California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Thursday that he is “deeply concerned” about the “criticism” of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who is facing a potential recall election amid concerns about violent crime.
Newsom also claimed not to know about the job Gascón is doing, saying that he would leave that to “locals” — though Newsom endorsed him in 2020, when Gascón benefited from millions in spending by left-wing billionaire George Soros.
Newsom’s comments came in an interview for The Issue Is: with host Elex Michaelson of local Fox affiliate KTTV 11.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Daily News reported, Gascón announced that he will appeal a judgment against him in a California appellate court in a case brought against him by rank-and-file prosecutors, challenging his directive to stop asking for sentence enhancements for repeated offenders and in other aggravating circumstances. Gascón’s policy, dating to his first days in office, is at the heart of his “criminal justice reforms.” The state’s Supreme Court will now weigh in on the issue.
Separately, Los Angeles County announced Thursday that it would review each and every one of the more than 700,000 signatures submitted as part of a petition drive to subject Gascón to a recall vote, exceeding the minimum 566,857.
Newsom is in Washington, DC, in President Joe Biden’s absence, possibly to test the waters for a presidential run in 2024.
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.