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Soros District Attorneys Make Our Cities Unsafe: Are They Also Making Elections Less Secure?

Key Findings

  • George Soros has spent $40 million to elect district attorneys he supports. These Soros-backed district attorneys now represent more than 70 million Americans—and for 15 million people, they are the only prosecutors authorized to charge election crimes.
  • Soros-backed district attorneys have a track record of failing to prosecute criminals, leading to rising crime rates across the country. They are now poised to treat election security the same way they have treated public safety.
  • This ideologically driven strategy can be deployed across the country. There are 22 states where local district attorneys are exclusively in charge of prosecuting election crimes, and they represent 145 million Americans.
  • Lawmakers should grant attorneys general concurrent prosecutorial authority over election crimes.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Soros-backed district attorneys are in charge of prosecuting election crimes for 70 million Americans and counting. Lawmakers need to grant attorneys general prosecutorial authority over election crimes to ensure that bad actors are held accountable and election laws are upheld.

Overview

George Soros, a billionaire hedge fund manager, has made headlines for large contributions to the Democratic Party and progressive causes.1 More quietly, he has been helping to elect politically motivated district attorneys to implement policies too extreme to pass a legislature.2

So far, the predictably awful results of this scheme have been most clearly seen in crime statistics. 2020 was one of the most violent years and the homicide rate in 2021 increased even more.3-4 Crime has gotten so bad that the issue became front and center in the 2022 midterm election.5 Even more concerning is what these district attorneys could mean for elections themselves.

Across the country, many of these district attorneys are the lone officials responsible for the prosecution of election crimes in their jurisdictions. Just as these Soros-backed district attorneys have declined to prosecute or went lenient on crimes against people and property, they could just as easily turn a blind eye to violations of election law. This would mean no accountability for lawbreakers and the election law changes that swept through nearly half the country since 2020 would be for naught.6

This plan, helping to elect progressive district attorneys that will not enforce laws they disagree with, has broad reach already, but could be deployed across the country. To combat Soros, states should grant their attorneys general concurrent authority to prosecute election crimes.

George Soros is actively helping to elect politically motivated district attorneys that can help implement his progressive policies

The position of district attorney has generally been thought of as nonpolitical, even when the elections are partisan.7 Both candidates were often long-time prosecutors who strived to ensure justice and their community’s safety. Soros has flipped this concept on its head. Rather than ensuring justice is served, these progressive district attorneys are conducting experiments into what happens when criminals face no accountability.

In recent years, Soros has backed district attorneys who have promised alternatives to incarceration, sought to abolish cash bail, pushed for full legalization of marijuana, and instructed prosecutors to reduce charges for armed robbery down to petty larceny.8-10 These changes go beyond the usual prosecutorial discretion and may not have the votes to pass the legislature.

These ideological district attorneys decide which cases deserve prosecution and how to prosecute in large swaths of the country. Not only does this affect the prosecution of violent crime, but these district attorneys also decide whether to prosecute election crimes. Soros-backed district attorneys represent more than 70 million Americans, more than a fifth of the entire country.11 In some states, attorneys general at least have oversight or dual prosecutorial authority and are making a difference.12 But for 15 million Americans, it is tough luck if election crimes happen and a Soros-backed district attorney decides to look the other way.13

Funding from Soros often represents a significant percentage of the campaign funds of these district attorneys and can lead to a conflict of interest. In total, Soros has spent at least $40 million to elect his chosen district attorneys.14 For some of these district attorneys, Soros funding represented at least 80 percent, and up to 90 percent, of their total campaign funding.15 When one financier represents this magnitude of funding, it is difficult to imagine that his ideology would not affect how these elected officials handle their duties. Are these district attorneys working for the citizens that elected them, or for the outside financer that made their campaigns possible?

Soros has failed to pass his radical reforms through the legislative process, so he has put district attorneys in a position to implement them with little to no accountability or oversight. This has led to predictably bad results.

