A new report found that billionaire George Soros has spent $40 million over the past ten years to elect 75 progressive prosecutors. These prosecutors are now being blamed for worsening crime in many of America’s largest cities. The 91-year-old has supported candidates through his Open Society Foundations — a network of think tanks and NGOs seeking to promote left-leaning policies.
The candidates include controversial Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon. He was given $4.7 million through the California Justice and Safety PAC, funded by Soros, for his 2020 election campaign. Gascon is now facing recall attempts over a series of lenient prosecutorial decisions.
Philadelphia D.A. Larry Krasner’s campaign received $1.3 million from Soros-backed Pennsylvania Justice and Public Safety PAC and Color of Change. The Soros funding accounted for over 90 percent of his 2017 total money fundraised.
According to Jason Johnson, former deputy commissioner of the Baltimore police and president of the pro-police action group Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF), “Soros is using that campaign money and the hundreds of millions more supporting organizations to quietly transform the criminal justice system for the worse, promoting dangerous policies and anti-police narratives to advance his radical agenda.”
Report: ‘Justice for sale — How George Soros put radical prosecutors in power’
Johnson’s LELDF group recently published a 17-page report titled, ‘Justice for sale: How George Soros put radical prosecutors in power.’ The report concludes that George Soros-backed groups’ spending has installed prosecutors who now represent 72 million people. The number includes around half of America’s 50 most populous counties and cities, where 40 percent of the nation’s homicides occur.
The report’s authors emphasized that Soros’s cash injection has abnormally tilted the scales in elections, saying, “Traditionally, elections for district attorney have been quiet affairs. Candidates spent very little on their campaigns, instead of jockeying for local endorsements and burnishing their legal qualifications for the top job. That changed recently as millions of campaign dollars have flowed into these down-ballot contests.”
The report continued, “The bulk of that lavish spending on advertising and consultants has been done by (or on behalf of) ‘social justice’ candidates.” The report singled out high-profile progressive D.A.s, including Krasner, Gascon, and newly-elected Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg.
Bragg took over the office from former D.A. Cyrus Vance on January 1 and has been criticized for his lax approach to prosecution.
Upon taking office, Bragg instructed assistant district attorneys to discontinue charging low-level crimes, including avoiding seeking jail time for certain assaults, robberies, and gun possession cases where no other crimes were committed. Vance stated that prison time should be reserved for only the most serious offenses, like sexual assault and murder. His campaign received $1.1 million from Color of Change and the New York Justice and Public Safety PAC.
Soros backed Buta Biberaj with $922,000 in Loudon County, Virginia, through Virginia Justice and Public Safety PAC and the New Virginia Majority. Biberaj is facing attempts to recall her with accusations of her “letting criminals run rampant on the streets,” including “wife beaters and child abusers,” according to the report.
“Most of these prosecutors pursue radical justice policies upon assuming office, including eliminating bail, dismissing felony cases, and seeking lenient sentences while creating antagonistic relationships with their public safety partners, especially the police,” stated the authors. “Crime and violence surged following the election of many of these reform prosecutors.”
