Rob Bonta on Law Enforcement

Rob Bonta

Role at the time: Attorney general of California

Statement summary

Bonta condemns the deployment as federal overreach.

“a clear example of federal overreach”

Rob Bonta

Role at the time: Attorney General of California

Statement summary

Bonta says fear of courthouse arrests has led victims and witnesses to avoid testifying, jeopardizing criminal cases.

“We’ve seen serious criminal charges dropped and entire cases jeopardized because victims and witnesses are too scared to come to the courthouse to testify.”

Rob Bonta

Role at the time: California Attorney General; petitioner in Bonta v. Bianco and amicus curiae in Cervantes v. Bianco

Response to this claim

The Attorney General's constitutional and statutory supervisory authority over sheriffs includes the power to give binding directions about a criminal investigation, including to preserve seized items and pause the investigation, and Sheriff Bianco was required to comply.

“Election fraud can and should be investigated. But misuse of criminal investigative tools — without any evidence that a crime was committed — needlessly undermines trust in our elections system and in law enforcement. After the Sheriff took the extraordinary step of obtaining warrants to seize control over voted ballots, I made a modest request to him: pause your investigation, preserve all evidence, and provide the information needed for my office to review the allegations. Instead, Sheriff Bianco pressed forward with the seizure of hundreds of thousands of ballots. The Court has now made clear that this kind of defiance cannot stand, that the Attorney General has the authority to intervene when sheriffs take improper action, and that voted ballots belong in the custody of elections officials.”