George Soros-backed groups have spent $40 million to elect 75 progressive prosecutors over the last decade - meaning one in FIVE Americans now live in areas covered by his criminal justice reformers
- The 91-year-old billionaire philanthropist has for the last 30 years given away huge chunks of his fortune through his Open Society Foundations
- Soros's networks have worked to support left-leaning district attorneys across the country, pouring significant funds into the races
- Among the major recipients are the Los Angeles district attorney, George Gascon, and the Philadelphia DA, Larry Krasner
- Jason Johnson, president of the pro-police action group Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF), accused Soros in a new report of harming the country
- He said the DAs were working 'to quietly transform the criminal justice system for the worse, promoting dangerous policies and anti-police narratives'
George Soros has spent $40 million over the past decade to elect 75 progressive prosecutors, a new report has found - who are now being blamed for soaring crime in some of America's largest cities.
The 91-year-old billionaire philanthropist has supported the candidates through his Open Society Foundations - a network of NGOs and think tanks that promote left-leaning policies.
They include George Gascon, the controversial Los Angeles district attorney, who was given $4.7 million through the Soros-funded California Justice and Safety PAC for his election campaign in 2020, and is now facing attempts to recall him over a series of lenient prosecutorial decisions.
They also include Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia DA, whose campaign received $1.3 million through Soros-backed Color of Change and Pennsylvania Justice and Public Safety PAC.
The funding from Soros accounted for over 90 percent of his fundraising total in 2017.
George Soros, 91, is pictured on May 24 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He has funded, through his foundation, the election of 75 progressive prosecutors in the last decade
Krasner has since 2018 presided over a city which, in 2021, saw more shootings than any year in the city's history, and is on track to match the tally in 2022.
Critics blame his emphasis on not pursuing prosecutions for several types of offenses.
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Jason Johnson, a former deputy police commissioner in Baltimore, is president of the LELDF which published the report
'Soros is using that campaign money and the hundreds of millions more for supporting organizations to quietly transform the criminal justice system for the worse, promoting dangerous policies and anti-police narratives to advance his radical agenda,' said Jason Johnson, a former deputy commissioner of Baltimore police, and president of the pro-police action group Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF).
Johnson's group on Tuesday published a 17-page report entitled: 'Justice for sale: How George Soros put radical prosecutors in power'.
The report concludes that spending by Soros-backed groups has installed prosecutors now representing 72 million people, or one in five Americans.
Larry Krasner, the DA for Philadelphia (left), received $1.3 million through Soros-backed Color of Change and Pennsylvania Justice and Public Safety PAC, while George Gascon (right) received $4.7 million
The figure includes about half of America's 50 most populous cities and counties, where 40 percent of homicides occur.
The report's authors find that the injection of Soros-backed cash has tilted the scales in elections, to an abnormal level.
'Traditionally, elections for district attorney have been quiet affairs,' the authors write.
'Candidates spent very little on their campaigns, instead jockeying for local endorsements and burnishing their legal qualifications for the top job.
'That changed recently as millions of campaign dollars have flowed into these down ballot contests.
'The bulk of that lavish spending on advertising and consultants has been done by (or on behalf of) 'social justice' candidates.'
The report singles out Gascon and Krasner - two of the most high-profile progressive DAs in the country - as well as the newly-elected Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg.
Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA (left), was backed by Soros, as was Kim Foxx, DA for Cook County, Illinois (right)
Buta Biberaj was given $922,000 for her election campaign, to become the district attorney for Loudoun County, Virginia
Bragg, who took over from Cyrus Vance on January 1, is the first African American to be Manhattan DA, and has been condemned for his lax approach to prosecution.
On taking office, he instructed the assistant district attorneys to stop charging a variety of low-level crimes and to avoid seeking jail time for certain robberies, assaults, and gun-possession cases in which no other crimes were committed.
He said that prison time should be reserved only for the most serious offenses, such as murder and sexual assault.
Bragg's campaign was given $1.1 million from the New York Justice and Public Safety PAC, and Color of Change.
The report also notes that Kim Foxx, the Cook County, Illinois DA - representing Chicago - was handed $2 million for her campaign, through the Illinois Justice and Public Safety PAC.
Foxx has faced strong criticism for letting people accused of violent crimes out on electronic monitoring - a policy that Mayor Lori Lightfoot has attempted unsuccessfully to overrule.
In Loudoun County, Virginia, Soros backed Buta Biberaj with $922,000 through his New Virginia Majority and Virginia Justice and Public Safety PAC.
Biberaj is facing an attempt to recall her this summer, with opponents accusing her of 'letting criminals run rampant on the streets' - in particular, 'wife beaters and child abusers'.
'Most of these prosecutors pursue radical justice policies upon assuming office including eliminating bail, dismissing felony cases, and seeking lenient sentences while creating antagonistic relationships with their public safety partners, especially the police,' the authors state.
'Crime and violence surged following the election of many of these reform prosecutors.'
George Gascon's history of leniency
December - Gascon tried to have the two previous 'strikes' in the case of a mother accused of murdering her daughter removed. Akira Keyshell Smith, 36, is facing charges for murder, assault on a child, and torture in the death of Eternity Smith, four, who died in August 2020.
January - Hannah Tubbs, 26, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Palmdale, California, branch of Denny’s in 2014 when she was 17. Gascon said she should be tried as a juvenile - and Tubbs was caught on a recorded line in prison bragging about Gascon's lenient sentence. In February, he admitted it was too soft.
Hannah Tubbs is pictured in their November 2021 booking photo
February - Gascon admits that a policy he was elected on - a ban on life sentences in murder cases - was not always correct.
- Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has rescinded his support of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, joining a chorus of law enforcement officials and victims' advocates who have expressed concern over what they deem Gascón's soft-on-crime policies.
May - Dave Chapelle is attacked on stage by Isaiah Lee, 23, on May 3. Lee was booked for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, and Gascon decided not to prosecute Lee for a felony. They said that, while criminal conduct occurred, they believe it “did not constitute felony conduct” and was only a misdemeanor. Chapelle's attorney said he was 'upset' at Gascon's decision.
- A California parole panel recommended the release of Charles Manson's follower Patricia Krenwinkel for the first time. Krenwinkel, 74, was previously denied parole 14 times for the slayings of pregnant actor Sharon Tate and four other people in 1969. Yet, for the first time, Los Angeles County prosecutors weren’t at the parole hearing to object, under Gascon’s policy that prosecutors should not be involved in deciding whether prisoners are ready for release.
June - California Appeals Court rules that Gascon cannot order prosecutors to ignore the state's three-strikes law, that may increase prison terms when filing criminal charges.
