LA DA drops out of debate, says organizer is linked to challenger

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced Friday she will not participate this week in a debate organized in part by "The L.A. Coalition for D.A. Justice and Accountability," after her campaign discovered an organizer has ties to one of the biggest donors to campaign of her chief challenger, George Gascón.

According to a Lacey campaign statement released Friday, Lacey dropped out after her campaign discovered that one of the coalition's steering committee co-chairs, attorney Alex Sherman, writes for The Appeal, a publication allegedly funded in part by the biggest donor to George Gascón's super PAC.

The statement linked the coalition to Santa Cruz billionaire Patty Quillin who allegedly donated $1 million to the super PAC supporting Gascón. The statement also said Quillin is a benefactor of Tides Advocacy group, which according to public records has received over $35 million from funds tied to Quillin and her husband, Reed Hastings.

Tides is the principal funder of The Appeal, the news outlet for whom Sherman has written multiple pieces on Lacey, her campaign said. It also said the Appeal is currently cited in advertisements promoting Gascon's campaign.

"This potential conflict of interest has made the Lacey campaign lose faith in the impartiality of the forum," Friday's statement read.

Responding to Lacey's campaign statement, a spokesperson fro Gascón, Max Szabo, said in an email, "This is a public official that has gone to extraordinary lengths to dodge the public. It's time for Jackie Lacey to come out of her bunker and face the music. While she's busy manufacturing self-serving conflicts, she's done nothing to rectify actual conflicts, such as the thousands in contributions she's received from attorneys representing defendants she's currently prosecuting. This newfound concern over conflicts of interest is just a transparent effort to duck questions about her disastrous record."

Hinting at future appearance withdrawals, Lacey's campaign also said it was concerned about the ability of public forums to provide spaces where all candidates could be heard. At the last debate sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, Lacey was constantly interrupted by hostile protesters, who often made it difficult for the audience to hear the candidates.

Lacey also pulled out of the first debate in December 2019.

-- Blaise Scemama