ORANGE–Today, Marine Corps Combat Veteran, Former Federal Prosecutor, and candidate for District Attorney, Pete Hardin, made the following statement after multiple lawsuits were filed in Orange County Superior Court today alleging Todd Spitzer protected the best man at his wedding and retaliated against his victims of sexual harassment:

“This is just one of countless scandals that have turned this administration into a sideshow, but ultimately Todd Spitzer’s covering up and retaliating against victims of egregious sexual harassment exposes him for the fraud that he is. He holds himself out as a champion for victims when the cameras are rolling, but behind closed doors he protected a pervert and retaliated against multiple female victims in his own office. This is not a man that is committed to safety, service, or justice, he’s just committed to shameless self-promotion. That has come at the expense of the health and safety of this community, and the well-being of the women and men of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.”

Current Orange County District Attorney Republican Todd Spitzer’s tenure has been defined by scandal. Four women in Spitzer’s office have filed claims asserting Spitzer promoted an employee and close friend despite having been made aware of the sexual harassment complaints against him. Spitzer later allowed the employee, who was the best man at his wedding, to retire with top flight benefits. Spitzer also attempted to drop sexual assault charges against high-profile defendants, leading a judge to remove him from the case. Survivors of the sexual assault survivors were “dragged through the mud” and “grossly mistreated” by Spitzer for two and a half years, leading two of them to abandon their case.

Spitzer has been involved in an evidence booking scandal, a jailhouse informant scandal, and has defamed a victim of OC’s deadliest mass shooting as retaliation for peaceful protest. Spitzer has also defended a DNA collection program known informally as “Spit and Acquit” that coerces defendants to give up their DNA to law enforcement, a practice the ACLU has called “unconstitutional.”

Pete Hardin is a former Judge Advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps, Deputy District Attorney, Special Assistant United States Attorney, and one of Southern California’s leading litigators running for Orange County District Attorney. Pete entered public service when, in 2005, he earned his commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. A combat veteran, Pete served in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012 as a member of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. Pete is a member of the Democratic Party.

Orange County’s rapidly changing electorate has led Democrats to now outnumber Republicans in Orange County holding a 4.1% voter registration advantage.