Former LA deputy DA rips Gascon: Policies are 'eroding' confidence in justice system, 'endangering' public
Former Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Kathy Cady joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss the impact of LA DA George Gascon's policies following the killing of California police officer Gardiel Solorio.
A petition to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has been found insufficient to qualify for a ballot.
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorded/County Clerk Dean C. Logan said his office had completed the examination and verification of all 715,833 petition signatures submitted for the recall of Gascon.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon addresses police accountability and the actions taken by his office to restore trust in the community during a press conference on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"Based on the examination and verification, which conducted in compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the California Government Code, Elections Code, and Code of Regulations, 520,050 signatures were found to be valid and 195,783 were found to be invalid," Logan’s office said in a press release.
To qualify the recall for the ballot, the petition required 566,857 valid signatures.
"[T]herefore, the petition has failed to meet the sufficiency requirements and no further action shall be taken on the petition," the release said.
Of the invalid signatures, more than 88,000 were not registered, 43,593 were duplicates, 32,187 were a different address, 9,490 were mismatched signatures, 7,344 were canceled, 5,374 were out of county addresses, while more than 9,300 fell under the category of "other."
"Grateful to move forward from this attempted political power grab-rest assured LA County, the work hasn't stopped," Gascon said in a Twitter post.
"My primary focus has been & will always be keeping us safe & creating a more equitable justice system for all," he said. "I remain strongly committed to that work & to you."
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"DA Gascon was elected running on overwhelmingly popular policies that allow for restorative justice, improving a failed criminal justice system that disproportionally targets Black, Brown and low-income communities, and holds criminals and those who abuse their power accountable," Los Angeles Democratic Party Chair Mark J. Gonzalez said in a statement. "George has, and continues to, deliver on those campaign promises."
He said the 195,783 invalid signatures were "a clear signal that recalls are a waste of time and money."
"I’ve said it before – recall reform in our county and our state must be a priority," Gonzales said. "If not, taxpayers will be on the hook every time a recall is attempted and fails. Let this be a lesson to those who want to continue down this path – don’t."
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The recall's backers have a three-week window to review the registrar's findings. Recall backers have told Fox News in recent weeks that this process would be more useful to them in gathering evidence for possible litigation.
FILE: District Attorney George Gascon announced in a press conference that Nicole Lorraine Linton, a nurse from Houston, will be charged with six counts of murder for the Windsor Hills crash Monday afternoon, Aug. 8, 2022. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Gascon's opponents have repeatedly painted him as soft on crime because of his progressive policies that critics say ignore victims and have allowed criminals to be given lenient sentences.
Critics have argued that Gascon's progressive directives are to blame for an uptick in crime and emboldening criminals who supposedly no longer fear robust prosecution by the DA's office. Gascon has repeatedly denied these charges.
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The latest failed attempt to recall Gascon comes after San Francisco voters recalled another progressive prosecutor, District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
Fox News' Louis Casiano and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
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