Friday's Free For All

Four Days To Go To Trutanich's Final Downfall

Updated: Saturday, May 18, 2013 (see below)

No cash, no credibility, no chance. That is the reality of the Trutanich reelection campaign.

The incumbent has struggled to raise money for his crumbling campaign. Gone are the days when Trutanich packed rooms with donors eager to max-out their contributions. Even that strange steady stream of $100 and $200 checks that boosted his DA campaign has dried up.

Most of his supporters saw how he crashed and burned in the DA primary. They saw how he placed a staggering 14 points behind Mike Feuer in the City Attorney primary election, with fully 70% of voters rejecting him. They are either watching out for the caller ID indicating a call from 'Nuch' and letting the call go to voicemail, or they are telling him, 'Don't call us, we'll call you, just like you used to return our calls - never.'

All over town the excitement is building. Friendly office pools that used to buy lottery tickets are now based on guessing just how big Trutanich's loss will be; 5 points, 10 points or 20 points. Most believe a 10 point loss is likely, but a sizable number are sure it will be nearer 20 points.

Plans are being made to hold "Downfall" parties to celebrate the end of the Trutanich regime. The likelihood is that with a low turnout, and a high number of vote by mail ballots being released at around 9PM, it will be over for Trutanich shortly after that.

It's a long, long way from May 2009.

The moment the results flashed up on the screen showing Trutanich had won
the 2009 General Election.

There won't be the crowds that flocked to Trutanich's victory party. They will be elsewhere, perhaps at a Downfall party. They will not be making the mistake that they made in 2009 by trusting Trutanich.

The scene at Trutanich's 2013 victory party is more likely to look like this:

June 2012 Failed DA candidate Carmen Trutanich does the walk of shame after
placing 3rd in the DA primary, thrown out of the race by an electorate
who were not going to be made fools of again.

Trutanich may not even do the walk of shame, instead choosing to sneak out the back door to avoid the few that will remain, and avoid the press who will be eager to see what new excuses Trutanich can find for his latest and last downfall.

Updated: Saturday, May 18, 2013

LA Times/U.S.C. Poll puts Feuer 18 points ahead of Trutanich

The LA Weekly reports on the latest poll, and it's more bad news for the failed City Attorney incumbent - he is now 18 points behind Mike Feuer. Signs are that the Trutanich "inner circle" are circling their wagons and preparing for the inevitable Downfall of their hero. The tone of their typically hateful, threatening and ridiculously optimistic comments has changed, suggesting a somewhat conciliatory claim that they are hopeful, that 'Nuch has done a good job,' but that if he loses he can go on to bigger and better things 'proud of his many successes.'

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Brown Blasts Trutanich - et tu Brown?

The LA Weekly reported on Gov. Jerry Brown's attack on failed incumbent City Attorney "Carmen 'I am a LIAR' Trutanich."

The attack, in the form of Robocalls from Gov. Brown, blasts Trutanich latest attempt at "misleading voters" over AB109 the so-called "Prison Realignment." When Trutanich re-invented himself after his his humiliating defeat in the DA primary election, he immediately abandoned his warm embracement of AB109, perhaps thinking voters would forget that he had devoted an entire page of his rambling DA campaign manifesto 'Blueprint for Justice,' hailing AB109 as "an opportunity to fundamentally transform our correctional system."

The day after Trutanich unleashed his manifesto, Gov. Brown repaid his end of a bargain (believed to have been brokered by Sheriff Lee Baca) and Gov. Brown endorsed Trutanich for DA. Trutanich has denied the endorsement was payback for his support of AB109, claiming his relationship with Brown predated AB109.

In the robocall, Gov. Brown reminds listeners of Trutanich's previous support for AB109.




Readers will recall that Trutanich previously tried to mislead voters with a false ballot designation in which he claimed he was the "Los Angeles Chief Criminal Prosecutor." A Superior Court Judge swatted Trutanich down and forced him to remove the "misleading" ballot designation.

Trutanich campaign crumbling - supporters acknowledge "Downfall" imminent

A comment from a Trutanich Koolaide drinker in response to Wednesday's Dragnet shows that while the Trutanich inner circle is maintaining it's strategy of calling anyone who says anything negative about their hero a 'liar,' they appear to acknowledge that the election is lost.

Ali Amiri commences his rant by saying that after the election, the Dragnet will find someone else to lie about. It is true that Trutanich, having lost the election, will cease to be of interest to Dragnet readers. However, if Trutanich were to win the election (a stretch of the imagination, granted) then Trutanich would continue to be the rich source of buffoonery and deceptive practices that he is. Clearly Amiri fully expects Trutanich to lose, leaving the Dragnet in need of another target.

The remainder of Amiri's remarks are not worthy of any response, other than they are false and simply mirror the comments of other Trutanich supporters.

