Legislature hearings move Robert Bonta toward AG post

Robert A. Bonta is on the verge of becoming California’s next attorney general after confirmation hearings in the Senate and Assembly on Wednesday.

The Senate Rules Committee confirmed him by a 3-0 vote, with the two Republicans abstaining.

Bonta then headed over to the Assembly Special Committee on the Office of the Attorney General, which did not convene until nearly 5 p.m. and had not taken a vote as of press time.

Its members were expected to confirm him as well. Committee said they had not received a single opposition letter to Bonta’s nomination.

Bonta next heads to votes in the full chamber of each house. His nomination has carried a sense of inevitability since Gov. Gavin Newsom named him last month. Republicans offered only token opposition — and at times warm praise — to the Democratic Assemblyman from Alameda during the Senate committee hearing.

The only person who called in to oppose Bonta summed it up this way. “We know we can’t stop him,” said Sam Paredes, executive director of the Gun Owners of California, speaking on behalf of several gun rights groups.

The hearings provided an interesting contrast to those held four years earlier for his predecessor, Xavier Becerra. Back then, Republicans warned that an overly aggressive attorney general could cost the state money through unnecessary battles with President Donald Trump’s administration. Now Trump is out of office and Democrats have strengthened their stranglehold on Sacramento. In 2017, there were 39 Republicans in the California Legislature. Now there are 28.

One telling moment may have come when Senate Rules Vice-Chair Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, asked Bonta about the office’s role in writing the ballot title and summaries voters see on initiatives. This was a key point of contention and litigation between Republicans and Becerra. Bates referred to materials for the 2018 initiative to repeal a state gas tax, which she said Becerra distorted.

“That’s where I think a lot of the issues developed, especially on the propositions,” Bates said. “What steps will you take to ensure the process really is not partisan?”

Bonta replied with language about being “descriptive” and “calling balls and strikes.” The issue didn’t appear on a list of responses he sent to legislative leaders last weekend. But his responses did go deep into another area that will likely take up a lot of his time: changes to the criminal justice system.

He said he supports SB 2, a pending bill that would make it easier to decertify officers found to have engaged in misconduct, though he ducked a question about whether accepting political donations from law enforcement would create a conflict of interest. Bonta also said he will pursue police misconduct cases.

“When reviewing any specific case, I will go where the facts lead,” Bonta wrote. “But I strongly believe in accountability and that law enforcement officers who abuse their position of trust — whether that’s through excessive force or misconduct — should face serious consequences.”

Bonta is known as a critic of the criminal justice system. He wrote bills to phase out cash bail and when that measure died served as a key ally to Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, when he passed SB 10. The bail measure was overturned by referendum, but Bonta came back this year with AB 329, which would set bail at zero for most nonviolent offenses.

Some conservatives have tried to paint Bonta as out of the political mainstream. When Newsom nominated him, California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson released a statement saying he “may be tough on sugary drinks, but he’s soft on criminals.”

A representative of the California State Sheriffs Association said they “look forward to working with” Bonta when asked about his nomination. Peace Officers Research Association of California president Brian Marvel released a statement praising Bonta and saying, “We look forward to working with him,” after he was nominated.

Some of this may have to do with timing. The hearing came one day after a Minneapolis jury convicted former officer Derek Chauvin on murder and manslaughter charges for killing George Floyd. The California Capitol and several nearby buildings were fortified ahead of that verdict for unrest that never came.

The California District Attorneys Association did not respond to an email seeking comment. The organization came under fire in a hearing this week for the misuse of $2.9 million in public funds, though this happened under the group’s previous leadership.