Sparks fly at KPCC's City Attorney Debate

With four weeks to go before the Primary Election, KPCC's Larry Mantle hosted the third, and perhaps the most feisty City Attorney debate during the noon hour.

Current City Attorney Carmen Trutanich got off to a rocky start when confronted by Mantle over his failure to honor his promise not use the City Attorney's Office as a political springboard to the DA's Office; a broken promise that Mantle reminded listeners makes it hard for voters to believe any future promises Trutanich makes.

Trutanich responded by saying he won't make any more promises, perhaps an acknowledgment that his credibility is his weakest point; he said he wouldn't even promise to 'show up here tomorrow,' although it was unclear what he meant as he is not scheduled to appear at KPCC tomorrow. Trutanich, it seems, has a very real problem with promises, something that Mantle said has denied him the advantage of incumbency that he would otherwise have if he were not such a prolific liar.

When pressed by Mantle, Trutanich did admit that his failed bid to become DA was a 'mistake,' adding that 'I only wanted to fix the gang problem in Los Angeles.' At the last City Attorney debate Trutanich faced the same question and also said his broken promise was a mistake, but on that occasion he said 'I only wanted to help kids.' It will be interesting to see how Trutanich answers the question the next time it is posed.

If he were honest, which is akin to saying if pigs could fly, Trutanich should admit that he decided to break his promise because his over inflated ego got the better of him. Promises made were quickly forgotten, as he assumed his multi-million dollar campaign, replete with endorsements from every political hack, would overcome public disgust at his betrayal of their misplaced trust.

Mantle set the tone for the debate, one that put Trutanich on the defensive throughout what must have been a painful half hour. Mike Feuer took every opportunity to attack Trutanich, including his failure to formulate an effective Medical Marijuana law, and his woeful record of trial losses. Trutanich defended each of Feuer's allegations with vehement insistence that 'We have been the most successful City Attorney,' another example of Tutanich's tortured use of language when under fire.

The problem with Trutanich's oft-repeated chest thumping claims to be 'the most successful City Attorney' is that those claims are based entirely on Trutanich's ever changing facts and figures. The $250M in savings based on 'favorable verdicts,' was $234M the last time he offered his voodoo math. When he claims to 'go after' predatory home loan lenders, he conveniently forgets to mention that those cases have not gone to trial, and perhaps just like his 'criminal aspects' case against AEG, will evaporate into the ether of other Trutanich promises once they have served their media grabbing purposes. 

But it was Greg Smith who skillfully forced Trutanich to concede that morale in the City Attorney's office is at an all time low. Part of the reason for low morale is, according to Trutanich, the 15% pay cut that everyone else in the City Attorney's office has to take. Except him. He steadfastly refuses to share the suffering of his employees because, as he previously said, his family 'lives on his salary.' Presumably, non of the 475 lawyers in his office have families who depend on their income.

That morale is at an all time low under Trutanich's administration has far more to do with his blatant  abuse of the Office of City Attorney to advance his political career. It is not hard to imagine the extreme embarrassment his staff has to endure when their leader is labeled a 'Liar' by the LA Times, when his foolish threats to jail Councilmembers, Dream Act protesters and Occupy LA trespassers amount to nothing. When his power-crazed attempts to get his own Grand Jury are thankfully thwarted no less than three times. When he is publicly shamed for lying about non-existent police endorsements, 724,000 YouTube campaign video views, using a false and misleading ballot title, or being the victim of an assassination attempt.

The slow train wreck that is the Trutanich reelection campaign continues Wednesday when the candidates face off in the fourth and perhaps final debate, scheduled to be televised by PBS on SoCal's "SoCal Insider." Perhaps that's what Trutanich won't promise to show up for after the drubbing he just received.

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Thursday's Briefs

Dragnet's Joe Friday interviewed on FOX 11 News
... asked to explain "The Lies of Carmen Trutanich"



FOX 11 News Anchorman Jeff Michael continued to probe 'The Lies of Carmen Trutanich' with an interview with the Dragnet's pseudonymous blogger Joe Friday.


KPCC's DA Candidates' Forum



In case you missed it, here are the highlights from Tuesday night's DA Candidates' Forum hosted by KPCC's Larry Mantle.

