Politics
The George Gascón factor in L.A. mayor’s race: Caruso, Buscaino back the recall
His title received’t be on the poll within the June major, however Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón nonetheless looms giant over the L.A. mayoral race.
In a contest that has largely been dominated by dialogue of homelessness and crime, the embattled district legal professional has turn out to be a foil for 2 outstanding candidates to voice their frustration with the route of the town.
On Monday, actual property developer Rick Caruso joined Metropolis Councilman Joe Buscaino in backing the second try to recall the county’s prime prosecutor in as a few years.
Different outstanding candidates, together with Rep. Karen Bass and Metropolis Atty. Mike Feuer, have at instances raised points with Gascón’s tenure however don’t endorse the recall effort in opposition to him.
USC regulation professor Jody David Armour mentioned the Gascón recall marketing campaign was taking part in a type of proxy function within the race, with supporters aiming to indicate that they’re “a conventional, tough-on-crime, law-and-order candidate” by calling for Gascón’s ouster.
A lot of Gascón’s critics have been fast guilty his insurance policies for a dramatic enhance in homicides and shootings in L.A. County that adopted his election. The variety of killings within the metropolis jumped by 53% from 2019 to 2021, whereas homicides in areas patrolled by the Sheriff’s Division elevated by 77% in the identical timeframe, information present.
Criminologists, nonetheless, have been fast to notice that Gascón’s insurance policies had been unlikely to have a direct impact on violent crime when they’re largely centered on lowering the prosecution of low-level misdemeanors. Homicides decreased over the span of Gascon’s eight years in San Francisco, making the hyperlink between his insurance policies and road violence murky at finest.
Gascón — a former LAPD commander and San Francisco district legal professional — unseated incumbent Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey to steer the nation’s largest native prosecutors workplace in November 2020. His win was heralded as a victory for the rising “progressive prosecutor” motion, and he introduced a slate of sweeping coverage adjustments the day he took workplace.
Activists celebrated these strikes, which mirrored the restorative justice platform Gascón had run on, however they’ve come below growing fireplace from regulation enforcement leaders, victims rights teams and even his personal prosecutors in latest months.
Gascón veered from his all-or-nothing stance on sure prison justice reform points two weeks in the past, saying prosecutors can now search to attempt juveniles as adults and pursue life sentences in opposition to defendants in sure circumstances. The transfer got here as he confronted elevated blowback over his dealing with of the case of Hannah Tubbs, a 26-year-old allowed to plead responsible in Juvenile Courtroom to sexually assaulting a toddler as a result of Tubbs was a teen on the time of the crime.
An try to recall Gascón in 2021 fizzled due to a scarcity of group and weak fundraising.
However this try has already collected $1.8 million, based on a January monetary disclosure report, more cash than the identical marketing campaign collected in 2021. The group has but to launch an estimate of collected signatures, however must rally roughly 560,000 supporters by early July to qualify.
Caruso had hedged on the subject since leaping into the race in February, saying he wished to see a change from Gascón earlier than weighing in on the recall effort.
He formally endorsed the recall marketing campaign Monday, plowing $50,000 into the trouble to unseat a person he has identified because the early 2000s when Gascón was a member of the LAPD command workers and Caruso served because the president of the Police Fee.
Caruso’s contribution makes him one of many largest particular person donors to the recall effort, and by far the highest-profile registered Democrat, information present. (Caruso, who spent a lot of his life as a Republican, modified his registration to Democrat in January.)
Though the recall marketing campaign has insisted it has bipartisan help, Republican megadonors Geoff Palmer and Gerald Marcil nonetheless account for one-third of all the cash raised so far.
“As I’ve mentioned, many instances, I firmly consider that George Gascón wanted to face up, admit that a lot of his insurance policies have put the town of Los Angeles in peril, crime is rising, change these insurance policies, or he ought to step down, and if he doesn’t step down, he must be recalled,” Caruso mentioned in a video launched Monday. “I’ve mentioned this repeatedly and clearly, he isn’t doing that.”
Caruso initially supported Gascón’s run for workplace in 2020, co-hosting a high-profile fundraiser for him the place John Legend carried out. He shifted later within the race, donating $45,000 to a committee supporting Lacey in October 2020, based on marketing campaign finance disclosures.
