RUTHFULLY YOURS

Axios reports Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is in the process of lobbying Gov. Gavin Newsom and those around him to represent California as its attorney general. The current AG, Xavier Becerra, is President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services. With Becerra probable to be confirmed by a majority Democratic Senate, Schiff sees a clear opening to a step possibly towards even higher offices..

Schiff has been a lead instigator of numerous destabilizing hoaxes and information operations during the Trump years, most notably Spygate and numerous lies related to constructing and protecting it. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has reportedly given her approval for Schiff to seek out the AG position.

Schiff was notably a primary Democratic leader in the Trump-Russia investigation. This is an opportunity that would well-position him to run for 87-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s, D-Calif., seat in 2024. Having gained much-televised fame from these proceedings, many suspect that his abject willingness to lie has pushed his career into an upward trajectory among Democrats in California.

While Schiff is a prominent House member who could emerge as Newsom’s clear pick, there are a few other candidates reportedly being considered. Ralph Bonta, a state assembly member since 2014, and Rick Chavez Zbur, director of LGBTQ advocacy group Equality California, are also in contention. Zbur previously was the president of the California League of Conservation voters board of directors from 2011 to 2017.

Newsom is facing intense pressure from California constituents and the public overall, given his perpetually shifting COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine rollout that has “been among the slowest vaccination rollouts in the country,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“The governor, the armor in his popularity, keeps taking a hit,” David McCuan, political science chair at Sonoma State University said. “There’s a lot riding on his appointment. It’s the political fortune of Gavin, as much as making history.”

It was reported by Politico that a Silicon Valley executive donated $100,000 as of Feb. 2 to advance the recall efforts for Newsom. Newsom has been seeking to make changes that will somehow swing his currently 31 percent approval rating. He selected former Secretary of State in California Alex Padilla to fill Vice President Kamala Harris’s recently vacated Senate seat. He also chose Assembly Member Shirley Weber to fill Padilla’s seat.