Kamala Harris and the Troublesome Crime Lab Tells Us a Great Deal about Her Character
[guest post by JVW]
I’ve been very negative about Kamala Harris, long before she became the Democrat’s Vice-Presidential nominee. I’ve pointed out the unseemliness of her accepting financially-lucrative appointments to state boards when she was the paramour of corrupt California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. I continue to question her handling of an employee in her California Attorney General office who was accused of sexual harassment and triggered a $400,000 settlement, yet who was still brought on to her Senate staff and worked in her office for 18 months until the details of the settlement were made public. All this while she was grandstanding against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. I called out her breathtakingly fast flip-flopping on whether national health plans ought to allow for private insurance, followed by her weird use of an unpopular 1970s-era social policy to establish her civil rights bona fides. And I am not alone on this blog as to my distaste for our junior Senator. Dana has questioned Sen. Harris’s weird strategy at the Kavanaugh hearing and Patterico has been astonished by the Senator’s lack of understanding of how Presidential pardons work.
But I’m not sure if any of us on this blog have written about another major issue that raises suspicions about the character of Kamala Harris when she served as San Francisco’s District Attorney. The San Jose Mercury News has a very helpful overview:
Kamala Harris was this city’s [San Francisco] top prosecutor, running to become California’s elected attorney general, when a scandal stunned her office and threatened to upend her campaign.
One of Harris’ top deputies had emailed a colleague that a crime-lab technician had become “increasingly UNDEPENDABLE for testimony.” Weeks later, the technician allegedly took home cocaine from the lab, possibly tainting evidence and raising concerns about hundreds of cases.
Neither Harris nor the prosecutors working for her had informed defense attorneys of the problems – despite rules requiring such disclosure. Harris “failed to disclose information that clearly should have been disclosed,” Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo wrote in a scathing decision in May 2010.
At first, Harris fought back. She blamed the police for failing to inform defense lawyers. She estimated that only about 20 cases initially would be affected. And her office accused the judge of bias because Massullo’s husband was a defense lawyer.
But the turmoil increased. With the local criminal-justice system at risk of devolving into chaos, Harris took the extraordinary step of dismissing about 1,000 drug-related cases, including many in which convictions had been obtained and sentences were being served.
Sen. Harris is lucky in that the San Francisco Public Defender, Jeff Adachi, was an old law school chum of hers. And though it would appear that the relationship between the two soured somewhat in the aftermath of the lab revelations, Mr. Adachi, who died in February of 2019, did not speak out against Ms. Harris during the California Attorney General election of 2010 and for whatever reason her opponent, then Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, did not make this a major issue in the campaign. Ms. Harris would narrowly defeat Mr. Cooley by less than one percent in a year in which her fellow Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer each won their statewide races by ten percentage points.
We’ve written here a whole bunch of times that Kamala Harris is remarkably unprincipled, and her ideology generally lurches in whatever direction she senses the favorable winds are blowing, but always such that she positions herself for maximum benefit. As the San Francisco DA, she prioritized protecting wealthy residents and anyone whose help she needed to move beyond San Francisco on the political ladder. As state attorney general, she ingratiated herself with powerful green groups by banding together with other left-wing state AGs to harass oil companies and other energy producers, going so far as to try to criminalize any activities that ran counter to the catechism of the achingly green. As a U.S. Senator, she cynically latched-on to the MeToo movement, even though she had to have known about the harassment escapades of her loyal lieutenant, Mr. Wallace, and as a Presidential candidate she promised vast unilateral action on national gun control and environmental regulations, even without Congressional approval. As David Harsanyi of National Review has observed, “there is no power Harris has held that she hasn’t abused.”
Dana pointed out yesterday that our President, who for whatever reason seems bound and determined to lose this easily winnable election, doesn’t seem to have the wit to make any of the above arguments and is instead falling back on a tiresome and disgraceful tactic that brought him to political prominence during the Obama Era. Just as the all-time second worst Presidential nominee beat the single worst Presidential nominee four years ago, no matter what happens in November we will see the all-time third worst candidate beating the second worst candidate. But I guess it’s the appropriate way to close out this rancid and heartbreaking year.
