While much of California remains under lockdown, Governor Gavin Newsom was caught attending a birthday party in wine country earlier this month.
New photographs obtained by FOX 11 Los Angeles show the Governor at French Laundry, an upscale restaurant north of San Fransisco.
EXCLUSIVE: We've obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he's in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) November 18, 2020
In addition to being out and about while instructing Californians to “Stay Home. Save Lives,” the photos show Newsom without a mask, dining indoors, and sitting shoulder to shoulder with a large group.
According to Fox, the witness who took the photos said Newsom’s group was so loud that the sliding doors had to be shut, reducing airflow and further increasing the chance for COVID to spread in the restaurant.
Newsom apologized before the photos were released, saying, “I should have stood up and … drove back to my house…The spirit of what I’m preaching all the time was contradicted,” he said. “ I need to preach and practice, not just preach.”
When Fox reached out to his office for a comment on the photos, Newsom’s staff referred the outlet to his original apology.
This discovery comes as Newsom announced he is pulling the “emergency brake” on reopening the economy, and 40 counties have fallen into the state’s most restrictive purple tier.
