California Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched a fresh public attack on the Department of Justice over the delayed release of records tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, using an altered video clip to drive home his criticism.
In a social media post this week, Newsom took footage of Trump during a recent East Room event — where the president paused to admire a view of construction work on a planned $400 million White House ballroom — and digitally replaced the scene outside the window with archival video of Trump and Epstein socializing at Mar-a-Lago in 1992. Newsom captioned the post: “PAM BONDI, RELEASE THE FILES!”
The post was aimed squarely at Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Trump administration’s handling of the so-called Epstein Files. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law by Trump late last year, the Department of Justice was required to release all of its Epstein-related files by December 19. That deadline has come and gone, but the vast majority of the records remain unpublished.
So far, the DOJ has released thousands of pages of documents, many of them heavily redacted. Some of the materials reference Trump and other high-profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Officials have emphasized that being named in the files is not evidence of wrongdoing.
As of January 5, more than 99 percent of the Epstein files have not been made public. Bondi has said the department plans to deploy hundreds of DOJ attorneys in the coming weeks to review and release the remaining materials in order to comply with the law.
Since missing the disclosure deadline, the Trump administration has rolled out a series of high-profile actions, including the surprise capture of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, threats to seize Greenland, and an unprecedented criminal investigation targeting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Critics argue those moves are designed to distract from the Epstein controversy, which dominated headlines for much of last year.
Newsom has repeatedly used social media — often adopting Trump’s all-caps, meme-heavy style — to keep attention focused on Epstein and the administration’s handling of the records. In recent weeks, he has posted multiple times about Trump’s past relationship with Epstein, who the president has said was once a friend before the two fell out in the early 2000s. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing in the Epstein case.
“Why isn’t the Trump admin prioritizing transparency and accountability around sex trafficking of minors?” Newsom wrote on X last week.
Trump has dismissed the Epstein controversy as a Democratic “hoax” and has accused Newsom, whom he derisively refers to as “Newscum,” of incompetence and allowing widespread fraud in California.
The dispute has become another flashpoint in the escalating feud between the two men, with Newsom using the Epstein files to press a broader argument about transparency and accountability — and Trump responding with personal attacks as pressure mounts to release the remaining records.
