Vice President Kamala Harris is working hard to prove she has the ability not only to defeat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, but also in court, even as the bail fund she once supported to help free violent offenders appears to still be soliciting donations.
At a campaign event on Monday, Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, reflected on the work she did diligently before serving as a U.S. senator and vice president, including her seven-year stint as San Francisco’s district attorney.
“As I mentioned, I was elected attorney general of California. Before that, I was a prosecutor in the courts,” she said in Wilmington, Del. “In that role, I faced off against criminals of all kinds: predators who abused women, con artists who defrauded consumers, and con artists who broke the rules for their own personal gain.”
“So listen to what I’m saying: I know what Donald Trump is like,” she added. “In this race, I’m proud to put my record against him.”
Kamala Harris-backed “Freedom Fund” brings murderers and rapists back to the streets, but it’s still active
“So listen carefully to what I’m saying: I know who Donald Trump is,” Harris told supporters on Monday. “In this race, I’m proud to put my record against him.” (Getty Images)
Harris’ statement: Amplify with XThe remarks came a day after President Biden announced he would not seek reelection to the White House.
Asked if Harris would use her experience as a prosecutor to take on Trump in court, Harris campaign spokesman James Singer told Fox News Digital, “No. The Vice President was simply highlighting the truth to the American people: Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts, accepted responsibility for sexual abuse and owes $175 million in fines for fraud.”
“She has firsthand experience prosecuting people like Donald Trump, predators who abused women, con artists who defrauded consumers and fraudsters who broke the rules for their own personal gain,” Singer added.
But Harris’s hardline stance on serving as a prosecutor in California may quickly fade, given her past support for the Minnesota Freedom Fund in June 2020 during the Black Lives Matter riots following the death of George Floyd.
During her 2020 presidential campaign, which lasted just under 11 months, Harris supported a bail fund that helps release violent criminals. As of Monday night, the website was up and running and accepting payments.
“If you’re able, please donate now to the @MNFreedomFund to help pay bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota,” Harris wrote in a 2020 post on Twitter, urging people to donate to the fund during the 2020 election cycle.
Harris has taken a tough stance about serving as a prosecutor in California due to her past support for the Minnesota Freedom Fund in June 2020 during the Black Lives Matter riots following the death of George Floyd, but that rhetoric may soon fall apart. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Harris, a vocal opponent of bail money during the last presidential campaign, called for the creation of a bail fund in June 2020 to release Black Lives Matter rioters from jail, but only a small portion of the more than $41 million raised was actually used to release rioters.
FOX 9, Minneapolis The fund reported spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure the release of a knife murder suspect and a convicted rapist who was facing charges including sexual assault and kidnapping.
Another criminal who benefited from the funding was George Howard, 48. Minneapolis police said he was involved in a road rage altercation on an on-ramp to Interstate 94 and then shot and killed another driver a few weeks after being released on bail on a domestic violence charge.
Democrats have touted Harris as Trump’s “prosecutor” during the election, but critics have slammed her legal record.
St. Paul’s Church said surveillance cameras captured the moment the driver of a blue BMW confronted Howard, who was driving a white Volvo. KSTP TelevisionThe victim is seen punching Howard, then collapsing.
Bail funds, promoted by Kamala Harris in 2020 to free violent offenders, have been attracting renewed attention now that Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. (Fox News)
The victim, later identified as Luis Damian Martinez Ortiz, 38, got back into his car and drove into the median strip. He sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at a hospital, city officials said.
According to court records, Howard had been out on $11,500 bail since Aug. 6 in connection to a domestic violence incident, when the Minnesota Freedom Fund posted bail for him.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund acknowledged its role in putting Howard back on the streets.
“We are aware of reports of a tragic and deadly shooting. Minneapolis “Earlier this week, the Minnesota Freedom Fund was assisting with a bail fund related to the suspect George Howard,” the organization posted on social media at the time. “The Minnesota Freedom Fund believes that all individuals arrested by law enforcement are innocent until proven guilty, and if a judge finds them eligible for bail, they should not be forced to wait in jail simply because they do not have the same income or access to assets as others.”
Harris Asked to end During the 2020 campaign, she criticized an “unfair and broken” bail system, arguing that it “disproportionately harms low-income people and communities of color.”
During the 2020 campaign, Harris campaigned on ending the “unfair and dysfunctional” bail system. (Bizayev Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
But Harris felt differently during his tenure as district attorney in 2004, when he appeared to suggest the need for an increase in cash bail because the county was “demanding cash bail.”[d] “Those arrested will have to pay far less than in other counties,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
“Every day, the work I have to do and the priorities I have to keep in mind, like sitting down with Russ and talking about it. [Guintini] “I’ve spoken with my chief assistant and we’ve discussed that we’re going to be making changes to the bail schedule in San Francisco,” Harris said at the time. Reportedly“We are asking the court to reevaluate the fact that we are making people who are arrested pay much less than other counties.”
Harris faced intense criticism over her prosecution record during the 2020 campaign, which began in January 2019. Opponents of tough criminal prosecutions argue they disproportionately affect low-income families and minorities, further trapping them in the prison system.
One of the most criticized aspects of Harris’ record has been her handling of the school truancy case. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
One of the most criticized aspects of Harris’ record has been her handling of school truancy cases, after she supported a 2011 truancy law that allowed district attorneys to bring misdemeanor charges against parents if their children were chronically absent during the school year without a valid excuse.
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on Monday night after winning enough delegates to win his party’s presidential nomination. Harris said She plans to “unite” the Democratic Party ahead of the November 5 election.
“Over the next few months, I’ll be traveling across the country speaking to the American people about everything that’s at stake — uniting our party, uniting our country, and defeating Donald Trump in November,” she said.
Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph and Stephanie Price contributed to this report.
