Katie Porter shifts blame to Tom Steyer staffer for leaking video yelling at employee

The leaked video of Katie Porter yelling and cursing at a staffer may have cast a negative light on the Orange County representative’s bid for California governor — and now she’s looking for someone to blame.

Enter billionaire candidate Tom Steyer.

Porter accused her rival of leaking a damaging video that showed her berating a staff member in October 2025.

A newly uncovered document appears to show that Steyer’s current campaign spokesman was among the few people who had access to the footage when it was originally recorded, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The footage, which was exclusively obtained by POLITICO, showed Porter telling an employee to “get out of my f–king shot” during a behind-the-scenes recording with former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in July 2021.

“I am confident that is the case,” Porter told CNN when asked how she knew Steyer’s campaign was the source of the leak.

“I’ve been told by many people it’s a Department of Energy video, it was only held by the Department of Energy, and people can follow the trail to who his campaign staffers are and understand what happened there,” she added.

Kevin Liao, who is now frequently cited by the media as a Steyer campaign spokesman, was listed as an “expected participant” on a June 21, 2021 video call between Porter and Granholm that was recorded as part of a Biden administration push promoting electric vehicles, according to a memo obtained by the Times.

“This is a 20 minute recorded Zoom with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to discuss the importance of investing in electric vehicles,” the document, apparently prepared for Porter, read. “Kevin Liao, Granholm’s press secretary, reached out to set this up. His team will edit this video down into a 2–3 minute clip for social media. Secretary Granholm will have a whiteboard, as noted in the script.”

Porter has doubled down on blaming Steyer for the video fallout after initially apologizing for her “not good” and brash behavior.

But she soon leaned into the controversy even more.

Earlier this month, she released a campaign video featuring her most explosive moment before turning to a crowd of supporters at the end of the ad and joking, “Now could you guys please get out of my shot?”

The California Post, which has previously communicated with accused staffer Liao, reached out to him directly for comment. He did not respond and instead referred inquiries to another campaign colleague.

“Tom has nothing to do with that video,” another campaign spokesperson told The Post when asked whether Liao had any involvement.

“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,” the spokesperson added.

Porter has recently been trailing the leading candidates in polling.

Democrat Xavier Becerra leads the field with 19%, while Republican Steve Hilton is tied with billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer at 17%. Republican Chad Bianco follows behind, with Porter falling into fifth place.

The video significantly damaged Porter’s gubernatorial campaign by fueling pre-existing narratives about a harsh temperament and toxic staff management style. The fallout also sparked a wave of AI-generated content mocking the congresswoman, something her campaign has struggled to counter.

The Porter campaign did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment regarding Steyer’s counteraccusations.

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