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California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter was fact-checked Monday after she accused rival Tom Steyer of leaking a damaging video and warned that Xavier Becerra could pose a risk to Democrats in the state’s jungle primary.
During an interview on CNN’s “Inside Politics,” Porter told host Dana Bash: “Well, given that Tom Steyer is the person who leaked the video with me and the staffer from five years ago, he pretty clearly wanted to be governor bad enough to knock me down to do it.”
Bash closed the interview by saying CNN had not verified Porter’s claim about Steyer.
“I should note that we don’t have evidence that Steyer leaked that video of you,” Bash said. “If you have it, please bring it.”
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Porter alleged Steyer’s campaign was behind the leak of a years-old video showing her berating a staffer, saying she had been told the footage came from the Department of Energy.
Steyer campaign spokesperson Sepi Esfahlani denied the accusation after the interview and told Fox News Digital that Porter is attempting to shift attention away from her own controversies.
“Tom has nothing to do with that video,” Esfahlani said. “This is an attempt from Katie Porter to deflect from her past mistakes. Katie Porter only has one person to blame for her standing in the race, and it’s herself.”
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Porter also used the interview to attack Becerra, the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and California attorney general, over an unresolved corruption probe involving his former campaign account.
“The simple fact is Secretary Becerra cannot promise Californians that he will not be named as a co-conspirator in this corruption charge,” Porter said.
Bash pressed Porter on Becerra’s denials, noting that he has said “multiple times” that he did nothing wrong. “Are you saying that you don’t believe that that’s true?” Bash asked.
Porter said the issue remained too uncertain for voters to ignore.
“I do not have the facts here, but the people who are currently negotiating plea deals in Sacramento do,” she said. “And if they implicate him, I have zero doubt that he will be indicted.”
Porter argued that California Democrats could not afford to nominate a candidate who might later be damaged by legal fallout.
“If he is, and the top two include him and Steve Hilton, we would wind up with a Republican governor,” she added.
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A spokesperson for Becerra told Fox News Digital that Porter’s claims were false and said federal investigators already reviewed the matter.
“Katie Porter is grasping at straws,” the spokesperson said. “The FBI looked into this and found no wrongdoing by Xavier Becerra.”
Bash ended by offering Becerra a chance to respond.
“You said some pretty tough stuff about Xavier Becerra,” Bash said. “If he wants to come back on the show, he is more than welcome to do that as well.”
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California’s top-two system sends the two highest vote-getters to November regardless of party. With twice as many Democratic candidates as Republicans, Democrats risk a possible shutout in the jungle primary system.
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