“How did Gascón end up launching a criminal probe sparked by far-right election conspiracy theories?”

LA Times:

In the months following the Pit event, Gascón became an extraordinarily unlikely backer of some True the Vote claims, echoing in an Oct. 14 news conference the group’s allegations that Konnech stored poll worker data overseas. Ultimately, he charged Konnech Chief Executive Eugene Yu with embezzlement of public funds, alleging that Yu violated a portion of Konnech’s contract that required L.A. County poll worker data to be stored only in the United States.

When he announced Yu’s arrest, Gascón offered scant details and accused him of storing the Social Security numbers and home addresses of poll workers on Chinese servers. He didn’t say what crime had been committed, who had been harmed or why the head of a 21-employee company would send election-related data overseas.

Gascón sought to hold the 65-year-old without bail in Los Angeles, more than 2,000 miles away from his home, but a judge later granted house arrest. Death threats were made against Yu and his family, according to court records, and several counties ended their contracts with Konnech because of the charges.

All of it was seemingly for nothing. On Nov. 9 — the day before prosecutors would have to fight off a motion to dismiss all charges against Yu — Gascón quietly dropped the case, saying in a statement that his office needed months to properly review all available data linked to Konnech. It was the day after the midterm elections.

Litigants who have claimed Trump was robbed of the presidency in 2020 through widespread fraud have been routinely defeated in court over the last two years. But Gascón’s decision to launch a criminal probe based on True the Vote’s allegations, along with the failure of his office to articulate what Yu actually did wrong, created a vacuum easily filled by disinformation.

Share this: