Wednesday 8 June 2022 02:49 AM George Soros's groups have spent $40 million to elect 75 progressive ... trends now
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.
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.
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.