– JVW
Yes, all right-leaning media has been dumping on Kamala Harris for the past few days. You would think that the Trump Campaign might take a few hints as to how to run an effective campaign against her without sounding shrill and desperate.
JVW (30a532) — 8/15/2020 @ 7:45 am“Ditto”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 8/15/2020 @ 7:51 amYou would think that the Trump Campaign might take a few hints
When have they ever?
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 8/15/2020 @ 7:52 amMore on Ms. Harris as San Francisco DA: her office spent over two years trying to figure out how to craft and implement a Brady policy (in which exculpatory evidence is turned over to the defense) and she said that she was having trouble finalizing it due to police personnel (i.e. union) issues. Yet this is the same woman who promised to be aggressive and activist as President in terms of mandating gun control and implementing the green new deal, and somehow couldn’t even craft a straightfoward policy that virtually every other DA office has in place.
JVW (30a532) — 8/15/2020 @ 7:54 amHas any white male prosecutor ever been criticized for covering up sexual harassment in his office, obtaining convictions with tainted lab evidence, letting more than 1,000 just walk out, and hiding exculpatory from the defense? Sure, maybe you could find a white male prosecutor who did one or even two of these things but all four? It takes racism and sexism to find them about a prosecutor who is a woman of color, there’s no other explanation.
nk (1d9030) — 8/15/2020 @ 8:13 amIt takes racism and sexism to find them about a prosecutor who is a woman of color, there’s no other explanation.
Guilty as charged.
JVW (30a532) — 8/15/2020 @ 8:19 am1,000 *felons” just walk out
nk (1d9030) — 8/15/2020 @ 8:28 amExcellent post, both in content and style. You write very well.
DRJ (aede82) — 8/15/2020 @ 9:00 am“ our President, who for whatever reason seems bound and determined to lose this easily winnable election,”
_
No election is ‘easily winnable’ when news media, entertainment and academia are almost completely in the pocket of the opposition. Especially in a worldwide pandemic where everything Republicans do is condemned and everything Democrats do is celebrated, no matter the reasons or results.
_
Hopefully the Left’s escalated war on freedom and reason will be obvious to enough Americans that we don’t descend into PortlandChicago/Seattle for everyone.
harkin (cd4502) — 8/15/2020 @ 9:15 am_
JVW, a wonderful post about a thoroughly depressing topic.
Simon Jester (c393b1) — 8/15/2020 @ 9:24 amSo blasé, so cavalier about other people’s lives. Such unequal treatment and a willgness to excuse it.
The other reason I find Harris to not be trustworthy in any official capacity is that the former top cop in California immediately jumped to Jussie Smollet’s defense, hollering “hate crime” on the very day of the alleged incident. No investigation into the incident, no witness statements collected, nothing but Smollet’s account of what happened was enough for her to render judgment. This rush to judgment occurred while she was a sitting Senator trying to convince us she should be the Democratic nominee for the presidency. It wasn’t until a few weeks later when confronted with her rush to judgment, that she tried to recover:
Too bad she already did comment…
Dana (292df6) — 8/15/2020 @ 11:13 am“there is no power Harris has held that she hasn’t abused.”
Indeed. This is why the Smollett Tweet, her efforts to criminalize global-warming wrongthink, and her intent to issue an executive order banning so-called “assault” weapons are especially alarming.
If anything, she’s worse than Hillary. Unfortunately, there’s a good chance she would succeed to the Presidency before Biden even finishes a term.
norcal (a5428a) — 8/15/2020 @ 4:07 pmWe’ve written here a whole bunch of times that Kamala Harris is remarkably unprincipled, and her ideology generally lurches in whatever direction she senses the favorable winds are blowing, but always such that she positions herself for maximum benefit.
Hmmm, sounds like someone else I can think of.
The main difference seems to be the other guy doesn’t seem terribly competent.
If we have to have an amoral opportunist as President, at least let’s elect the less competent one. At least he will do less damage.
(Guess that is a back-handed endorsement of You-Know-Who)
Bored Lawyer (56c962) — 8/15/2020 @ 6:35 pmStop making so much sense, Bored Lawyer.
norcal (a5428a) — 8/15/2020 @ 6:47 pmHarris is unprincipled? Like Donald Trump? Her ideology leans with the favorable winds? Like Donald Trump? Positions herself for maximum benefit? Like Donald Trump?
