California's Democratic Governor, Gavin Newsom, has launched a fresh social media broadside against President Donald Trump's administration, using an altered video clip to criticise its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
A Doctored Video Sparks Controversy
In a post on X, Newsom shared genuine footage from a recent White House meeting where President Trump stood up to admire the view of a $400 million ballroom under construction. "Wow, what a view," Trump remarked. However, Newsom's version superimposed different imagery outside the window.
Instead of showing construction, the clip was edited to display archival footage of Trump socialising with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at Mar-a-Lago in 1992. The governor captioned the post with a direct, all-caps demand: "PAM BONDI, RELEASE THE FILES!"
The Stalled Release of Epstein Documents
The post references the ongoing controversy surrounding the Department of Justice's (DOJ) publication of files related to Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The pressure intensified after President Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law late last year.
This legislation mandated the DOJ, under the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi, to release all its Epstein-related documents by 19 December. While thousands of heavily redacted pages have been published—some mentioning high-profile figures like Trump, Bill Clinton, and Larry Summers—this represents a tiny fraction of the total.
As of 5 January, more than 99 percent of the files remain unreleased. The DOJ has stated that hundreds of its attorneys are now reviewing the remaining documents to achieve compliance with the law.
Political Theatre and Accusations of Diversion
Newsom, widely seen as a leading contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, has repeatedly used social media to needle Trump, often adopting the president's own trademark style of all-caps posts and memes. Last week, he questioned on X: "Why isn't the Trump admin prioritizing transparency and accountability around sex trafficking of minors?"
Critics of the administration allege that a series of high-profile actions since the December deadline—including the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, threats to invade Greenland, and a criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell—are tactics to divert attention from the Epstein scandal.
President Trump has dismissed the Epstein controversy as a "hoax" orchestrated by Democrats and insists he has done nothing wrong. He has previously described Newsom, whom he mockingly calls "Newscum," as "incompetent," levelling accusations of widespread fraud in California.
