Politics and the D.A.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas came into office with a reputation as a good judge, promising to institute such reforms as an end to his predecessor’s ban on plea bargaining. But now, two years on the job, he seems to be walking a fine line between the obligations of office and his political connections and alliances. For Orange County residents who look to their district attorney to enforce the law, the question as to whether Rackauckas has been too involved in politics is bound to arise.

Rackauckas said early on that his tenure wouldn’t see petty political prosecutions. On the face of it, that seemed to mean he would avoid having the time and energies of his staff consumed with investigating small political grievances that might distract from meaningful criminal and civil probes. But would it also mean that he would maintain political alliances while doing his law enforcement work?

Recently, such an alliance led Rackauckas to call in state prosecutors on an investigation of whether officials in his office’s organized-crime division stole evidence. The case involves a Rackauckas political associate who complained to the district attorney that he had been a victim of extortion. Patrick DiCarlo, a campaign contributor, also had hosted a Rackauckas fund-raiser during the last campaign.

Rackauckas later had to defend against complaints in his own office that his subsequent removal of investigators from the case arose from his protection of a friend. He did the right thing in calling in outside investigators to look into his discovery that evidence in the case was made public. Separately, his own prosecutors also asked the state attorney general to investigate him for possible obstruction of justice. Rackauckas says he has done nothing wrong, but what a confusing situation.

Rackauckas now says he wants to step up the DiCarlo extortion probe, and that he wouldn’t let personal or political relations affect how he handles a case. But even with the appeal outside for investigative help, the district attorney was in a position in which the question of a conflict of interest was raised and had to be answered.

Then there’s the announcement by the district attorney last week that he was removing himself from a large consumer protection investigation involving a key campaign contributor, Republican Party donor George Argyros. Again, Rackauckas was right to step aside, but again he had to explain and defend his actions in a case involving a campaign donor.

If there were a single gust of politics that blew through the district attorney’s office, that would be one thing. Rackauckas, however, has done little to dispel the perception that he is a political operative. He was so open about his politics that he joined the band of Orange County Republicans heading off to the Republican National Convention last summer.

Shortly after he took office, 10 of the 12 promotions he handed out went to staff members who contributed money to his election campaign. He said at the time that it was about merit, not paying to be a player.

While he surely was entitled to pick his own people, it sent a message of favoritism in-house based on campaign alliances, even with the inevitable grumbling over a new leader’s prerogatives.

Rackauckas also needs to be careful about his practice of making endorsements of local city council candidates, which is highly unusual for Orange County district attorneys.

We recognize that the district attorney exists in a political world. However, given the nature of the jurisdiction, it potentially is easy for a district attorney to be put in a situation in which he may have to remove himself from the investigation of a local official. There may be any number of instances in which a district attorney would need to come into a case involving municipal officials or in cases involving campaigns.

On all the questions of appearances, it is important to remember that the pond of Orange County politics is not that large. A district attorney doesn’t want to be in a position in which he has to call in state officials routinely to handle matters that should be investigated locally. That could put his staff in a difficult position as well. Such questions can keep coming up.

Surely, the best way to resolve such problems is to avoid them in the first place. That means working to have a district attorney’s office that keeps politics at arm’s length.