Jamarah Hayner, a political strategist main Gascon’s anti-recall efforts, accused Caruso of latching on to the recall effort to distract from what she considers obvious points with the billionaire’s personal mayoral marketing campaign. (Hayner additionally served as Bass’ marketing campaign supervisor till two weeks in the past. She declined to say whether or not her departure had something to do with considerations that Bass and Gascon’s politics would conflict, and solely described her exit from Bass’ workforce as “totally mutual.”)
Talking on behalf of Gascón, Hayner appeared unbothered by the elevated consideration and funding the recall effort has attracted in latest weeks, pointing to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s straightforward defeat of a recall election final 12 months.
She additionally argued that many criticisms of Gascon are primarily based on misinformation about his insurance policies or their true impact on crime, and mentioned the anti-recall marketing campaign will deal with educating voters whereas nonetheless bearing in mind the struggling of crime victims.
Buscaino supported the recall effort earlier than Caruso jumped into the race, saying in January: “I consider in prison justice reform. I consider in offering further companies and rehabilitation, however what George Gascón is doing isn’t that.”
Feuer mentioned in a press release that whereas he and Gascón “don’t agree on quite a lot of points,” Feuer’s place as the town’s prime prosecutor requires a working relationship with the district legal professional.
“That cooperation received’t occur — and neighborhood security would endure — if I bought concerned within the recall,” Feuer mentioned.
Publication
Get the lowdown on L.A. politics
On this pivotal election 12 months, we’ll break down the poll and inform you why it issues in our L.A. on the File e-newsletter.
You could sometimes obtain promotional content material from the Los Angeles Occasions.
Bass was repeatedly requested about Gascón throughout an look on the Sherman Oaks Owners Assn. in late January and particularly why her title and photograph appeared on Stand With Gascón, a web site dedicated to opposing a recall. She mentioned she had no thought it had proven up on the web site.
Later, Bass spokeswoman Anna Bahr mentioned the congresswoman had requested that her title and face be faraway from the endorsements part of the anti-recall effort’s web site. Throughout that assembly, Bass instructed the group there are some Gascón insurance policies she agrees with and a few that she doesn’t. She additionally voiced her discontent with how remembers had been getting used.
“Despite the fact that a few of George Gascon‘s insurance policies must be modified, I don’t help his recall,” Bass mentioned in a press release Monday, saying that whereas Los Angeles wants police and bail reform, reforms shouldn’t be rigidly applied and elected officers ought to use discretion.
Councilman Kevin de León took a barely totally different view, whereas nonetheless opposing Gascón’s recall.
“The recall course of must be reserved just for these accused of excessive crimes; not abused by the very rich to serve their very own pursuits,” he mentioned in a press release. “Nothing ought to distract us from the actual work of bringing our unhoused neighbors indoors, preserving our neighborhoods protected, and creating good-paying jobs.”
Whereas Caruso and Buscaino’s broadsides of Gascón definitely received’t assist the embattled district legal professional, additionally they weren’t totally sudden from the 2 candidates who lean furthest to the correct within the mayoral area.
Occasions workers author David Zahniser contributed to this report.
Politics
Appeals court rules Texas has right to build razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration: 'Huge win'
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Texas has the right to build a razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration into the Lone Star State.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the ruling on X, saying President Biden was “wrong to cut our razor wire.”
“We continue adding more razor wire border barrier,” the Republican leader wrote.
Wednesday’s 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for Texas to pursue a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of trespassing without having to remove the fencing.
TRUMP SAYS MEXICO WILL STOP FLOW OF MIGRANTS AFTER SPEAKING WITH MEXICAN PRESIDENT FOLLOWING TARIFF THREATS
It also reversed a federal judge’s November 2023 refusal to grant a preliminary injunction to Texas as the state resisted federal efforts to remove fencing along the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas.
U.S. Border Patrol agents cut an opening through razor wire after immigrant families crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sept. 27, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee during the president-elect’s first term, wrote for Wednesday’s majority that Texas was trying only to safeguard its own property, not “regulate” U.S. Border Patrol, and was likely to succeed in its trespass claims.