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Trutanich braces for final Downfall

Less than a week to go, and the air of desperation and despondency in the Trutanich camp is palpable. LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus' lengthy article on Trutanich last week included quotes from those in the incumbent's inner circle that indicate that while they remain loyal to their hero, they have accepted the inevitable. They are prepared with all the excuses, accusations and blame-shifting they need to explain away the final downfall of LA's most notorious elected liar.

Studio City businessman and crazed conspiracy theorist, Mort Allen, told the LA Weekly that "His feeling is that in the hearts of the people, he will (win). But if he doesn't, he can go back to making money and making a better life for his family." The rare admission from the Trutanich inner circle that defeat is certain came before the latest polls showed Trutanich now 11 points behind City Attorney candidate Mike Feuer.

Polls show Feuer set to trounce Trutanich (again)

Last week's SurveyUSA poll gave leading City Attorney candidate Mike Feuer a 6 point lead over the failed incumbent. Monday's LA Times showed Feuer with an 11 point lead, a week before the election. According to the Times, 'In polling conducted April 29 through May 7 by the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., Feuer, a former member of the state Assembly and City Council, led City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, who is seeking reelection in next week's balloting -- 35% to 24%, with 41% of voters still undecided."

The large number of 'undecideds' could give Trutanich hope that he can con capture those votes, but in order to do so he needs money to deliver his message to the masses. Money is not flowing to Trutanich the way it used to. He lags far behind Feuer and his 'Hail Mary Pass' attempt at a retraining order to prevent Feuer from receiving matching funds failed when a judge threw his lawsuit out of court. It is not clear whether the judge was able to suppress any laughter when the ruling was given.

District Attorney Jackie Lacey Endorses Mike Feuer for City Attorney

Both the Daily News and the LA Times broke the news that newly elected Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who thrashed Trutanich out of the DA primary last year, had endorsed Mike Feuer for City Attorney.

Lacey explained that Trutanich' use of an "intellectually dishonest" mailer that "twisted facts about the alleged kidnapping and rape of a young girl for political purposes" were among her reasons for supporting Feuer.

Trutanich is understood to have been 'apoplectic' when he was told that the key endorsement had gone to his opponent. The failed incumbent likely ranted and raged incoherently, perhaps claiming to have been 'betrayed' because of assurances he might have counted on that Lacey would "stay out of it."

If indeed Trutanich's deceitful mailer did cause Lacey to endorse Feuer, then chances are that Trutanich will blame his campaign manager for his downfall, again.

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Monday Morning Briefs

Trutanich lags behind Feuer in Fundraising

The LA Times reports the soon to be former City Attorney Carmen 'Nuch' Trutanich failed to halt the backward motion of his campaign and raised only 'about $110,000.00' in the last reporting period. Leading City Attorney candidate Mike Feuer, however, raised almost double that amount in the same period.

Feuer has $126,000.00 cash on hand, compared with Trutanich's $84,000.00.

Trutanich narrows the gap in latest SurveyUSA poll

The latest SurveyUSA poll shows Mike Feuer's lead in the polls narrowing from the ten point lead he had two weeks ago, to a six point lead now.  While the news will bring some cheer to Trutanich loyalists, the reality is that the election is over. 14% of voters still remain undecided and if past experience holds true, they won't vote at all. Trutanich will be lucky to lose by 6 points, most see a 10 point loss as more likely.

In the other citywide races, Garcetti and Greuel are neck and neck at 46% each, while Dennis Zine has a 12 point lead over Ron Galperin.

Trutanich fails to prevent Feuer from receiving matching funds

The Trutanich campaign received another kick in the teeth Friday when a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge refused to issue a restraining order to prevent leading Los Angeles City Attorney candidate from receiving matching funds, the Brentwood Patch reported.

Trutanich had complained (to anyone who would listen) that Feuer's performance-bonus contract with campaign consultant John Shallman was in violation of City ethics laws, but it seems a Judge was not persuaded by Trutanich's rhetoric.

Parks, Perry endorse Trutanich

The Mayor Sam blog reports exclusively that Los Angeles Councilmembers Jan Perry and Bernard Parks have endorsed Trutanich for City Attorney.


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Friday's Free For All, Met News-Enterprise Backs Feuer for City Attorney

Los Angeles Metropolitan News-Enterprise Endorses:
Mike Feuer for City Attorney

The Los Angeles Metropolitan News-Enterprise, LA's leading legal daily news source, devoted an entire page of editorial in support of City Attorney candidate Mike Feuer. The endorsement was not expected, but likely welcomed not only by Feuer, but by voters who fell for the Trutanich spell in 2009 and have been disappointed (if not disgusted) at the way Trutanich squandered their support and his political capital on a lie-filled, ego-driven, cheesy attempt at political bunny-hopping.