Midweek Musings - Lacey endorsed by John & Ken, Trutanich's troubles grow

Jackie Lacey endorsed by KFI AM640's John & Ken Show

KFI AM640's top-rated afternoon drive time talk show hosts John and Ken today announced their endorsement of Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Lacey for DA. Towards the end of the 5 o'clock hour, during which time the talk show duo had trashed city attorney Carmen Trutanich's record, they concluded by saying 'We're endorsing Jackie Lacey for District Attorney. She has Steve Cooley's endorsement and she's been working as the number two in the office for quite a long time and you can trust her to do the right thing. But Trutanich? You might as well hire Bozo.'



John and Ken had previously called Trutanich a 'lying boob' over his failed attempt to mislead voters by calling himself 'Chief Criminal Prosecutor,' on the June 5 ballot. A Superior Court judge ruled that Trutanich was deliberately trying to mislead voters and ordered Trutanich not to use the title.

Most recently, the duo described Trutanich's campaign as 'the most dishonest' after it emerged that the centerpiece of Trutanich's campaign, a claim that he had been surrounded by and shot at by gang members during his short career as a deputy district attorney, was false.

Jackson campaign ads on broadcast TV



'Every Case,' Alan Jackson's thirty second campaign advertisement, hit the airwaves Monday night and has been aired on Channels 2, 4, 7, and 11 since then.  Thus far, Jackson is the only candidate to rival city prosecutor Carmen Trutanich with broadcast tv advertising.

Trutanich, who has partially 'suspended' his campaign (see below) is understood to have received numerous calls from supporters who were surprised to see Jackson's ads. They had apparently been told by Trutanich that he would 'win this thing outright in the primary' as the only candidate who can afford tv advertising.

Trutanich's secret research file reveals a troubled past

LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus delivered a withering blow to city prosecutor Carmen Trutanich's campaign hopes with the revelation of 'Top Secrets' that Trutanich dug up about himself.

Maddus obtained a copy of an expensive and expansive report Trutanich commissioned about himself  in November 2008 in preparation for his City Attorney campaign. According to Maddaus the 'no-good Nuch nuggets' contained in the report prepared by VR Research were a slew of ill-feted lawsuits brought by Trutanich where he sued a youth soccer league who canceled his team, a $100k slip-and-fall lawsuit against Vons, a personal injuries lawsuit against the City and Port of Los Angeles for 'petroleum coke dust' inhalation which failed when Trutanich's client was found to have tampered with records to help his case, and Trutanich's unsuccessful criminal defense on behalf of the client.

Also included in his background check were details of a failed lawsuit in which Trutanich claimed he personally suffered 'emotional distress' and 'nervous system damage' when his minivan was repossessed by an irate former owner who believed Trutanich had purchased it under market value in a deal with a friend. 

The LA Weekly report was discussed on KFI AM640's John and Ken Show in the five o'clock rush hour.



The talk show duo, in summing up Trutanich's past, wasted no time in calling him 'Nuts! Absolutely nuts!'

The leak of the 100-page plus report took Trutanich by surprise when it derailed his attempt to claim that he did not know that his DA personnel file was missing and demanded the Attorney General conduct a 'suspicious political activity' investigation into the DA's office.  The LA Times reported that Trutanich's 2008 background check stated that 'Trutanich's personnel file was "no longer maintained" by the district attorney's office.' 

Attorney General Kamala Harris swiftly rejected Trutanich's plea for an investigation when she was told Trutanich had lied to her in his letter when he claimed he only learned about the missing file when a LA Times reporter recently interviewed him about his lies concerning being surrounded and shot at by gang members at Green Meadows Park.

Trutanich suspends part of DA campaign

KPCC reports that Carmen Trutanich has suspended the part of his campaign that obliges him to answer pesky questions from reporters and attend candidates' forums, due to the hospitalization of his mother. Fundraising will not be affected, at least not by the hospitalization.

Trutanich's credibility, and thus his campaign, is understood to have been severely effected by recent events widely reported in the media and his failure to secure a solitary newspaper endorsement. His claim to 'win the primary outright' with his tv ad campaign looks as dubious as everything else, now that Jackson is competing directly with him on broadcast tv. Add John and Ken's endorsement of Jackie Lacey on Tuesday, and it's not hard to see Trutanich's 'partial suspension' as simply a desperate 'duck and cover' strategy for a campaign born of a lie, waiting for another shoe to drop.