Between Biden and Harris, we have two Democrats who are pretty much Donald Trump.
So why are so many people against Trump?
Hoi Polloi (dc4124) — 8/15/2020 @ 8:27 pmOr, we could elect the ones who would (in some combination) have to face the voters in four years, rather than the one who would be completely unaccountable to anyone.
Dave (1bb933) — 8/15/2020 @ 8:31 pm@13
Sounds very much like a post in during the 2016 election. 😉
One that I concur very much so.
whembly (c30c83) — 8/16/2020 @ 7:35 amMiss emhoff is as unethical as mueller in the hatfill case, quattrone aipac, weissman in the arthur andersen case where they didnt go after goldman or bp much more central figures in the enron fraud wray was part of that same taskforce.
Bolivar di griz (7404b5) — 8/16/2020 @ 7:48 amwho would (in some combination) have to face the voters in four years,
Translation: the demented old geezer will either kick the bucket or be sidelined by the 25th Amendment.
The latter of which I am sure is being carefully studied by DNC operatives.
(True story. In my first job, the head of the firm was Donald Trump’s brother-in-law, and we handled a wide variety of cases for him and his companies. In one case, a woman asserted that he used his “Svengali-like powers” to impress her into “white slavery,” and thus violated her rights under the 13th Amendment.
We got that claim tossed. And from then on, the associates used to joke that we can now add “expert in 13th Amendment Law” to our resumes.
Soon you will see and hear from many “experts in 25th Amendment law.”)
Bored Lawyer (56c962) — 8/16/2020 @ 9:20 amYou Should Be DancingShe Should Be Doin’ TimeKamala’s moves as DA
Teh tale needs to be told
Dat woman pulls out all stops
Teh snake’s blood do run cold
What she doin’ on her back, aah
What she doin’ on her back, aah?
She should be doin’, time
Doin’, time
She’s gabby and she’s ruthless
She thinks her schiff don’t stink
Dat woman is a phony
In ferret fur, not mink
What she doin’ on her back, aah
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2020 @ 9:54 amWhat she doin’ on her back, aah?
She should be doin’, time
Doin’, time
LOL! Great line.
felipe (023cc9) — 8/16/2020 @ 10:33 amRunning against Quayle worked well for Dukakas, didn’t it. So far, the short week of accolades are all about her body color and ‘accessories.’ A 1973 Cadillac convertible looks swell– but the mileage sucks. Recall how her presidential campaign stalled out.
The top of the ticket is the focus of attack. How did Plagiarist JoeyBee make this decision? How did he turn a warm bucket of piss into a Beau-Job?
Roast beef or shrimp at the Early Bird Special, Joe? Beau knows buffets.
“Guns or knives, Butch?” – Harvey Logan [Ted Cassidy] ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ 1969
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/16/2020 @ 11:27 amDeezy-eska, if your lunatic plan to sabotage America by “neutering the modern conservative movement” results in a plagiarist (gasp!) being elected president of the United States, how will you ever atone for your crime?
Or was getting a plagiarist elected the plan all along? That seems like a huge character tell.
Dave (1bb933) — 8/16/2020 @ 11:56 amDCSCA knows that all he has to do is upload some executive orders to cheat sheet and flashcard websites, and Joe Biden will google for executive orders and plagiarize them. By February, DCSCA will be running the shadow government from the Johnson Space Center.
It’s the perfect crime.
Dustin (4237e0) — 8/16/2020 @ 12:06 pmBy February, DCSCA will be running the shadow government from his BarcaLounger in the Johnson Space Center.
FIFY.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2020 @ 12:09 pmRunning against Quayle worked well for Dukakas, didn’t it.
George Bush Pere was not half-senile at the time and did not look like he was about to keel over. It is clear that whoever will be Biden’s VP will take over very soon after inauguration day. .
Bored Lawyer (56c962) — 8/16/2020 @ 12:22 pmYes, the Right has really been focusing on the things that don’t matter. We expect this from Democrats, but there was a time that we wouldn’t expect it from Republicans.