The Met News Editorial Board, who supported Trutanich in 2009, said "he [Trutanich] has been a disappointment to many. He’s proved to be a bully, a bloviator, a buffoon. His primary failing is, of course, his inability to stick to the truth," likely a thinly veiled reference to the infamous LA Times editorial "Carmen 'I am a Liar' Trutanich" that has come to define all things Trutanich. 

While commenting that Mike Feuer is "a bit too politically partisan and a bit too ambitious," the Met News nevertheless recognizes "that he is intelligent and capable. The City of Los Angeles has not had an able city attorney since Burt Pines left office in 1981. We hope that Feuer will be able to fill his shoes." The Met News said.

In supporting Feuer, the Met News has perhaps taken a pragmatic position that owes as much to Feuer's academic credentials (Feuer is a Havard grad, while Trutanich is first time bar exam failer from a part time, night time, un-accredited, now defunct law school) as it does to Feuer's successes as a Los Angeles City Councilman, State Assemblyman and a proven leader.

The Met News supports its view of Trutanich as micro-managing, headline-chasing political parvenu who forgets those who supported him faster than he forgets the many promises he made and broke, with references to some, but not all, of Trutanich's lies and monumental failures, including:

• His failure to honor his 'Pledge to Serve' and not seek higher political office,
• His failure to honor his $100,000 payment to LA's Best After School program,
• His failure to purchase full page ads in LA newspapers with his photograph and the statement 'I AM A LIAR' in bold typeface,
• His lie about being the victim of an assassination attempt when he was 'surrounded and shot at by gangmembers' while working as a deputy DA in the 1980s',
• His false accusation that DA Steve Cooley had deliberately withheld his DA personnel file which contained the only proof that the alleged (laughable) attempted assassination attempt,
• His pathetic attempt to engage Attorney General Kamala Harris in an investigation into 'suspicious political activity' in the concealment of his DA personnel file, a file that he knew was missing four years before wrote to Harris,
• His attempted use of a false and misleading ballot designation, 'Los Angeles Chief Prosecutor,' during his failed DA campaign,
• His false claim to have the endorsement of three law enforcement associations, 
• His false claim to have 'come up with' a program to streamline the enforcement of municipal code violations, when the idea in fact originated from the former Chief Deputy City Attorney under Rocky Delgadillo's administration, and was already in place in other municipalities,
• His misleading condemnation of Feuer's support for AB109, the so-called 'realignment,' when he had also warmly embraced the measure to earn Gov. Brown's endorsement for his failed DA campaign,
• His current campaign condemnation of Feuer for never having prosecuted murderers and rapists, is if to imply that is the work of the City Attorney. It is not.
• His current campaign claim that Feuer has never prosecuted any criminal case, ever, as if to imply that this is the sole work of the City Attorney's office. In fact it accounts for less than one third of the office and is largely the responsibility of inexperienced 'volunteer' attorneys,
• His false claim that 'Feuer lies, cheats and steals,' a claim supported only by innuendo and utterly bereft of fact, concerning Feuer's campaign consultancy agreement containing a performance bonus fee clause. Trutanich claimed that Feuer had never met or consulted with the Commission en banc, but Feuer never claimed that. He obtained the approval through the Commission's Deputy Chief Executive, the appropriate means of obtaining approval.

There are many more examples of Trutanich's misdeeds and deceptions that the Met News could have mentioned, such as;

• The palpably false claim to have had 724,534 YouTube views in six days for his DA campaign video when Trutanich paid for them, or 
• Sheriff Baca's illegal in-uniform endorsement, or 
• His illegal billboards outside his former campaign headquarters, or 
• The missing rent payments for that office. 

But the point is well made by the Met News; "To re-elect Carmen Trutanich as Los Angeles city attorney would be unthinkable." 

We agree.

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LA Weekly excoriates Trutanich, Rocky Delgadillo endorses Trutanich - seriously

Trutanich fails to 'tune up' LA Weekly

LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus reports on another 'lunch' with failed incumbent Carmen 'the Clown' Trutanich, and it went about as well as their last meeting when the embattled City Attorney 'lost it' with Maddaus and blurted out 'I am not a thug!' slamming his ham-fist on the Formica table-top at Ciros 'restaurant.'

This time the venue was San Pedro's Fish Market, and Maddaus left no doubt that the answer to his rhetorical question 'Carmen Trutanich was knocked down. Can he get up?' is a resounding 'No.' Once again Trutanich has his taxpayer funded SUV illegally parked in the red zone, despite 'acres of free, legal public parking,' Maddaus noted. Trutanich's defiant display of his lack of respect for the rules that apply to mere mortals is perhaps reflective of his Nazi-like motto 'The strong do as they will, the weak do as they must.' But it seems the tough-guy Trutanich failed to intimidate Maddaus.

