California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) referred to the acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement as an “A-plus prick” in an email acquired by the apparent media arm of a Republican opposition research firm.

The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday that Newsom insulted acting ICE director Thomas Homan in an email sent to his sister that was acquired by NTK Network, a conservative news website created by the co-founder of GOP opposition research firm America Rising. NTK, an abbreviation for “Need To Know,” obtained the email sent from Newsom’s government email through a California Pulic Records Act request.

In the February 28 email, which Newsom sent to his sister Hilary, the lieutenant governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate cited ICE’s attacks on Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who came under the agency’s fire after warning residents of upcoming immigration raids.

“No doubt in my mind they will target us,” Newsom wrote. “The ice director is an a plus prick [and] this is a personal / political strategy, get ready.”

The state of California and the Trump administration have been locked in battle for weeks over the state’s so-called “sanctuary” laws that signal local law enforcement will not cooperate with the increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement. After the Justice Department sued the state for enacting sanctuary policies, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said the Trump DOJ had declared “war” against the state.

Last week, James Schwab, the ICE spokesperson for San Francisco, resigned from his post and accused the agency of deliberately spreading misinformation regarding the Bay Area raids.

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