June 23, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Social Justice Attorney Janani Ramachandran Challenged Rob Bonta to Recuse Himself from Issues Related to the Massive Special Interest Donations Flooding into His Spouse’s Campaign. Bonta Responded with Baseless Name Calling.
Oakland – After being asked by Janani Ramachandran to remove the obvious appearance of corruption surrounding his office’s work related to the special interest donations flooding his spouse’s campaign for state Assembly, Attorney General Rob Bonta has responded to the San Francisco Chronicle by saying he feels the request from an LGBTQ+ woman of color that he conduct the people’s business in an ethical fashion had “a tinge of sexism.”
Mia Bonta directly accepts contributions from gambling interests and the health insurance lobby for her campaign for the special election this Tuesday in the 18th Assembly District. The Attorney General can directly affect the outcome of an upcoming statewide ballot initiative expanding gambling in California, or one involving a future campaign for Medicare for All, through how he writes the important “Title and Summary” of the initiative necessary to adopt it.
“We asked the Attorney General to remove the appearance of corruption by recusing his office from the issues related to these special interest donations, or alternatively, we asked Mia Bonta to return the donations from these special interests. Mia Bonta was silent, and Rob Bonta responded with baseless name-calling. Both avoided the real issue, which is special interests trying to buy our elections so they can adopt destructive policies like the extension of sports betting and stop vitally needed life-saving reforms, like adopting Medicare for All,” said Ramachandran.
Ramachandran continued, “There is no sexism in having an LGBTQ+ AAPI woman like myself demanding Bonta behave ethically. There is an arrogance of power and obvious deflection tactics at work when he responds to our demand with baseless name-calling,” Ramachandran said.
Ramachandran never has and will never accept corporate donations.
Janani Ramachandran is running for state Assembly because she knows California doesn’t need just another corporate Democrat in Sacramento – we need a fearless advocate who isn’t bought by corporate interest groups and who will deliver real progressive change for Californians, including a living wage, Medicare for All, stronger protection for renters and a Green New Deal.
In recent weeks, her campaign has surged on the strength of powerful new endorsements from groups and leaders such as Congressman Ro Khanna, Our Revolution California, Wellstone Democratic Club, Oakland East Bay Democratic Club, Indivisible East Bay, Sunrise Movement Bay Area, ILWU, the East Bay Times and the Bay Area Reporter.