California Governor Gavin Newsom is not one to let MAGA leaders get away with saying whatever comes to their minds. Recently, he called out Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as she claimed that the Democrats are protecting pedophiles while justifying the horrible shooting of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents.
Leavitt said Good was, “a lunatic who was a part of a group, an organized group to interject and to impede on law enforcement organizations. It’s disgusting what we have seen from the left, and I think it just shows you where the modern-day Democrat [sic] Party stands today, in protecting illegal alien p*do*philes and r**ists and murderers over law-abiding American citizens and our brave men and women who serve in law enforcement.”
Her words naturally caught Newsom’s attention, who quickly took this opportunity to remind the world that it is the Trump administration that has still not released the entirety of the Epstein files despite the deadline being on December 19, 2025.
The Trump Administration has still not complied with Congressional law and released the Epstein Files … WHY? https://t.co/BXZsRzRyCL
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 12, 2026
Taking to X, Newsom shared a clip showing Leavitt blaming the Democrats with the caption, “The Trump Administration has still not complied with Congressional law and released the Epstein Files … WHY?”
A fairly large chunk of comments agreed with Newsom, with one user saying, “They are complicit, everybody.” Another one added, “The Right are covering for P*d*philes! Not the democratic party! Crazy.” A third user chimed in “There is no rule of law. Republicans will never impeach Pres Trump 79, no matter what.” while another one pointed out, “Because Trumps name is on thousands and thousands of pages.”
The release of the Epstein files has long been a topic of controversy with Trump allegedly trying his best to stop the files from being released. His behavior even caused uproar in the MAGA base, leading to a notable fallout between him and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
BREAKING: Trump’s DOJ has failed to submit a report to Congress, which is required to include a list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the released materials, without redactions.
What are they trying to hide?
It’s been 17 DAYS…
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 5, 2026
Eventually, Trump had to give his nod to release the files, for which a deadline of December 19, 2025, had been set. However, the Department of Justice did not comply by this deadline and addressing this, Ro Khanna, California Congressman, said, “The Justice Department’s document dump this afternoon does not comply with Thomas Massie and my Epstein Transparency Act. It is an incomplete release, with too many redactions. Thomas Massie and I are exploring all options.” as The Guardian reported.
Interestingly, among the files released, there were Trump’s pictures, which the DoJ had initially tried to redact but then had to republish after backlash. Trump has repeatedly denied his friendship with Epstein and has claimed that he distanced himself from the disgraced financier despite evidence showing that the two shared a great bond even after news of the latter’s exploitation of underage girls came to light.
With the Epstein fiasco being one of the biggest controversies during Trump’s second term, the comment about protecting p***philes, coming from Leavitt, is indeed ironic. As Newsom rightly raised the issue of the delay in the files being released, an official statement from the White House regarding Leavitt’s comments is awaited.
