate these threats. This is not unique technology that has to be developed. This is capability and technology that’s being used around the world by US forces, day in and day out.”

The government uses a layered defense system, MacLaurin said.

“There are exquisite systems that seek to find these types of threats and identify them with very, very early warning, so all those different layers come together to fuse an intelligence picture and help us respond,” he said. “The earlier you detect, the longer you have to respond.”

MacLaurin said his team is one of many working to help the US maintain a sophisticated threat detection and response system.

“There’s an entire ecosystem of companies in the defense technology sector that are actively addressing this problem,” he said. “There are literally hundreds of companies that work to address this problem – all have the mission of keeping US citizens safe.”

Ramped up warnings

The memo specific to California came as the US intelligence community has issued a flurry of private warnings in the past week to American companies and government agencies urging vigilance and the hardening of possible targets of cyber attack by the Iranian regime in response to the war with Tehran, according to national security sources and memos reviewed by CNN.

While no specific or credible threat has been outlined in those briefings, one recent Department of Homeland Security bulletin to US law enforcement agencies warned of a heightened threat environment following the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Citing open source intelligence, the DHS “critical incident note” said that “two top Iranian religious leaders issued separate Farsi-language fatwas calling on Muslims worldwide to take revenge for the killing” of Ali Khamenei.

“The fatwas, Iranian government rhetoric, and online messaging from regime supporters promoting retaliation against the US heightens the threat from violent extremists who support the Iranian regime,” the DHS bulletin said.

The bulletin also referenced a decree from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which indicated: “the enemy … will no longer have security anywhere in the world, even in their own homes.”

US officials have not publicly announced any known credible threats to the homeland, but a law enforcement source familiar with the situation told CNN the FBI went on an elevated alert status across the country following the launch of strikes by US and Israel, with authorities particularly concerned about enhancing security measures around US energy infrastructure, hardening potential government targets against cyber threats from sophisticated Iranian actors, and securing the border.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg, Lauren Mascarenhas and Norma Galeana contributed to this report.

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