AUDIO: Murder Suspect Wants Plea Deal to Avoid Death Penalty Before Voters Recall George Gascón

A gang member charged with murder in Los Angeles County was reportedly recorded on a jailhouse phone line saying that he hopes to reach a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty before voters can recall radical District Attorney George Gascón.

The audio, obtained by Fox News’ Bill Melugin, is the latest example of a defendant “increasingly eager to cut deals quickly while Gascón is still the DA.”

The story was reported in the wake of the successful recall on Tuesday of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, an ally of Gascón who pursued similar policies and was ousted by voters who are furious at crime and filth in their city streets.

Gascón, elected in 2020 with help from millions of dollars in spending by left-wing billionaire George Soros, is facing a strong campaign to recall him over his left-wing criminal justice “reform” policies, which have included barring prosecutors from seeking the death penalty and ending cash bail for most crimes. An effort to recall him faltered last year, but a second attempt had reached 500,000 of the necessary 566,857 petition signatures as of last week.

Earlier this year, Fox News reported another recorded jailhouse conversation with a defendant — transgender sexual assault convict Hannah Tubbs, 26, who was heard laughing at a two-year juvenile sentence Gascón had secured, part of his policy at the time of never trying juveniles as adults. (The alleged crime occurred shortly before Tubbs turned 18.) That meant Tubbs would never have to register as a sex offender. Tubbs has since been charged with murder in neighboring Kern County.

Last year, video also emerged of a convicted murderer toasting Gascón in prison, in expectation of an early release.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.