‘Criminal in chief’: Gov. Gavin Newsom publishes website attacking White House pardons
In an eyebrow-raising bit of political theater, Gov. Gavin Newsom debuted a new website tallying President Donald Trump’s recent absolving of convicted executives and Capitol insurrectionists, accusing the White House of “protecting pedophiles” and “driving criminals into government.”
Newsom’s office published a list of 10 recent Trump pardons, including Rep. George Santos, R-New York, who served 6 months of a 7-year sentence for aggravated identity theft and wire fraud before Trump commuted his sentence; former Honduran president and convicted drug trafficker Juan Orlando Hernández, who was set to serve 45 years in federal prison until Trump’s pardon last month; and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who served eight years on political corruption charges, including trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.
Since retaking office earlier this year, Trump has leaned on businesses, hospitals, media companies and universities to donate millions to his administration or adopt more docile policies after accusing them of offenses ranging from antisemitism to liberal bias, often with scant evidence.
On Monday, he sued the BBC for billions of dollars, claiming the broadcaster deceptively edited clips of a speech he gave before the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, where his supporters — who he has since pardoned — attacked police officers and tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Last month, the White House unveiled its own website attacking journalists by name and outlet who had published reporting that was critical of federal policies.
Calling him the “criminal-in-chief,” Newsom pointed out that Trump is the first sitting or former president to be convicted on criminal charges, after a New York jury in 2024 found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. The two are also in court over a litany of lawsuits ranging from Trump’s seizure of the California National Guard to quell protests to the administration’s withdrawal of federal funding for the High Speed Rail Authority.
Newsom called him a “felon who surrounds himself with scammers and drug traffickers,” and cited his association with deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s sometime girlfriend who is in prison for child sex trafficking and has been angling to be officially absolved of her sentence.
“We’re providing the public with a resource putting the facts in one place so Californians, and all Americans, can see who he elevates and who he protects,” Newsom said in a statement. He also published recent data from the Major Cities Chief Association that showed violent crime dropping in California cities like San Jose, San Francisco, and San Diego.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in an email Trump has the constitutional authority to issue pardons and has forgiven “a variety of individuals.”
“The only pardons anyone should be critical of are from President Autopen,” she wrote, referring to former president Joe Biden. She linked to a December 2024 New York Post story about his commutations, including 37 out of 40 men on federal death row. “That’s not to mention the proactive pardons he ‘signed’ for his family members like Hunter on his way out the door.”
Newsom publicly condemned Biden’s pardoning of his son Hunter, who was facing prison time for federal tax evasion and illegal gun ownership charges.
Newsom has turned his frequent social media attacks on Trump — often parroting the president’s frenzied posting style — into a brand as a chief White House antagonist as he positions himself for a potential presidential run in 2028.
Until now, he has largely separated his position as California governor, where he has promised to work closely with the federal government on issues like wildfire recovery, with his political activities. His office did not respond immediately to a question about why staffers there published the website instead of his political team.
Dan Schnur, a political science professor at UC Berkeley and USC, said the website was an example of “Newsom trying to out-Trump Trump,” referring to how Trump has attacked his opponents online and in interviews.
“The Democrats want an aggressive counterpuncher. What’s new here is the use of government resources to do it,” Schnur said. “He’s speaking as a governor but also as the Democrats’ de-facto presidential candidate. There’s times when those run into conflict with each other.”
Schnur called it a “solid political hit” against a political opponent.
“He’s (Newsom) entitled to brag about the state’s declining crime rate, and he’s just as entitled to criticize the president,” Schnur said. “It’s much less clear whether taxpayers should be footing the bill for it.”