LIBERAL NANTUCKET REELS FROM MIGRANT CRIME WAVE AS BIDEN SPENDS THANKSGIVING IN RICH FRIEND’S MANSION
Duncan said the federal government waived its sovereign immunity and rejected its concerns that a ruling by Texas would impede the enforcement of immigration law and undermine the government’s relationship with Mexico.
A Venezuelan immigrant asks Texas National Guard troops to let his family pass through razor wire after they crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sept. 27, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)
He said the public interest “supports clear protections for property rights from government intrusion and control” and ensuring that federal immigration law enforcement does not “unnecessarily intrude into the rights of countless property owners.”
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton called the ruling a “huge win for Texas.”
“The Biden Administration has been enjoined from damaging, destroying, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s border fencing,” Paxton wrote in a post on X. “We sued immediately when the federal government was observed destroying fences to let illegal aliens enter, and we’ve fought every step of the way for Texas sovereignty and security.”
Migrants attempt to cross the southern border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, in February. (David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The White House has been locked in legal battles with Texas and other states that have tried to deter illegal immigration.
In May, the full 5th Circuit heard arguments in a separate case between Texas and the White House over whether the state can keep a 1,000-foot floating barrier on the Rio Grande.
The appeals court is also reviewing a judge’s order blocking a Texas law that would allow state officials to arrest, prosecute and order the removal of people in the country illegally.
Politics
Rep. Katie Porter obtains temporary restraining order against ex-boyfriend on harassment allegations
U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) secured a temporary restraining order Tuesday against a former boyfriend, saying in dozens of pages of court filings that he had bombarded her, as well as her family and colleagues, with hundreds of messages that she described as “persistent abuse and harassment.”
Porter, 50, alleged in a filing with Orange County Superior Court that her ex-boyfriend Julian Willis, 55, was contacting her and her family with such frequency that she had a “significant fear” for her “personal safety and emotional well-being.”
Judge Stephen T. Hicklin signed a restraining order Tuesday barring Willis from communicating with Porter and her children until a mid-December court hearing. He also barred Willis from communicating about Porter with her current and former colleagues.
In the court filing, Porter said that Willis had been hospitalized twice since late 2022 on involuntary psychiatric holds and had a history of abusing prescription painkillers and other drugs.
She said in a statement to The Times that Willis’ mental health and struggles with addiction seemed to have gotten worse since she asked him in August to move out of her Irvine home. She said she sought the court order after his threats to her family and colleagues “escalated in both their frequency and intensity.”
“I sincerely hope he gets the help he needs,” Porter said.
Willis declined to comment. He will have an opportunity to file a legal response to the temporary restraining order and challenge Porter’s allegations.
Porter is leaving the House of Representatives in January after losing in California’s U.S. Senate primary in March. She has been discussed as a front-runner in the 2026 governor’s race in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom is termed out, but has not said whether she will launch a campaign.
The 53-page court filing, first reported by Politico, included 22 pages of emails, text messages and other communications among Porter, family members and colleagues who had received messages from Willis, as well as messages that Willis sent to Porter’s attorney and to her political mentor Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The filing also included messages between herself and Willis’ siblings as they discussed trying to help him during his psychiatric holds and while he was staying in a sober-living facility.
Porter said that since she ordered Willis to move out, he had sent her more than 1,000 text messages and emails, including texting her 82 times in one 24-hour period in September, and 55 times on Nov. 12 before she blocked his number.
Porter said in the filing that her ex-boyfriend had “already contacted at least three reporters to disseminate false and damaging information” about her and her children, which she said “poses a serious risk to [her] career and personal reputation.”
The filing includes an email that Porter said Willis sent to her attorney late Monday, in which Willis said he had visited Porter’s son at college in Iowa and told him that he would “bring the hammer down on Katie and smash her and her life into a million pieces.”
Another screenshot shows Willis telling Porter’s attorney that he would file a complaint about Porter, who has children ages 12 and 16, with child protective services.
One of Porter’s congressional staff members received a text message from Willis saying he would “punish the f—” out of him if he did not agree to “cooperate” with a New York Times reporter and Willis’ attorneys, according to a screenshot included in the court document.
Willis previously made the news in 2021, when he was arrested after a fight that broke out at a Porter town hall at a park in Irvine.
