By CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro (as seen in FlashReport)
Yesterday’s bombshell report released by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalism website, entitled "How Democrats Fooled California's Redistricting Commission," systematically lays out the Democrats' manipulation of what should have been an open and transparent process, It also demonstrated exactly how the redistricting maps were corrupted by partisan activists working in cooperation with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Here's what the San Jose Mercury News reported about the redistricting scandal:
"California's congressional Democrats ran a secret effort earlier this year to manipulate the work of the independent citizen's panel that drew the state's new political districts, foiling the intent of reformers who sought to remove the redistricting process from the control of party bosses.
"Democrats met behind closed doors at the party's Washington, D.C. headquarters, hired consultants, drew their ideal districts and presented maps to the panel through proxies who never disclosed their party ties or "public interest" groups created specifically for the purpose. In many cases, the panel responded by doing just what the Democrats wanted."
The ProPublica report vindicates my repeated contention that the redistricting process was hijacked. That report, however, is just the tip of the iceberg and the problems were not limited to the Congressional maps.
If you’re a regular Flash Report reader, you know that I've been petitioning the Redistricting Commission from the very beginning to conduct itself with openness and fairness, just like California voters asked when they voted in favor of Prop 11 and 20. In March, I recommended that the commission hire bi-partisan line drawing experts and Voting Rights Act counsel to assist them with re-drawing legislative lines to avoid the commission being cast as a partisan one. Instead, they chose to ignore my advice and hired Q2 Data and Research, a firm widely known for its ties to Democrats.
I chronicled the commission proceedings with a Flash Report exclusive, "The Redistricting Commission – Worse Than I Could Possibly Imagine." If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, the road signs to Hell point directly to the partisanship showed by the DCCC and its Democrat operatives in California.
I called for Dr. Gabianno Aguirre to step down as his involvement compromised the commission's integrity because he failed to disclose his advisory role and donations to a group that presented to the so-called Citizens Commission and then ensured that corrupted lines were used. Those calls fell on deaf ears, and Dr. Aguirre was allowed to maintain his position on the Commission.
In the Sacramento Bee, I stated that the Citizens Redistricting Commission 'failed to consistently apply the criteria mandated by law when drawing the Assembly, Senate, congressional, and Board of Equalization maps. And so on. Thankfully, a well-respected investigative team has finally exposed the depths to which Democrats have gone to leverage a loaded outcome.
However, the corruption of the process went far beyond what was disclosed in the ProPublica investigation. No fair minded person can now say the process or the result was fair. I am calling for an immediate and thorough investigation, by Congressional and State authorities, to get to the bottom of this obviously corrupted process. Beyond that, the Congressional and Senate lines as drawn by the Commission should not be used in any way for the upcoming elections. Enough should be enough.
Source: CA GOP