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Friday Free For All - Trutanich campaign crumbles

Attorney General Kamala Harris tells Trutanich 'Pound Sand!'

The Los Angeles Times reported that LA's Chief Liar Carmen Trutanich got told to 'pound sand' in response to his plea for political help from Attorney General Kamala Harris. The beleaguered blowhard's lie-laden letter to Harris, urging her to 'investigate suspicious political activity' by District Attorney Steve Cooley, was promptly filed in the trash bin along with Trutanich's private boasts that he 'has the AG in his pocket.'

Although it is widely believed that Trutanich knew his cry for help was baseless, it is understood that he believed Harris would delay rejecting his pack of lies until after the June 5, primary election. That would been a political favor giving the impression that his slanderous claims were being considered at state level. They are not. And there's no political favors for Trutanich. The stench of fear and desperation emanating from Trutanich is palpable, even as far away as Sacramento.

Harris wasted no time in giving the biggest possible political 'thumbs down' to Trutanich, and the way she swiftly distanced herself from Trutanich's deceitful practices may well send a larger message to others - it is time to dump Trutanich before he takes down anyone and everyone foolish enough to remain associated with him.

Cooley tells Noguez to 'resign.' Wonder who's next?

The Los Angeles Daily News reported that DA Steve Cooley said that Carmen Trutanich's political ally, County Assessor John Noguez, should resign as the corruption investigation into property tax breaks for campaign contributors continues. Trutanich, photographed above sporting a Tony Suprano style sports jacket, is an ardent supporter of Noguez. Birds of a feather ...

Jackson gets the jump on TV Ads, Trutanich copies

 

KPCC reported on the striking similarity between Alan Jackson's tv ad campaign which aired earlier this week, and the Trutanich campaign ad that appeared today.

Here's the Jackson campaign ad:



And here's the Trutanich response:



KPCC noted the following similarities:

• Both start with the men sitting in large leather chairs behind desks
• Both feature the candidates walking behind police tape with two officers
• Both highlight the candidates' experiences prosecuting gang members
• Both show the candidates in laboratories talking about the importance of using technology to solve crimes
• Both advocate for crime prevention programs aimed at youths
• Both show kids playing basketball outside

Perhaps we now know the reason why Trutanich's senior campaign advisor was watching Jackson so closely at the recent LA Times DA candidates' forum.

Trutanich's senior campaign adviser John Shallman records Jackson's every move

Big Hollywood Heavy-Hitters Back Lacey for DA

The Hollywood Reporter broke away from industry stories to cover Jackie Lacey's blockbuster fundraiser last month.

The event, hosted by movie mogul Lawrence Bender, is said to be followed up by another major fundraiser in the week before the primary election as Hollywood embraces Lacey's campaign.

Lacey's recent endorsement by the LA Times is said to have spurred interest in what is being called 'Blockbuster II,' and in the best Hollywood tradition, there's every sign that the sequel will be an even greater success than the April 24 event.

Mayor Sam Blog trashes Trutanich, endorses Jackson

The Mayor Sam Blog, LA's most widely read political blog, caped off the Trutanich campaign's week of misery with a simple message that says it all; 'Friends don't let friends vote for Carmen!'

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Friday Free For All

Where in the world is Carmen Trutanich?

Ever since City Attorney Carmen Trutanich announced his campaign to become District Attorney, reporters have been trying to speak to the former ambulance chaser slip and fall lawyer turned career politician to try to verify some of the claims that he made his email campaign launch.

Apparently neither Trutanich nor his allegedly unpaid campaign consultant John Shallman are returning calls from reporters including the LA Times' Jack Leonard and the LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus. Both are seeking to see question Trutanich as to various aspects of his candidacy, questions that the 60 year-old self-admitted 'LIAR' is anxious to avoid.

Trutanich has good reason to hide from reporters; media coverage of his lies about police endorsements caused him to cancel his plans for a media event campaign launch. It is understood that certain claims made by Trutanich during an interview with KPCC's AirTalk host Larry Mantle could also be shown to be implausible if not false, hence Trutanich's duck and cover antics.