Times staff writer Christopher Goffard contributed to this report.
Politics
Homan taking death threats against him ‘more seriously’ after Trump officials targeted with violent threats
Incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan reacted to news of death threats against Trump nominees on Wednesday and said he now takes the death threats he has previously received seriously.
“I have not taken this serious up to this point,” Homan told Fox News anchor Gillian Turner on “The Story” on Wednesday, referring to previous death threats made against him and his family.
“Now that I know what’s happened in the last 24 hours. I will take it a little more serious. But look, I’ve been dealing with this. When I was the ICE director in the first administration, I had numerous death threats. I had a security detail with me all the time. Even after I retired, death threats continued and even after I retired as the ICE Director. I had U.S. Marshals protection for a long time to protect me and my family.”
Homan explained that what “doesn’t help” the situation is the “negative press” around Trump.
HARRIS NEVER LED TRUMP, INTERNAL POLLS SHOWED — BUT DNC OFFICIALS WERE KEPT IN THE DARK
President Elect Donald Trump, left, and new appointed Tom Homan, right (Getty)
“I’m not in the cabinet, but, you know, I’ve read numerous hit pieces. I mean, you know, I’m a racist and, you know, I’m the father of family separation, all this other stuff. So the hate media doesn’t help at all because there are some nuts out there. They’ll take advantage. So that doesn’t help.”
Homan’s comments come shortly after Fox News Digital first reported that nearly a dozen of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and other appointees tapped for the incoming administration were targeted Tuesday night with “violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” prompting a “swift” law enforcement response.
ARMED FELON ARRESTED FOR THREATENING TO KILL TRUMP ATTENDED RALLY WEEKS AFTER BUTLER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives to speak at a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The “attacks ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting,’” according to Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” she told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “In response, law enforcement acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action.”
Sources told Fox News Digital that John Ratcliffe, the nominee to be CIA director, Pete Hegseth, the nominee for secretary of defense, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, the nominee for UN ambassador, were among those targeted. Brooke Rollins, who Trump has tapped to be secretary of agriculture, and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s nominee to be EPA administrator, separately revealed they were also targeted.
Threats were also made against Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee, GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and former Trump attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz’s family.
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Homan told Fox News that he is “not going to be intimidated by these people” and “I’m not going to let them silence me.”
“What I’ve learned today I’ll start taking a little more serious.”
Homan added that he believes “we need to have a strong response once we find out is behind all this.”
“It’s illegal to threaten someone’s life. And we need to follow through with that.”
The threats on Tuesday night came mere months after Trump survived two assassination attempts.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report
Miami plays Toronto in conference showdown
What’s open and what’s closed on Thanksgiving in Massachusetts?
Depleted Jazz lose to Denver, 122-103
Pregnant Seattle meteorologist Claire Anderson blasts viewer who body-shamed her over form-fitting outfits: ‘Distracts from your presentation’
Sheriff's deputies beefing up DUI patrols in San Diego through Thanksgiving weekend
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Appeals court rules Texas has right to build razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration: 'Huge win'
Vote on new Commission signals EU Parliament instability and ambiguity
Zuckerberg dines with Trump in Mar-a-Lago
Homan taking death threats against him ‘more seriously’ after Trump officials targeted with violent threats
Biden OKs $680m Israel arms sale despite new Gaza ceasefire push: Reports
-
Science1 week agoTrump nominates Dr. Oz to head Medicare and Medicaid and help take on 'illness industrial complex'
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25739950/247386_Elon_Musk_Open_AI_CVirginia.jpg "Inside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI")
Technology1 week agoInside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI
-
Health5 days agoHoliday gatherings can lead to stress eating: Try these 5 tips to control it
-
News1 week agoThey disagree about a lot, but these singers figure out how to stay in harmony
-
Health3 days agoCheekyMD Offers Needle-Free GLP-1s | Woman's World
-
Science2 days agoDespite warnings from bird flu experts, it's business as usual in California dairy country
-
Politics1 week agoSize of slim Republican House majority hangs on 5 uncalled races
-
World1 week agoBangladesh ex-ministers face ‘massacre’ charges, Hasina probe deadline set