OAKLAND — East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell’s attorneys threatened to sue Alameda County District Lawyer Pamela Value this week, claiming she defamed him whereas criticizing his choice to again her elimination from workplace.
Swalwell’s attorneys gave Value an ultimatum to both retract her statements or face a defamation lawsuit over an early-October Fb publish that, they are saying, included “false and scurrilous attacks” towards the congressman. Their demand was made in a letter dated Oct. 19 to the district legal professional, which the workplace of Swalwell, D-Castro Valley, made public Thursday.
The letter gave Value every week to supply paperwork supporting her statements, which questioned whether or not Swalwell had something to “hide” from his time as a prosecutor with the district legal professional’s workplace from 2006 to 2012. Not doing so, the letter claimed, would “confirm that there were no factual bases for this deliberate campaign of disparagement of a highly respected public official and former assistant district attorney.”
“Your non-response was deafening,” the letter stated, referencing an earlier request to retract the assertion.
In a press release, Value’s marketing campaign once more criticized Swalwell’s consideration on the recall effort that’s earlier than voters on Nov. 5.
“Our constituents would be better served if Congressman Swalwell focused less on trying to overturn the will of the voters and more on defending our democracy,” stated the assertion, which urged voters to not assist the recall.
The letter by Swalwell’s attorneys marked the newest salvo in an ongoing conflict between the 2 Democrats. They sparred on social media in Might, when Swalwell known as Value “soft” on crime and implored her to “Prosecute more. Tweet less.” Value responded by suggesting he solely began complaining about crime “when Alameda County residents historically elected the first Black woman as District Attorney.”
On Oct. 2, Swalwell held a press convention to endorse recalling Value in the course of the Nov. 5 election, saying the hassle “is about putting a prosecutor and accountability back into place so we all can be safe.”
Value responded later that day with a prolonged message on her private Fb account, claiming Swalwell had “declared his allegiance to the Alameda County Republican Party by joining the undemocratic efforts to overturn the November election.”
She particularly talked about an ongoing evaluation of 35 circumstances, which was spurred by the invention of notes detailing an alleged observe by Alameda County prosecutors to attempt to hold Jewish and Black residents off dying penalty juries. Whereas by no means instantly accusing him of collaborating in that alleged observe, Value’s publish questioned whether or not Swalwell’s assist for the recall was “an attempt to shield himself or his former colleagues from being implicated in these unethical practices?”
Of their letter made public Thursday, Swalwell’s attorneys stated they have been “surprised and shocked” that Value didn’t instantly rescind her statements after the congressman requested her accomplish that earlier this month.
They stated that Value’s assertion “raised the sinister implication that my client’s actions were motivated by a desire to ‘hide,’ something” in keeping with the letter. Swalwell’s attorneys additionally took challenge with different passages in Value’s publish, together with the district legal professional’s assertion that the “truth would reveal uncomfortable connections.”
Swalwell has since been joined by Value’s predecessor and his former boss, Nancy O’Malley, in supporting the recall. Their endorsements have been in stark distinction to statements by different longtime native Democrats — together with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley — who’ve known as such votes “undemocratic.”
Initially Revealed: October 24, 2024 at 9:28 p.m.
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