Home 2018 Election Paul Graves Campaign Speaks Out Against George Soros Trying to Buy Contra Costa District Attorney’s Race

Paul Graves Campaign Speaks Out Against George Soros Trying to Buy Contra Costa District Attorney’s Race

by ECT

Paul Graves’ campaign for Contra Costa District Attorney released the following statements in response to reports and campaign filings (1, 2) that show massive outside money from George Soros and a San Francisco billionaire being spent to influence Contra Costa voters.

Statement from Paul Graves campaign:

“Paul Graves’ support comes from local Contra Costa residents, community leaders, police, firefighters and victims rights advocates, whereas Diana Becton’s biggest backers are New York and San Francisco billionaires who apparently think Contra Costa’s public safety is for sale. We’re confident voters will choose experienced local prosecutor Paul Graves over Diana Becton – a temporary political appointee who has never prosecuted a criminal case.”

Statement from anti-human trafficking advocate Robert Ring, Pillars of Hope
“As a local advocate for victims of sexual assault, it is deeply offensive that George Soros would swoop in with his millions to campaign against someone with Paul Graves’ record. Paul Graves’ work as a prosecutor on behalf of sexual assault victims has changed – and saved – the lives of women and children in our community.”

Statement from Dwyane Collard, President Hercules Police Officers’ Association  
“On behalf of the Hercules Police Association, we urge voters to reject this outrageous spending from a New York billionaire trying to buy our local District Attorney’s race.  Voters should join us in supporting our local prosecutor Paul Graves, who has 22 years experience serving this community, protecting victims of sexual assault and human trafficking.”

Statement from Ben Therriault, President, Richmond Police Officers’ Association
“I’m confident voters will reject this outside spending because they know Contra Costa’s public safety starts at home, not in New York City or San Francisco.”

Statement from Aron DeFerrari, President, Contra Costa Deputy District Attorney’s Association
“Contra Costa’s local Deputy District Attorneys have endorsed Paul Graves for his experience and integrity.  I’m personally not surprised that George Soros is supporting Diana Becton. After all, he’s never prosecuted a criminal case, either.”

Statement from Marc Klaas, Child Victims Advocate
“When outside donations come from donors known to support radical criminal justice reform, I worry that influence will expand the rights of criminals at the expense of victims. The District Attorney’s office shouldn’t be bought like that.”

Statement from Derek Ewin, Criminal Defense Attorney
“Contra Costa County, and California face a whole different set of issues when it comes to law enforcement compared to New York.  I’m suspicious of the intentions behind a wealthy-donor backing a candidate for Contra Costa D.A., what’s he trying to do here?”

Statement from Laura Melton, 1st Grade teacher, Contra Costa County
“The D.A.’s office impacts the future for our kids in Contra Costa County.  Paul has been to my classroom and instructed kids on safety. We need a candidate with local support, from our community and who knows the collective issues we face.  The tone of this race shouldn’t be set by a wealthy billionaire who thinks he knows what our community needs.”

Statement from Thomas McKenna, Criminal Defense Attorney
I’d rather see our D.A. win based on community support and small donations from local members of the community and people who work in law enforcement and victim’s issues everyday, than a D.A. who was hand-picked by a special interest group from New York.

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17 comments

Melanie May 9, 2018 - 10:59 am

I vote the way I want to vote – period. I don’t pay any attention to outside support from billionaires.

Julio May 9, 2018 - 11:56 am

I want to know who is spending on campaigns so I know who to vote against. Go Graves!

Jane May 9, 2018 - 3:30 pm

We don’t need a DA like Becton who is a pawn in an outsider’s political agenda – the same political agenda that has led to the serious decline in public safety in cities like San Francisco. The fact that she is relying on questionable outside support rather than from the citizens of this county speaks for itself. Vote for a prosecutor, not a politician – vote for Paul Graves on June 5th!

Anon These Days May 9, 2018 - 9:30 pm

Funny how the Repugs don’t mind outside money when they are the recipients.