Trujillo garners endorsement of Congresswoman Linda Sanchez

District Attorney candidate Mario Trujillo's campaign received a significant boost this week with the announcement that Congresswoman Linda Sanchez had endorsed his campaign. Full report here.

Lacey endorsed by both sides

Drilling down through District Attorney candidate Jackie Lacey's website reveals an intriguing paradox; she is endorsed by both the former Public Defender Mike Judge and DA Steve Cooley.

Jackson to speak at GOP Convention

The Los Angeles Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports that District Attorney candidate Alan Jackson will speak at the California Republican Party’s upcoming convention.

A GOP spokesperson said Jackson will speak at the convention’s Feb. 25 banquet, along with former Minnesota governor and national Mitt Romney campaign co-chair Tim Pawlenty, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus, and 24-year-old Placentia Mayor Jeremy Yamaguchi. The event is being held at the Hyatt San Francisco.

As the only declared Republican in the race, Jackson's speech looks certain to solidify support for his campaign.

ADDA comes under pressure to pull Trutanich recommendation

A recent comment from Marc Debbaudt is worthy of repetition:

I am a little surprised by some information I received today. After reading this blog site on a regular basis, you all convinced me that Trutanich was anti-labor and that there was little liklihood that he would get the labor endorsement. Well, I am informed that today COPE, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's Committee On Political Endorsements, met and heard from the candidates for DA, Mario Trujillo, Steve Ipsen, Danette Meyers, Bobby Grace and TRUTANICH. The LA County Fed is the union of unions. Not present, I am told, we're Jackie Lacey and Alan Jackson' though I am not certain of that. I am told that every candidate was given ten minutes, except Trutanich, who was given a half an hour. Why Trutanich was given more time was not explained to the candidates who, at least one, felt short changed. For what it is worth, I am told that Trutanich has the endorsement of some unions and was invited by them to speak, so you can blame ADDA all you want, but his presence there was inevitable. Also Trujillo, who did not received an invitation to speak from the ADDA, was there, too, because of his other labor endorsements. In any event, I am told that after this meeting COPE has decided to recommend to the LA County Fed to endorse Trutanich. So, final approval or ultimate endorsement has not been cast in stone yet. However, today Trutanich moved closer to that reality.

The LA County Fed meets on 2/27/12 at which time it will affirm or reject COPE's, their committee's, recommendation. Given what most anonymous posters on this website appear to feel about Trutanich, I thought it was important to share this information because it is not too late to affect the LA County Fed's decision. There is 11 days to take some action if you so desire.

One opinion communicated to me is that the ADDA Board's failure to endorse, or to choose to wait to endorse, after conducting interviews, was a mistake. Why hold interviews and then NOT endorse? I agree with this opinion. We are a union. We should endorse someone.

Two things are still possible. One involves the ADDA and the other involves AFSCME.

DDAs who feel there should be an endorsement must inform the ADDA President that the Board should/must endorse and must do so immediately, that is, before 2/27/12 in order to attempt to influence the LA County Fed's decision. The ADDA Board is meeting at AFSCME (Union and Shatto) on Tuesday 2/21/12. This item can be agendized if you demand it.

The opposite is also possible. If the will of the DDAs is to NOT endorse Trutanich, then a negative repudiation of Trutanich by the ADDA may be a corollary way to affect the LA County Fed's decision. I don't understand why we are a union yet don't act like one and are afraid to endorse or condemn.

As to AFSCME, AFSCME has yet to endorse in the DA's race. I believe they are waiting on the ADDA, since the ADDA is the affiliate of AFSCME most affected by the DA race. So, a powerful union voice has not yet attempted to influence COPE or the LA County Federation of Labor. I could be wrong on that, because I have no direct insight into what AFSCME is doing, but I believe it is true that AFSCME is awaiting the ADDA and has taken no action yet.

If the anti-Trutanich sentiment is real then you all need to try to influence the ADDA Board immediately to take action against Trutanich, or to support one of our own DDA candidates, as well as insist that the ADDA do what is possible to influence AFSCME.

February 16, 2012 5:43 PM

Who knows who might turn up at the ADDA's monthly meeting at AFSCME's Shatto Street headquarters on Tuesday night to urge the ADDA to pull their recommendation of Trutanich?

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