Gavin Newsom Taunts Trump With Photo Montage Over Release Of Epstein Files Mentioning The President By Name

California Governor Gavin Newsom taunted President Donald Trump over the release of a new tranche of Epstein files in which the disgraced financier and abuser mentions him by name.

"WOW, new signage!" says the caption of the image, which features a hallway of the White House with the words "I AM A PEDO" in golden letters.

The White House has firmly rejected efforts to link Trump with Epstein's abuses, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Thursday that it is "another Democrat + Mainstream Media hoax, fueled by fake outrage, to distract from the President's wins."

In a social media publication, Leavitt claimed that, "if not for the Jeffrey Epstein story, CNN would be forced to talk about how Chuck Schumer and the Democrats got shellacked by President Trump and Republicans in the government shutdown fight."

"Republicans, don't be fooled. President Trump will remain focused on Making America Affordable Again," Leavitt concluded.

The argument seems to be part of a cohesive strategy by the GOP in the aftermath of the release, considering that House Republicans in the Oversight Committee said "Democrats whine about "releasing the files," but they only cherry-pick when they have them to generate clickbait."

The Republicans said they released an additional 20,000 pages of the Epstein files and posted them on their website.

The files released by Democrats on the same committee feature three emails from a tranche of more than 23,000 documents subpoenaed from the Epstein Estate.

They include a 2011 message in which Epstein told his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell that a victim had "spent hours at my house" with Trump, describing him as "the dog that hasn't barked." Maxwell responded: "I have been thinking about that ..." The names of alleged victims were redacted.

The emails were made public as the committee continues to review the broader set of documents, most of which have not yet been released.

In a separate exchange from December 2015, author Michael Wolff told Epstein he heard CNN might question Trump about his relationship with him. Epstein replied: "If we were to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?" Wolff said Trump should answer publicly and risk "hanging himself," noting it could create "PR and political currency" for Epstein.

Another email from January 2019 shows Epstein appeared to dispute reports that Trump had barred him from Mar-a-Lago, writing: "Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop." The full context of the exchange is unclear.

None of the newly released documents contain allegations of criminal conduct by Trump.

There are four Republicans who are supporting a "discharge petition," which will force a floor vote the compel the Department of Justice to release the files despite opposition from the leadership. They are Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has opposed the measure, said he will bring the measure to a vote next week. Even if it passes, the move will have to pass the Senate and be signed into law by Trump, which is unlikely given his opposition.