How photographs were prepared

Photographs of Rob Bonta come from the California Department of Justice. On the homepage, the photograph of Bonta speaking at the 2022 Hate Crimes Report release was cropped, converted to grayscale, darkened and placed under a navy color overlay, and it shifts slightly as the page scrolls. The same photograph appears, with added text, in the image used when pages are shared on social media.

No AI tools were used to alter any photograph, and no facial features, expressions, clothing or settings were changed. A cropped or color-treated photograph is not evidence of where a person was or what they did at a particular time, and a photograph placed beside a quotation does not mean it was taken when the words were spoken.

Document excerpts

The homepage shows cropped excerpts of source documents: the Fair Political Practices Commission’s Behested Payment Transparency Report, the Oakland City Auditor’s November 2019 investigation, the Morrison Foerster report published by California DOJ, the January 2025 federal indictment in United States v. Thao, an Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 agenda and the Governor’s March 24, 2021 press release.

Each excerpt was rendered from the official file or web page and cropped. Where marked, a yellow highlight was added over text that appears in the original. No wording was added, removed or changed. Each excerpt sits beside a link to the full investigation, which links to the complete document.

AI-generated illustrations

Several interior pages use AI-generated illustrations: a desk of records and folders, a Capitol-inspired building and a California coastline. They are decorative. They do not depict real documents, filings, buildings or events, and they are not evidence of anything described on the page.

Image sources and acknowledgments

Seals and logos that appear inside document excerpts identify the source and do not imply endorsement. Rights in third-party images remain with their owners, and this page does not grant permission to reuse them.

Copyright and fair use

Federal copyright law governs the use of photographs and documents. Section 107 of the Copyright Act recognizes fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment and news reporting, and the images on this site accompany commentary on a public official’s record, campaign spending and government performance.

Fair use is decided case by case using four factors: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount used and the effect on the market for the original. RobBonta.org is a campaign-sponsored website, not a nonprofit educational one, and public-interest value does not create an automatic exemption. A credit, link or notice does not by itself establish permission or fair use, and this disclosure is not a blanket legal determination that every image use is fair.

Works prepared by federal employees as part of their official duties, such as a federal indictment, are not protected by copyright under Section 105. California state documents are excerpted here for commentary and reporting.

A person’s likeness and a photographer’s copyright are separate

California Civil Code section 3344 restricts using a person’s name, photograph or likeness without consent. Subdivision (d) provides that use in connection with news, public affairs or any political campaign is not a use that requires consent under that section. That provision concerns likeness rights only. It does not transfer a photographer’s copyright or replace the federal fair-use analysis.

Image credits, corrections and rights inquiries

If you own an image used here, or believe a credit or an edit is wrong, contact us with the page address, the image, the ownership or attribution details and what you are asking for. We may correct the credit, replace the image or remove it.

Sourcing, sponsorship and correction practices are described in the methodology.