Governor Newsom Abruptly Revokes State Aid He Offered to Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price

In a very public rebuke of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, Gov. Gavin Newsom abruptly withdrew the additional prosecutors he had offered Price, saying, “Your office has yet to make use of those resources.”

Perhaps it was a show of support, or perhaps it was a harsh message, in February, when Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a small army of state prosecutors to help prosecute cases for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s office. Newsom is clearly trying to burnish his image as a tough-on-crime governor in the East Bay. And who knows, maybe Newsom felt some sympathy for Price, who is facing recall, just as Newsom himself faced recall and had to call in favors to fend him off.

But whatever goodwill there may have been seems to have disappeared. Politico reported late Wednesday night that Newsom had decided to remove the state attorneys from Price’s office, and he said it in terms that were clearly unflattering to Price.

“Despite our outreach efforts, your office has yet to make use of these resources,” Ann Patterson, Newsom’s cabinet secretary, said in a letter to Price’s office, according to the Chronicle. “As a result, we have decided to transfer these resources to the attorney general’s office, where they will be used to work on state prosecutions originating in Alameda County.”

KTVU published a copy of the letter in its entirety at the bottom of its report on the matter. Price’s office did not respond to multiple media outlets seeking comment.

Supporters of Price’s recall will surely seize on it. The recall is largely funded by tech and real estate interests, according to Oaklandside, with some donors also supporting Chesa Boudin’s recall in SF. Price has argued that there may have been corruption in the funding and spending of the recall campaign, but so far she has been unable to make that case.

While recent reports have indicated that crime rates are down in Oakland, a new Chronicle investigation has revealed that the city’s statistics have overstated the crime decline. Meanwhile, violent crime incidents in Oakland have continued to dominate headlines.

The timing of the announcement may not be a coincidence. The KTVU report mentioned that Newsom would be in Oakland Thursday morning to announce “increased efforts to combat crime in the East Bay.” A clip of that Thursday morning appearance can be seen above, with Newsom saying, “We’re going to move the 42 Highway Patrol teams that they currently operate in Oakland, we’re going to quadruple that number. We’ll have 162 teams starting next week.”

Newsom was joined by Oakland’s new police chief, Floyd Mitchell, for the announcement. It should be noted that Mayor Sheng Thao was not present for the announcement, nor was District Attorney Pamela Price.

Related: Gov. Newsom Sends Wave of Prosecutors to Prosecute Crimes in Alameda County (SFist)

Images: (left) @BidenforPA by Twitter(Right) @AlamedaCountyDA by Twitter