These district attorneys have failed to prosecute violent criminals, and they are poised to treat election violations the same way

In 2022, there has been a rise in violent crime across the United States.16 But many cities and counties run by Soros-backed district attorneys have seen a disproportionally sharp increase in violent crime. Delaware County, Pennsylvania, saw a 127-percent increase in homicides once a Soros district attorney took over the top prosecutor job. Nearby Philadelphia had the highest murder rate of the 10 largest cities in the country.17 Cook County, Illinois, saw the largest spike in Chicago homicides in more than 30 years while the progressive district attorney backed by $2 million from Soros dropped charges against 30 percent of felony defendants.18 In Dallas County, Texas, after District Attorney John Creuzot decriminalized theft under $750, criminal trespass, and drug possession, crime increased 15 percent, while convictions dropped 30 percent.19

Soros-backed district attorneys in California witnessed crimes in their districts that would seem more at home in movies. Shocking videos emerged of organized flash mob robberies at places like San Francisco’s Union Square, Nordstrom, and Louis Vuitton.20-21 In Los Angeles, a flash mob ransacked a convenience store and the rest of the country got to learn what exactly rail theft entails.22-23

This is to be expected when prosecutors who promise no prosecution are elected. Parts of the nation can begin to look like a third-world country because people will always push boundaries when there are no consequences.

These Soros-backed district attorneys are now poised to treat election crimes the same way they have dealt with violent street crimes. Principally, by looking the other way and pretending there is no problem. Just as non-enforcement of criminal law has led to increased crime, it follows that non-enforcement of election law will lead to more violations of election law. When an individual sees somebody not following the rules without consequence, it is human nature to disregard the rules themselves. This can all lead to disillusionment about the entire election process.

This could not come at a worse time. Confidence in American elections already hit an all-time low just before the contentious 2020 presidential election.24 The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate is now sowing seeds of distrust before the 2024 presidential election.25 This distrust only grows when there are valid claims of voting irregularities without attempted prosecutions.

Representative democracies require that people can trust the election process and election results. At the end of any election, there should be no valid concerns raised about the outcome. The government cannot function when there is doubt that the elected officials were legally elected. The people cannot have faith that these officials were legally elected unless election crimes are prosecuted, and bad actors are held accountable. Soros’s quest to place ideological district attorneys in a position to be solely responsible for the prosecution of election crimes only adds to the mistrust.

This strategy could be deployed across the country, where politically driven district attorneys would have sole discretion to prosecute election crimes for 145 million Americans

If the 15 million Americans living under a Soros-backed district attorney with sole prosecutorial powers over election crimes represent a piece of the pie, the whole is much bigger. There are 22 states where an attorney general is not able to bring an election law complaint on their own and instead justice depends on the local district attorney.26 These 22 states represent a population of 145 million Americans.27 The rest of the country is truly ripe for Soros to install other politically driven district attorneys.

Funding the campaign of a district attorney is much cheaper than that of a presidential, senatorial, congressional, or gubernatorial candidate. Soros spent $40 million to help elect district attorneys that represent more than 70 million Americans.28 The most expensive Senate race was Georgia’s in 2020 with more than $500 million spent and the most expensive House race that cycle was a special election in California with more than $38 million spent.29 With the same amount of money as one House race, Soros was able to elect district attorneys representing more than a fifth of all Americans. Money really does go further in these races, which are arguably much more consequential for the day-to-day lives of Americans. With less money than a single Senate race, Soros could completely remake America and help ensure any election crimes are not prosecuted and the perpetrators are not held accountable.

Lawmakers should grant attorneys general authority to prosecute election crimes

To help protect against this undercover remake of America, states should grant their attorneys general clear statutory authority to prosecute election crimes and hold bad actors accountable. 

This approach would not only protect election integrity from ideologically driven district attorneys who choose to look the other way when election crimes occur, but also help assist well-meaning district attorneys that are understaffed and overworked or who lack the experience or expertise to pursue election crimes. 

Clear statutory authority also helps to limit issues with enforcement. A vague statute that allows attorneys general to supervise district attorneys or prosecute when in the best interest of the state welcomes review by the judiciary, whether by the trial or appellate court. Likewise, a statute requiring a request or permission from another government agent adds an additional step before people can be held accountable for election crimes. This makes it less likely that crimes are prosecuted and further weakens the public’s trust in the election process.

The importance of having clear statutory authority is seen in both Texas and Florida. Both states had attempts to prosecute election crimes thrown out by a court citing a lack of authority to prosecute.30-31 The Florida case may be overturned on appeal, but it shows how important it is to have clear statutory language authorizing the attorney general to prosecute violations of election law.

States should make sure their attorney general has the clearest level of statutory authority. It makes sense that a statewide office should have oversight over statewide elections. This would also prevent local, ideological district attorneys from unfairly swaying elections by refusing to prosecute election crimes. The people demand this kind of accountability and mistrust in election outcomes can lead to a breakdown in society and law and order. Allowing attorneys general to hold bad actors accountable and discourage any copycat criminals would go a long way to reversing this trend.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Soros-backed district attorneys are in charge of prosecuting election crimes for 70 million Americans and counting. Lawmakers need to grant attorneys general prosecutorial authority over election crimes to ensure that bad actors are held accountable and election laws are upheld.

Soros’s efforts to turn a largely nonpartisan position into an ideological one is in full swing. These progressive district attorneys have turned criminal law on its head, protecting the criminals and leaving the citizenry exposed. This has predictably led to an increase in crime and a feeling of unease for law-abiding citizens when in the streets of large cities.

In almost half the country, Soros is in position to do the same thing to election law. This cannot be allowed to happen when nearly half the country already expressed doubt about the outcome of the last presidential election.32

Many states have wisely passed election laws in the past two years to restore trust in the election process. These commonsense laws keep it easy to vote but harder to cheat. To support this work, and ensure the laws are followed, states should also use clear statutory language granting attorneys general the authority to prosecute election crimes.

REFERENCES

1 Elena Schneider, “Soros pours $125M into super PAC ahead of midterms,” Politico (2022), https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/28/soros-pours-125m-into-super-pac-ahead-of-midterms-00002847.  

2 Isabel Vincent, “How George Soros funded progressive ‘legal arsonist’ DAs behind US crime surge,” New York Post (2021), https://nypost.com/2021/12/16/how-george-soros-funded-progressive-das-behind-us-crime-surge/.

3 Josiah Bates, “2020 ends as one of America’s most violent years in decades,” Time (2020), https://time.com/5922082/2020-gun-violence-homicides-record-year/.

4 Josiah Bates, “Homicides continued to increase in 2021, according to the FBI’s flawed crime report,” Time (2021), https://time.com/6216504/fbi-crime-report-2021/.

5 Elena Schneider, “Midterm voters key in on crime,” Politico (2022), https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/05/midterm-voters-crime-guns-00060393.  

6 Victoria Marshall, “Thought the private takeover of government election offices was just for 2020? Think again,” The Federalist (2022), https://thefederalist.com/2022/11/03/thought-the-private-takeover-of-government-election-offices-was-just-for-2020-think-again/.

7 Paige St. John and Abby Vansickle, “Prosecutor elections now a front line in the justice wars,” The Marshall Project (2018), https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/05/23/prosecutor-elections-now-a-front-line-in-the-justice-wars.  

8 Seyma Bayram, “New DA Jody Owens promises reform, alternatives to incarceration,” Jackson Free Press (2020), https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2020/jan/03/new-da-jody-owens-promises-reform-alternatives-inc/.

9 Ramin Fatehi, “Legislative and office priorities,” Fatehi for Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney (2021), https://fatehinorfolk.com/priorities/.  