Dana (292df6) — 8/16/2020 @ 12:26 pmDiabolical!
Dave (1bb933) — 8/16/2020 @ 12:30 pmDave will repeat his 2016 antics… of that there is no doubt…
https://youtu.be/wDYNVH0U3cs
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2020 @ 12:43 pm27… embrace the healing power of “and”…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/16/2020 @ 12:44 pm*accessories*??
Dana (292df6) — 8/16/2020 @ 12:58 pm@23. You’re not a long term thinker, Davey.
Welcome to 1964.
____
@28. Diabolical? No. Just a Beau Job away.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/16/2020 @ 2:23 pm@31. Being polite, Dana– unless you want to get into her pantsuit ensembles- no pun intended.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/16/2020 @ 2:25 pmIt’s the perfect crime.
Shorter: Reaganomics.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/16/2020 @ 2:27 pmShe had some kind of trick question about whether Brett Kavanaugh had talked to a member of the law firm that represented Donald Trump with regard to the Mueller investigation. Kavanaugh became afraid to answer it because maybe he did talk to some lawyer without knowing his law firm. She never revealed whom she had in mind.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/06/politics/kamala-harris-brett-kavanaugh-hearing/index.html
Sammy Finkelman (2cb3c3) — 8/16/2020 @ 2:46 pmDana pointed out yesterday that our President, who for whatever reason seems bound and determined to lose this easily winnable election, doesn’t seem to have the wit to make any of the above arguments When they thought she probably would not be the vice presidential pick, they made a commercial that tagged her as “Phony Kamala” This would have been shown, to a few reporters, along with the ones for all the others who weren’t picked.
But now that she was picked they mostly fell back in the idea that she was too liberal.
Sammy Finkelman (2cb3c3) — 8/16/2020 @ 2:52 pmThis often doesn’t happen.
You need at least half dozen devastating true attacks against someone for one of them to become a factor in a campaign.
Campaign consultants actually prefer false charges they make up, or distort, to true ones. They can repeat the same ones in many different elections.
Sammy Finkelman (2cb3c3) — 8/16/2020 @ 2:55 pmI’m expecting her to short-circuit and go full Bob Dole with an angry, ‘Stop lying about my record’ outburst.
Give it a week.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/16/2020 @ 2:57 pm25. By February, DCSCA will be running the shadow government from his BarcaLounger in the Johnson Space Center.
AKA- the Catbird Seat.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/16/2020 @ 2:59 pmIf we have to have an amoral opportunist as President, at least let’s elect the less competent one.
Morality is a transient.
‘Course, we don’t execute for hose thievery anymore but should Kamala run out and steal a Mustang in Beto’s El Paso [remember him?!] the sentence may still ‘hang’ in the balance.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/16/2020 @ 3:09 pm^horse
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/16/2020 @ 3:10 pmhose thievery
Ha!
norcal (a5428a) — 8/16/2020 @ 4:01 pmSo far, the short week of accolades are all about her body color and ‘accessories.’
She was the best person for the job. Really!
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 8/16/2020 @ 10:18 pmPrediction: I Trump was to dump Pence and choose Nikki Haley as his running mate the Left would, without a glimmer of irony, attack him for choosing her based on her sex and color.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 8/16/2020 @ 10:23 pm*IF
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 8/16/2020 @ 10:23 pmShe’s terrible in the same way that most politicians are.
Not devoted to any principle above personal success.
Corrupt in a boring way that’s can be plausibly denied.
Competent and hard working, but again towards personal success in the political arena.
This story appalls me. But it doesn’t surprise me. I know this guy isn’t well loved by our host in part because he’s slow to correct mistakes. But here’s an example of what makes me cynical. A bad ME that the system stood behind long after it was clear they shouldn’t.
Harris is not better and that’s a shame.
Time123 (b0628d) — 8/17/2020 @ 5:47 amYou don’t need a cannon to squash a bug. Trump is such a RINO POS, to borrow a phrase, that a VP nominee from the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List probably wouldn’t cost Biden any votes.
nk (1d9030) — 8/17/2020 @ 7:00 amMake that “too many votes”.
nk (1d9030) — 8/17/2020 @ 7:29 am