Topline
Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, on Saturday said he referred Gov. Gavin Newsom to the Secret Service for a “full threat assessment,” after Newsom wrote on social media a jab targeting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The California governor wrote on X: “Kristi Noem is going to have a bad day today.”
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Key Facts
“We have zero tolerance for direct or implicit threats against government officials,” Essayli wrote on X, adding he “referred this matter” to the Secret Service and requested a “full threat assessment,” though it’s not immediately clear what the assessment would entail.
Essayli responded to an earlier social media post from Newsom, who wrote, “Kristi Noem is going to have a bad day today,” before signing a series of bills protecting California’s immigrant population, including a ban on face coverings for federal agents and a requirement for officers to identify themselves.
Noem has neither responded to Newsom nor Essayli as of 5:20 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes, though Newsom told reporters Saturday the bills he signed “run in complete contrast to what [Noem’s] asserting and what she’s pushing.”
Key Background
California officials have, in recent weeks, opposed moves by the Trump administration. Newsom, who has repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, indicated Saturday he would sign into law legislation in an effort to rebuke Homeland Security’s deportation raids in the state. The Department of Homeland Security disputed whether California could pass a bill prohibiting federal agents from wearing masks, arguing it would put agents “and their families at risk of being doxed and targeted by vicious criminals.” The Trump administration ramped up its mass deportation campaign earlier this year, leading to workplace raids across the Los Angeles area and throughout the U.S. An increase in arrests by ICE sparked nationwide protests, including mass protests in and around Los Angeles which prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard.