Even though Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has been tapped as former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate, there was a point in time when she was gunning to be the leader of the free world. She continually portrayed herself as this "progressive prosecutor," but her record was frequently called into question. One of the most problematic aspects of Harris' record was her prosecuting parents for their child's truancies, locking people up for marijuana use despite her use of the drug and being in opposition to reforming the cash bail system.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) called that "tough on crime" image into question during the Democratic debates last fall. It was those questions that eventually caused Harris' campaign to flop.
"Senator Harris says she's proud of her record as a prosecutor and she'll be a prosecutor president but I'm deeply concerned about this record. There are too many examples to cite but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana," Gabbard explained.
Later that night, Gabbard hit Harris for wanting the cash bail system to stay in place despite Democrats working to get rid of it.
"She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her do so," the congresswoman explained. "She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the State of California. And she fought to keep the cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way."
"There is no excuse for that and the people who suffered under your reign as prosecutor, you owe them an apology," Gabbard said.
FLASHBACK: Rep. @TulsiGabbard hammered Joe Biden’s now-VP pick, Kamala Harris, on her record as a prosecutor.pic.twitter.com/7eZE6v6ZHW
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 11, 2020
The case Gabbard was referring to was a murder case from the 1980s (via The Sacramento Bee):
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In February, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered new DNA testing in the 1983 murder case of Kevin Cooper. Cooper came within hours of execution in 2004 after being charged with the murders of an adult couple and two children. Harris opposed the testing when she was the state’s attorney general.
She has since said she supports DNA testing and encouraged Newsom to approve Cooper’s request. She did not offer specifics on why she did not approve the testing during her tenure.
In response to a request for comment, Harris’s campaign pointed to a past statement where the senator called a New York Times columnist last year, telling him, “I feel awful about this.”
It doesn't look so good when the "progressive prosecutor" is actively working against the very policies the Democrats are trying to run with, does it?
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