Trutanich leaving nothing to chance, also played the 'Family Guy' card, dragging his wife to the meeting in the hope that it would embarrass Maddaus into refraining from challenging Trutanich over his many failures in his first, and soon to be only, term in City Hall. The strategy did not work.  Apparently unable to speak for himself, Trutanich left it to his wife to explain how hurtful it was to read of her husband's many misdeeds in the press. The LA Times article "Carmen 'I am a liar' Trutanich" being the most upsetting, it seems.

There appears to be a certain 'reality distortion' when it comes to Trutanich's view of himself. Clearly, when anyone, be it the LA Times or the Dragnet, exposes him for the liar, bully or thug that he is, he needs his family to 'do as they must' and support him. After all, 'his wife, his family lives on his salary.'

Trutanich also tried to shift the blame for his humiliating defeat in the DA election onto the shoulders of his former campaign manager, John Shallman. It apparently had nothing to do with voters being disgusted at the way Trutanich reneged on his sworn solemn promise not to use the City Attorney's office as a springboard to the DA's office.

Maddus also touched on a few of the unsavory characters who are also 'doing as they must' and coughing up dollars to bolster his failing reelection campaign. There's Mort Allen, the Studio City landlord who lashed out at the Dragnet's author of being "a 'British National Phsycopath' [sic] who may be trying to front the major drug cartels trying to take over the DA office." I kid you not. Allen is probably still smarting over allegations that he forgave Trutanich's campaign rental payments for his campaign headquarters.

Then there's a new 'friend' in Trutanich's inner circle (which conjures up images of a toilet bowl), Ruben Garcia and his company, Advanced Cleanup Technologies Inc., who have ponied up '$50,000 on mailers supporting Trutanich, making him the largest single contributor to the reelection campaign.' Maddaus said.

But, as Maddaus reported, 'the reasons for Garcia's benevolence go beyond mere friendship. Garcia has been pushing the Port of Los Angeles to approve his company's emissions-control technology, called AMECS, for shipping terminals and rail projects. So far, port officials have refused to require companies to use it.' Perhaps Garcia thinks having Trutanich in his pocket will payoff? But perhaps Garcia should do a little due diligence as to Trutanich's sway with the Port of Los Angeles, they are unlikely to 'do as they must' after Trutanich is thrown out of office on May 21. 

All in all, Gene Maddaus does a fairly comprehensive report on all the reasons why Trutanich was knocked down, and why he will not get up. He is an arrogant egomaniac.

Rocky Delgadillo endorses Carmen Trutanich

A sure sign that Trutanich's reelection desperation is on steroids. The LA Times reports that at a sparsely attended presser on the steps of City Hall, the failed incumbent welcomed an endorsement by his predecessor, Rocky Delgadillo.

Delgadillo, of course, is best forgotten remembered for having signed off on paying a firefighter $2.7M for eating a spoonful of dog food, trying to cover up his wife's illegal use of a City SUV, and trying to stiff taxpayers with the cost of repairing the SUV after his wife crashed it.

Since being termed out of the City Attorney's office and failing to win the Democratic Party primary for Attorney General, Delgadillo has done as much as he possibly could to rehabilitate his image and reputation. He has been helped enormously by Trutanich, who has succeeded in making Delgadillo look good in the light of the disaster Trutanich has been as City Attorney. So perhaps Delgadillo thought it was only fair to repay Trutanich for his inadvertent efforts. Of course, they could be another reason. Perhaps some enterprising investigative journalist could see if Delgadillo represents any clients who have problems with the City of Los Angeles? Problems that Trutanich would be happy to fix?

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Trutanich ahead of Feuer, tries cashing in on Dorner payout

Trutanich leads in ethics violation complaints

The Daily News reported on dueling ethics violations in all three citywide races, but omitted to mention that failed incumbent City Attorney Carmen Trutanich leads the field in an unassailable position, streaking far ahead of rival City Attorney candidate Mike Feuer in terms of complaints of ethics violations. It is the only field that Trutanich dominates, and deservedly so.


Trutanich tries to cash in on payout

The ink was scarcely dry on the $4.2M settlement check that the failed incumbent City Attorney handed over to the two victims of a police shooting during the manhunt for cop-killer Dorner.

Some wondered at the speed of the settlement which occurred in marked contrast to Carmen the Clown's much hailed 'Porcupine Defense,' and startled many by taking place without any depositions being taken.

The Mayor Sam blog threw some light on the answer by publicizing a fundraiser and meet-and-greet with LA's Latino community. With his reelection campaign stalled, lagging significantly behind City Attorney candidate Mike Feuer in the polls and in fundraising, and destined to become the first incumbent to fail to be reelected, Trutanich sought to reach out to the Latino community perhaps in the hope that his largesse will be rewarded by a flood of campaign contributions and a bunch of eager voters.

He appears to be getting desperate with just over two weeks remaining before Trutanich loses his third election in less than a year.
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