LA May 10, 2018 - 7:31 am

George Soros buying the DA’s race? That’s pretty laughable, especially in light of the fact the Paul Graves for DA campaign is primarily being funded by Contra Costa’s top drunk driving attorneys. If you read Paul Graves campaign finance statement you will see Graves has the creme de la creme of Contra Costa’s DUI attorneys supporting him, like Tom McKenna or this ex-judge turned drunk driving lawyer Dan O’Malley. They are pouring huge sums of money into the Graves for DA campaign. These DUI attorneys – some of whom make as much as 40,000 a month – are the seedy underbelly of the criminal law profession, the lowest of the low. Most of these DUI attorneys haven’t tried a case in years, or even written a motion. All these DUI attorneys do is fleece gullible consumers out of money pretending to “represent them” on these DUI cases. In fact, you can’t beat a DUI case 99% of time, so all these DUI attorneys do is plead their clients guilty and collect big fat legal fees – they do absolutely no work whatsoever for these legal fees they extract from gullible clients. In a perfect world these shyster DUI lawyers should be banned from practicing law – collecting fees for doing nothing is not ethical, of course. But these lawyers get away with it, sadly. I think the fact that Paul Graves has aligned himself with Contra Costa’s top DUI attorneys speak volumes about his candidacy, clearly Graves is desperate for support – he will take it from anywhere – and obviously he will take campaign contributions from anybody, including these seedy DUI lawyers.
I myself am going to vote to keep our current DA, Diana Becton on the job, and so are my three daughters. Since taking over the DA’s job Diana Becton has worked hard to clean up the mess ex-disgraced DA Mark Peterson, and his top aid Paul Graves, made of our DA’s office. The things that went on in the past at the DA’s office, like men deputy DA’s getting into fist- fights, or deputies suing the county over promotions, or deputy DA’s trying to arrest each other – these things are now part of the past, the DA’s office is in good hands now – it’s in good hands because we have the very capable Diana Becton running it. We taxpayers deserve a drama free DA’s office – one that delivers just in a fair and humane way, and we are getting that now that Becton is in charge.

Pacman May 10, 2018 - 12:46 pm

So, just checking. Was it you or one of your three daughters that got convicted for DUI?

Only one question/comment here. What other candidate seems to have the support of law enforcement, the fire service, prosecutors, victim advocate groups, AND criminal defense attorneys? Perhaps if Paul Graves is receiving support from every element of the criminal justice system, he might somehow be the most deserving candidate.

I realize that we are all jaded by partisan “good vs. evil” politics. Here’s one instance where everyone with firsthand experience is agreeing on one thing, that Paul Graves deserves to be our next District Attorney.

Despite the latest media hype, this is frankly the easiest vote any of us will have to cast in this election, despite our affiliations and biases based upon party versus policy/principles. There’s one good guy respected by all and two other candidates with ZERO experience in the job at hand, exclusive of politics.

LA May 10, 2018 - 9:29 pm

These police labor unions backing Paul Graves for District Attorney have a pretty weak record when it comes to endorsements. Four years ago they told us Mark Peterson was the perfect guy to be our DA, they were saying that right up until Mark Peterson got arrested and carted away in hand-cuffs. Eight years ago the same police labor unions endorsed this ex-Judge turned DUI attorney for DA – Dan O’Malley – they told us O’Malley was the perfect guy to run the DA’s office. He ended up getting crushed when he ran for DA back in 2010. Both of these candidates were strongly recommended by these police labor unions. In fact, both of these candidates – O’Malley and Peterson – were complete turkeys. I recall when it was first learned that Peterson was embezzling money from his campaign accounts last year this DUI attorney Dan O’Malley told the East Bay Times that he believed “Mark Peterson was an honorable man”. That was pretty laughable. Peterson, as many know, didn’t just get prosecuted for embezzlement and perjury – he also was disbarred from the practice of law last year. Peterson, as has been reported, was raising money for a political campaign, even though he didn’t even have an opponent. After he gets the money from rich fat cats he turns around and uses the funds to buy expensive clothes, take his friends out to dinner, and he was also taking vacations with the money He’s an honorable man? Don’t think so.
One of the things I recall vividly last year when it became known that Peterson was an embezzler and a perjurer is that not a single law enforcement official called for Peterson resignation from the DA job. None of the police labor unions called for his resignation, nor did any of the police chiefs, nor did Sheriff David Livingston call for Peterson’s resignation either. While Sheriff Livingston declined to call for Peterson resignation, he actually went before the Board of Supervisors and tried to claim longtime Superior Court Judge Diana Becton, then being considered for an appointment to the vacant DA’s job, was “unfit” to be our DA because she forgot to include quotation marks on some written material she included in her application. I invite anybody reading this to stop and think about that. Our Sheriff, David Livingston, declined to call for the resignation of DA Mark Peterson after he was caught embezzling from his campaign accounts – and lying about it – he was completely silent on this felonious criminal act by Contra Costa’s elected DA, yet he get’s up before the Board of Supervisors and tries to claim Diana Becton – a 22 year veteran of the Superior Court – was somehow unfit for the DA’s job because of paperwork snafu.
I myself am a very strong supporter of law enforcement, that’s one of the reasons I and my family are paying a lot of attention to this race for the DA’s job. While I am a strong supporter of law enforcement, I am not going to be voting for Paul Graves, a key reason being that I don’t trust these police labor unions on endorsements – from what I can see these labor unions just aren’t doing their homework. They didn’t do their homework 8 years ago, or four years ago, and they are not doing their homework in this election cycle. Diana Becton is doing a fine job, she is cleaning up the mess Mark Peterson and his top aide Paul Graves made of the DA’s office, our county now has a first rate DA now, and I am proud to be supporting Diana Becton.

Ozzie May 10, 2018 - 1:33 pm

It is my understanding that Paul Graves was the head of the sexual crime unit when police officers were having sex with a minor or barely adult Celeste Guap. How is him not charging them creating public safety? In fact, this clearly disqualifies him from the job.

