When Kamala Harris first ran for major office in 2003, the future vice president was embroiled in controversy for inflating her record as a prosecutor and also violating campaign finance regulations.
At the time, Harris was running for San Francisco district attorney and was eager to portray herself as a “veteran” prosecutor with “13 years of courtroom experience” who could reform the DA's office.
“Kamala has tried hundreds of serious and violent felonies, including murder, rape and child sexual assault cases,” a mailer sent by her campaign at the time said.
But she didn't actually prosecute hundreds of people. She was later forced to admit during the debate that she knew nothing about those incidents at the time.
“How many cases have you tried? How many felonies have you tried? Just tell me one,” one of her rivals, criminal defense lawyer Bill Fazio, grilled her on KGO radio in 2003.
“Mr. Fazio, I've tried about 50 cases, and it's a leadership issue,” Harris countered.
“Mr. Harris, why does your information that's still being released say that you've tried hundreds of felonies? I think that's misleading. I think that's dishonest. I think that shows that you're incapable of leadership and that you can't be trusted,” Fazio asked.
“You continue to put out information that you have tried hundreds of serious felonies.”
The vice president-elect did not dispute Fazio's claims about inflated numbers, but countered that he has demonstrated “leadership” throughout his career as a prosecutor.
“Mr. Fazio, leadership means working with diverse communities, and that's what I've done as a career prosecutor,” she responded, touting the support she's received from law enforcement.
Earlier in the exchange, Ms. Harris had sharply criticized Mr. Fazio's record on the debate stage, saying, “As a prosecutor, you should be ashamed that six convictions have been overturned, four of which were due to prosecutorial misconduct,” which prompted Ms. Harris to move on to the hyperbole of Mr. Fazio's campaign.
Harris He also expressed his gratitude to his local Democratic club. Fazio “definitely has tried many more cases,” but he countered that experience shouldn't be a deciding factor in the election.
Harris-Waltz campaign spokesman James Singer said: The statement was first reported by ABC News..
“Prior to being elected San Francisco District Attorney, Vice President Harris oversaw and was involved in the prosecution of hundreds of serious crimes,” Singer said. “For more than a decade, she prosecuted child sexual assault cases, murder and robbery cases in Alameda and later oversaw the Career Criminal Unit and served as chief of the Family and Children's Division in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.”
“That's what was important to San Francisco voters more than 20 years ago, and that's why she was elected district attorney.”
In the end, Fazio's attacks on Harris didn't do much to dent her candidacy at the time: She narrowly defeated Harris in the first round and then went on to defeat incumbent District Attorney Terrence Hallinan.
Mr Hallinan said during the debate that Ms Harris had worked in his office for “about a year and a half”.
“She handled one case. I am happy with the way she worked. I'm not criticising her. It's unfortunate that she left, but she did,” he said.
Harris then criticized him for having one of the lowest prosecution rates in the state, positioned herself as tough on crime, and chided him, saying, “Don't you understand you're not a public defender?”
In another incident during the election cycle, Harris was fined for ignoring San Francisco's campaign finance laws.
In January of that year, Harris signed a pledge to stay within the $211,000 spending limit, but her campaign It was then reported to the San Francisco Ethics Commission. She exceeded that limit by about $91,446.
As a result, she was fined $34,000. San Francisco Ethics Commission websiteIt was the second-largest fine of its kind listed on the site.
panel pointed out “The violation does not appear to have been intentional.” The violation came amid a fierce battle for the post of San Francisco district attorney.
She later pledged to spend the money on fliers to publicize her violations as a way to remedy the situation, but Harris later Criticized Much of the money was spent on door hangers and other advertising that admitted in small print that they were wrong and portrayed her in a positive light.
“Leadership isn't about being perfect. Leadership is about taking responsibility,” Harris said at the time. From SFGATE“This agreement (with the Ethics Commission) shows what happens when campaigns take responsibility for their mistakes instead of running away from them.”
Both rivals at the time also questioned whether the violation was actually intentional.
Harris began her legal career in Alameda County handling murder, robbery and child sexual assault cases before moving through the ranks to become Managing Attorney for the San Francisco District Attorney's Criminal Division and, in 2003, Chief of the San Francisco City Attorney's Family and Children's Division.
She has publicly stated that her legal career was inspired by one of her best friends from high school, Wanda Kagan, who told her that she had been abused by her stepfather.
“That's one of the reasons I became a prosecutor – to protect people like Wanda – because I believe every person has a right to safety, dignity and justice,” Harris declared in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week.
Harris was later elected California Attorney General in 2010 and elected to the Senate in 2017.
She is scheduled to face off against former President Donald Trump at an ABC News debate on September 10 in Philadelphia ahead of the November 5 presidential election.
