In April, a public records request was filed with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Clerk of Records for all emails relating to “Pamela Price” from 2017-2021.

This summer, the DA’s office turned over 230 pages of emails which exposed a concerted and seemingly deliberate effort within the DA’s office to collude with police unions across California and take down Nancy O’Malley’s opponent in the 2018 election.

Numerous violations of civil, criminal and campaign finance laws were found, as well as a continuing pattern of misconduct by deputies and O’Malley’s top employees into the 2022 race.

“I was shocked,” said civil rights attorney Pamela Price, who is again running for District Attorney.

“During the 2018 campaign, we could only see the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “We knew they were colluding with the police associations, but It is shameful to see the extent of the misconduct and corruption in the DA’s office. At least one of these offenses is a felony. We all deserve better from people specifically hired to prosecute illegal activity. That is why I am running for DA. It is past time for change.”

After a review of the 230 pages of emails, the Sutton Law Firm, election and political law specialists, confirmed that the level of criminal activity by prosecutors was serious and warranted the filing of complaints with the Attorney General and the FPPC.

Some of the recurring violations constitute felonies and include:

• Using County email accounts to solicit campaign contributions to pay for “hit pieces” against Price in violation of California Government Code Sections 82031, 8314 and 54964 and Penal Code Section 424;
• Using County email accounts to spy and report on the Price campaign in violation of California Government Code Sections 8314 and 54964;
• Using County email accounts to solicit volunteers to support O’Malley in violation of California Penal Code Section 424 and Government Code Sections 8314 and 54964.

“When we were approached about looking at the emails, I expected to see a couple of people breaking the rules of conduct,” said James Sutton, the principal attorney at the Sutton Law Firm. “I never thought that the misconduct would be so widespread within the office.”

The Sutton firm has delivered a letter to both O’Malley and Attorney General Rob Bonta, urging the Attorney General to investigate the use of the DA’s office for partisan campaigning and fundraising purposes. The letter further calls on Bonta to begin immediate review of how police unions are coercing influence within the DA’s office. In addition, a second complaint has been submitted to the Fair Political Practices Commission for its investigation.

“No one is above the law, especially not the District Attorney. I am running for DA to clean up this type of corruption and prosecutorial misconduct,” said Price. “It is about creating an office free of politics as usual and conflicts of personal interest. We must restore public trust and accountability to the DA’s office.”

“It is vital that taxpayer driven services are not being used to bolster and promote political campaigns, particularly using office resources, time and staff to run a campaign,” said Cathy Leonard of the Coalition for Police Accountability.

“Last year, the Minnesota State Attorney (Keith Ellison) stepped in to take on the work of reviewing George Floyd’s death. This action was the linchpin that led to true accountability.  The public had simply lost faith in their local justice system,” stated Hon. Victor Aguilar of the San Leandro City Council.

The Oakland Post’s coverage of local news in Alameda County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.

Isabelle Price

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