LA May 10, 2018 - 7:09 pm

You are spot on in your comments Ozzie. This disgraced former DA we had Mark Peterson, who was arrested and prosecuted for embezzlement last year (he has since been disbarred from the practice of law) – and his top aide at the DA’s office, Paul Graves, declined to prosecute these Contra Costa police officers who were trading favors for sex with an 18 year drug addicted prostitute. Peterson and Graves – who headed up the sex crime unit – claimed there just wasn’t enough evidence to go forward with a prosecution. lol. The DA in Alameda County – a women who is a national expert on human trafficking – filed charges against 9 officers who were passing around this 18 year old prostitute, which was absolutely the right thing to do. As I think you would agree Ozzie, we can’t have sworn police officers exploiting teenage girls on the job – I mean that was a real sorry chapter in the history of NorCal law enforcement. The reason Peterson and Graves declined to prosecute these officers was political, Peterson at that time was gearing up to run for re-election and he did not want to piss off these police labor unions, so all these CoCo county officers that were trading sex for favors with a hooker ended up getting a pass. Ozzie, as I think you would agree, our police officers, and our deputy district attorneys need to be above reproach – we pay these people generous salaries and provide them with good benefits – but we as a community demand that they act in an ethical manner, we demand that they be honest and that they not break the law. The handling of this Celeste Guap case by Peterson, and his top aide Paul Graves, is one of the reasons why I believe it’s imperative that Mark Peterson – and his top cronies, like Paul Graves- be swept out of power in the DA’s office. We need ethical honest people running the DA’s office, that’ why I and my family are backing Dianna Becton in this race. DA Becton is cleaning up the mess Peterson and Graves made of our DA’s office – she’s a breath of fresh air.

Jane May 11, 2018 - 9:33 am

I thought DA’s were only supposed to file cases that were based on solid evidence and could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Perhaps you are unaware that a judge threw out the case, saying the evidence was insufficient and did not show the officers knew the teen was a minor when they had sex.” The police officers were fired, as they should have been. Celeste Guap herself also dropped her lawsuits because the cases would not hold up in court due to that same lack of evidence. Interestingly, Celeste Guap has also spoken out about being exploited by her attorney – the same Pamela Price who is being supported by Soros and these outside PACs.

Belinda May 16, 2018 - 9:09 pm

Sure haven’t heard much about this creepy woman. Wasn’t she the one bragging how many cops she screwed? Didn’t she label herself a police “groupie?” She was “exploited?” Gimme a break!

Ozzie May 10, 2018 - 1:36 pm

It is my understanding that Paul Graves was the head of the sexual crime unit when police officers were having sex with a minor or barely adult Celeste Guap. How is him not charging them creating public safety? In fact, this clearly disqualifies him from the job.

LA May 11, 2018 - 12:34 am

Ozzie, you are spot on in your remarks. Mark Peterson and his top aid Paul Graves declined to prosecute these Contra Costa police officers who were trading favors for sex with a troubled drug addicted 18 year old prostitute. Peterson and Graves claimed there just wasn’t enough evidence. The DA in Alameda County filed charges against 9 officers. The women DA in Alameda county – who is a national legal expert on human trafficking – was just outraged that working cops would exploit an 18 year old prostitute.But at the Contra Costa DA’s office Peterson and Graves took a “boys will be boys approach” to the this horrific scandal dreaming up excuses why they couldn’t prosecute the CoCo County cops. As I remember it Peterson prosecuted a single retired cop, but he let off all these other cops who traded police related favors for sex due to the fact Peterson was gearing up for re-election. Peterson did not want to piss off the police labor unions – they were a big source for campaign contributions over the years. Last week I looked at Mark Peterson’s campaign money statements from a couple of years ago – I noticed Sheriff David Livingston donated 1650 dollars to Peterson – so some of this money Peterson embezzled from his campaign bank accounts – which Peterson used to take vacations and buy designer clothes and 300 dollar pairs of shoes – actually came from Sheriff Livingston. lol. Boy that Peterson had some chutzpah – he was actually ripping off the Sheriff! I don’t know about others but I am coming around to the point of view this David Livingston is just a complete block-head.

tommcmahon May 10, 2018 - 2:30 pm

I have just voted for Diana Becton to continue as our DA. I sense more hope for justice from her than anyone associated with disgraced Pererson’s office.

Tom McMahon
Richmond

elizabeth May 13, 2018 - 2:12 am

Who is Pererson? Never heard of that person!

tommcmahon May 10, 2018 - 2:30 pm

I have just voted for Diana Becton to continue as our DA. I sense more hope for justice from her than anyone associated with disgraced Pererson’s office.

Tom McMahon
Richmond

William Maherstein May 11, 2018 - 2:21 pm

Becton is a cultural Marxist and supported by FELON George Soros’ various political campaign funding cutouts. If you like Chicago’s murder rate, step up and vote for Becton, if not Graves is your ONLY choice

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