10 Larry Celona, et al., “Manhattan DA to stop seeking prison sentences in slew of criminal cases,” New York Post (2022), https://nypost.com/2022/01/04/manhattan-da-alvin-bragg-to-stop-seeking-prison-in-some-cases/.  

11 LELDF, “Justice for sale: How George Soros put radical prosecutors in power,” Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (2022), https://www.policedefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Justice_For_Sale_LELDF_report.pdf.

12 Jason S. Miyares, “Attorney General Miyares announces new election integrity unit,” Attorney General of Virginia (2022), https://www.oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/2452-september-9-2022-attorney-general-miyares-announces-new-election-integrity-unit.

13 Authors’ calculation based on analysis of election laws in all 50 states and district attorneys that received campaign funding from George Soros.

14 LELDF, “Justice for sale: How George Soros put radical prosecutors in power,” Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (2022), https://www.policedefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Justice_For_Sale_LELDF_report.pdf.

15 Ibid. 

16 Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, “Violent crime up across US, new study reveals,” New York Post (2022), https://nypost.com/2022/09/12/violent-crime-up-across-us-new-study/.

17 Parker Thayer, “Living room pundit’s guide to Soros District Attorneys,” Capital Research Center (2022), https://capitalresearch.org/article/living-room-pundits-guide-to-soros-district-attorneys/.

18 Ibid.  

19 Ibid.

20 CBS News Staff, “Update: Flash mob smash-and-grab robberies dampen holiday spirit in San Francisco,” CBS Bay Area (2021), https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/update-flash-mob-smash-and-grab-robberies-dampen-holiday-spirit-in-san-francisco/.  

21 Emma Colton, “Back-to-back flash mob lootings in San Francisco area alarming experts,” Fox News (2021), https://www.foxnews.com/us/repeated-organized-flash-mob-robberies-san-francisco-security-experts.

22 KKTV News Staff, “Watch: Flash mob looters ransack convenience store, block off street,” KKTV (2022), https://www.kktv.com/2022/08/21/watch-flash-mob-looters-ransack-convenience-store-block-off-street/.

23 Rachel Uranga, “‘Like a Third World country’: Gov. Newsom decries rail thefts amid push to beef up enforcement,” Los Angeles Times (2022), https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-20/los-angeles-rail-theft-supply-chain-crunch-limited-security.

24 Justin McCarthy, “Confidence in accuracy of U.S. election matches record low,” Gallup (2020), https://news.gallup.com/poll/321665/confidence-accuracy-election-matches-record-low.aspx.

25 Oliver O’Connell, Hillary Clinton warns ‘right-wing extremists’ planning to ‘literally steal’ 2024 presidential election,” Yahoo! News (2022), https://news.yahoo.com/hillary-clinton-warns-wing-extremists-155319796.html.

26 Authors’ calculation based on analysis of election laws in all 50 states.

27 Authors’ calculation based on analysis of election laws in all 50 states and district attorneys that received campaign funding from George Soros.

28 LELDF, “Justice for sale: How George Soros put radical prosecutors in power,” Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (2022), https://www.policedefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Justice_For_Sale_LELDF_report.pdf.

29 Open Secrets, “Most expensive races,” Open Secrets (2020), https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/most-expensive-races?senatespentcycle=2022&display=currcandsout&housespentcycle=2020.

30 Alejandro Serrano, “Texas court confirms the attorney general can’t unilaterally prosecute election cases,” Texas Tribune (2022), https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/28/attorney-general-ken-paxton-voter-fraud/.

31 Lawrence Mower, “DeSantis voter fraud arrest rejected by Miami judge,” Tampa Bay Times (2022), https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/10/21/desantis-voter-fraud-arrest-rejected-by-miami-judge/.

32 Brianna Richardson, “Axios|Momentive Poll: January 6th revisited,” Survey Monkey (2022), https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/axios-january-6-revisited/.

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