Video Leak Shakes Up California Race

A viral video showing California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter screaming at a staffer has exploded into a full-blown Democratic civil war, with Porter now pointing fingers at a rival campaign rather than answering for her own behavior.

Story Snapshot

A video of Porter yelling “Get out of my f–king shot” at a staffer during a Department of Energy interview went viral and damaged her campaign for California governor.
The Los Angeles Times linked the leak to Kevin Liao, who filmed the video for official government work and is now a spokesperson for rival candidate Tom Steyer’s campaign.
Porter publicly accused Steyer of orchestrating the leak, while Steyer’s campaign denied the candidate had any personal involvement.
The dispute raises legitimate questions about whether government-produced video was misused for political opposition research.

The Video That Rocked Porter’s Campaign

The footage, first published by Politico in October 2025, shows Porter — then a frontrunner for California governor — berating a staffer who stepped into her camera frame during a video interview with then-Biden Administration Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Porter’s outburst, captured mid-conversation about electric vehicles, went viral almost immediately and drew widespread criticism. The incident revealed a sharp contrast between Porter’s carefully crafted “woman of the people” public image and her apparent private temperament.

Porter’s campaign did not deny the authenticity of the footage. Instead, Porter shifted focus to how the video became public, arguing that the real story was the leak itself. On CNN, Porter accused Tom Steyer of being behind the release, a charge that anchor Dana Bash pointedly noted lacked confirmed evidence at the time. The accusation set off a firestorm of Democratic infighting in what is already a competitive and contentious California governor’s race.

Steyer Staffer Tied to the Leak

The Los Angeles Times reported in May 2026 that Kevin Liao, now a spokesperson for Tom Steyer’s campaign, originally filmed and edited the video as part of his work for the Department of Energy, where it was intended for official social media use. Porter’s camp argues that repurposing government work product for political opposition research represents a serious misuse of official materials. The connection between Liao’s government role and his current position with a rival campaign is the factual core of Porter’s accusation.

Steyer’s campaign denied that the candidate personally directed or had any involvement in leaking the footage. The denial, however, addressed only Steyer himself and did not specifically address what Liao may have done independently. That narrow denial left room for ongoing questions about whether the leak was a coordinated campaign move or an individual staffer’s decision. Neither Liao nor Steyer’s campaign offered a detailed explanation of how the video traveled from a government server to Politico’s inbox.

Blame-Shifting or Legitimate Grievance?

Porter’s strategy of centering the leak rather than her conduct follows a familiar political playbook: reframe the story around process rather than substance. The problem for Porter is that the underlying video is real, unedited, and speaks for itself. Voters watching a candidate scream profanities at a subordinate are unlikely to redirect their concern simply because a rival campaign may have tipped off a reporter. The behavior on the tape is Porter’s own, regardless of who handed it to the press.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a Tom Steyer campaign staffer is the one that leaked the video of Katie Porter screaming at a staffer.

Steyer spokesperson, Kevin Liao was an employee of the Department of Energy in charge of filming, editing, and posting the recorded… pic.twitter.com/gC1UCt4JfD

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) May 15, 2026

There is a legitimate concern embedded in Porter’s complaint, however. If a government employee used footage produced on the taxpayer’s dime to damage a political opponent, that conduct warrants scrutiny independent of the video’s content. Weaponizing official government work product for partisan opposition research would be an abuse of public resources. But that question does not erase what the camera captured. California voters watching this drama unfold are being asked to choose between a candidate who allegedly misused government materials and one who screams at her staff — a choice that says a great deal about the current state of California Democratic politics.