Legal Group Launches 7 Investigations into Kamala Harris’ Records

A conservative legal organization has launched seven investigations into Vice President Kamala Harris’s service in the California state government.

“The American people deserve to know the facts about Kamala Harris’ time in California government,” an America First Legal spokesperson told The Daily Signal.

Harris, now the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, served in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in the 1990s. In 2004, she was elected San Francisco District Attorney and then in 2010, she was elected California Attorney General, a position she held until being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2017.

America First Legal’s “research and information, based on public reporting, uncovers evidence of alleged abuses and misconduct,” according to the Washington-based legal group, which is supported by its 25-year career in California government.

“Every rung of the career ladder is marked by misconduct and scandal,” Dan Epstein, vice president of America First Legal, said in a statement about Harris.

Promising to “fight for transparency,” America First Legal filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking records of Harris’ past with the California Attorney General’s Office, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, the Oakland Board of Supervisors, the California Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, the California Department of Health Services, and the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

“If the government does not hand over these documents, we will have no choice but to consider legal action to get them back,” a spokesman for the group told The Daily Signal.

Each of the seven investigations examines a “failure” by Harris during her long service in California government.

‘Failure to comply with federal donor privacy laws

During Harris’ tenure as attorney general, California required organizations receiving donations to “file copies of IRS Form 990 federal tax forms,” according to a press release from America First Legal announcing the seven investigations.

“These forms list all donors who gave at least $5,000 to the charity in a given year,” the legal group explains. But in 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta that the mandatory disclosures violate the First Amendment.

According to America First Legal, Harris may have “sought information from donors about her political opponents in violation of federal laws designed to protect donor privacy.”

‘Failure to enforce federal immigration laws

In 2012, while serving as attorney general, Harris issued a bulletin to law enforcement in California regarding an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program called Secure Communities, which allows ICE to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. In the bulletin, Harris advised law enforcement that they are not required to comply with individual ICE immigration warrants but may “make their own determinations” regarding detainer requests.

“As California’s attorney general, Kamala Harris interfered with the enforcement of federal immigration laws,” reports America First Legal, adding that “as California’s top cop,” Harris could “fail to enforce immigration laws and use her position to advance a taxpayer-funded political agenda.”

‘Failure to achieve equality before the law

In 2004, black gang member David Hill shot and killed San Francisco police officer Isaac Espinoza. Harris, who was then San Francisco district attorney, did not seek the death penalty.

America First Legal is concerned that “Kamala Harris has failed to deliver justice when cop killers and gang members were members of minority groups.”

‘Failure to disclose conflicts of interest

While Harris was serving as Alameda County district attorney in the 1990s, she had a romantic relationship with California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, a relationship America First Legal said constituted a “conflict of interest.”

The group “is concerned that Kamala Harris benefited from political favoritism and is investigating whether Harris properly recused herself or otherwise disclosed conflicts of interest to appropriate ethics bodies.”

‘Failure to address evidence of misconduct

In 2015, Harris launched an investigation into corruption in Orange County jails.

“There was clear evidence that county sheriff’s deputies misused informants in a way that violated the rights of criminal defendants,” America First Legal said. “Four years later, no charges have been filed.”

The legal group believes Harris may have “ignored clear evidence of misconduct within the criminal justice unit under her jurisdiction.”

‘Nature of Investigations Conducted by the California Fair Political Practices Commission

According to America First Legal, in 2015, the California Fair Political Practices Commission determined that Harris did not break state law when she received “gifts from a company owned by San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk.”

However, the legal group “is concerned that former Attorney General Harris may have been the subject of multiple investigations by the California Fair (Political) Practices Commission and is committed to ensuring that the public is informed of such investigations.”

‘Failure to address evidence of misconduct and potential cover-up

While Harris was serving as California attorney general, it was discovered that state prosecutors had committed “outrageous governmental misconduct” in The People (of California) v. Efrain Velasco-Palacios, according to a California appellate court ruling.

Prosecutor Robert Murray falsified the defendant’s statement. After it was revealed that the statement was false, the judge dismissed the charges against the defendant. However, Harris appealed the case, arguing that making a false statement was not prosecutorial misconduct because it did not involve physical violence.

Harris’ handling of the Velasco-Palacios case and others has left America First Legal “concerned that Kamala Harris intentionally ignored or covered up misconduct by prosecutors who reported to her, as well as her close political associates.”