Claim: “In my career as a prosecutor, I have never looked at a victim or a witness and asked, 'Are you a Republican or a Democrat?'”
Verdict: Mostly false. Harris targeted conservatives, including pro-life filmmakers and nonprofits.
Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated her comments Thursday during a town hall with Oprah Winfrey, claiming that she has never discriminated against victims or witnesses because of their political views (see 42:21 below).
That's largely false. While some of the criminal cases she prosecuted as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general may have had Republican victims (though rare, given the paucity of Republicans in San Francisco and statewide), Harris actually victimized conservatives who sought to put her in power.
The most famous case was that of pro-life filmmaker David Daleiden, who made a video exposing Planned Parenthood officials' attempts to sell discarded fetal tissue. Harris investigated Daleiden after his alleged discussions with Planned Parenthood, invoking a state law that prohibits recording secret conversations — the first time that this little-known tactic had been used in a prosecution of a member of the media.
Harris also tried to force conservative nonprofits, particularly Americans for Prosperity, which was funded by the Koch brothers, to disclose their donors to the government. Conservative groups fought back, and eventually victoryThe Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Harris, whose efforts were widely seen as a politically motivated abuse of the First Amendment.
So it's generally not true to say that Harris has operated in a bipartisan manner as a prosecutor at the state and local level.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday It airs Sundays from 7:00pm-10:00pm ET (4:00pm-7:00pm PT) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of the following books: Agenda: What President Trump Should Do in His First 100 Daysavailable for pre-order on Amazon. He also Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump's presidencyavailable now on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
