California Gov. Gavin Newsom called out some of the biggest names in MAGA on Wednesday following a bombshell update in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Newsom took aim at conservative figures, including the vice president, after new emails released by House Democrats suggested President Trump knew about Epstein’s crimes all along.
“Any comment, @JDVance?” the California governor wrote alongside a screenshot of New York Times story with the headline, “Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct.”
Vance has defended Trump as having “nothing to hide” in the Epstein investigation. He also faced backlash from some in MAGA for holding secret strategy talks with Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel in August about the Epstein files amid intense coverage of Trump’s relationship with the late sex trafficker.
Newsom also took aim Wednesday at a group of MAGA social media personalities who were invited by the White House in February to review binders labeled, “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.”
“Anyone check on these ‘influencers’ this morning?” Newsom posted on X. “Pretty big day for the ‘issue’ they’re most passionate about.”
The dig towards the ‘influencers’ is in reference to February of this year, when 15 MAGA social media personalities made a spectacle leaving the White House carrying binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.”
The group included MAGA figures such as Libs Of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik, DC Draino’s Rogan O’Handley and conservative activist Scot Pressler, who all proudly touted their binders while leaving 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The binders supposedly contained declassified documents pertaining to the DOJ investigation into Epstein.
The influencers have been quiet about the Epstein files in recent months—focusing their energy toward matters unrelated to the investigation or outright denying its importance.
O’Handley posted on X Wednesday calling the bombshell emails “a pure distraction play.”
“The shutdown is ending, and Democrats look like fools. So what did they do?” O’Handey wrote. “Release some vague Epstein emails where Trump is mentioned with names redacted to make them look worse than they are.”
According to the emails released Wednesday morning, Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with one of his sex trafficking victims, and Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls.” One email that Epstein sent to his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell called Trump “that dog that hasn’t barked.”
“I have been thinking about that…” Maxwell responded.
The president did not send or receive any of the messages, though they raise questions about his relationship with Epstein. Trump has not been accused of any misconduct connected to Epstein or Maxwell.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to the Daily Beast, “The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump. The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions.”
“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre. These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again,” she continued.
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