type: timeline_event
On December 16, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom launched a state government website at gov.ca.gov/trumpcriminals cataloging the criminal records, corruption cases, and extremist ties of individuals that President Donald Trump had pardoned, elevated, or surrounded himself with. The website's launch was timed to coincide with the release of California crime statistics showing continued statewide drops in violent crime, including an 18% decline in homicides, creating a deliberate contrast between what Newsom characterized as California's successful public safety record and Trump's pattern of pardoning convicted criminals. The site featured what it described as "Trump's top 10 criminal convictions that were followed by pardons," prominently listing Trump himself — who held 34 felony convictions in New York for falsifying business records — as the "criminal in chief."
The website profiled a range of pardoned individuals whose cases illustrated different dimensions of Trump's use of presidential clemency. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, had pleaded guilty to money laundering charges involving billions of dollars flowing to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers. Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road dark web drug marketplace, had been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted of large-scale drug trafficking and accepting bribes from Mexican cartels. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich had been convicted of attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat. Former Representative George Santos (R-NY) had been convicted of wire fraud and identity theft after fabricating much of his biography and stealing from campaign donors; Trump commuted Santos's sentence in November 2025, weeks before he was due to report to prison. The site also featured several January 6 Capitol riot participants, including individuals convicted of assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.
Governor Newsom stated at the launch: "California is driving crime down — while Donald Trump pardons drug lords and welcomes criminals into positions of power." Republican critics condemned the website as a partisan abuse of state government resources and taxpayer funds, with the Republican National Committee calling it "a disgraceful use of taxpayer resources to pursue Gavin Newsom's presidential ambitions." California's legal team defended the site as factually accurate public information — every conviction and pardon listed was documented in court records — while legal scholars noted that government speech doctrine likely insulated the site from First Amendment challenge even given its political framing. The website's launch drew national attention and generated significant social media engagement, with the hashtag #TrumpCriminals trending within hours, effectively amplifying the site's message about Trump's pardons and his associates' criminal records to a national audience well beyond California.