Kamala Harris says she ‘worked very hard’ under former mayor Willie Brown… but new information about her time there reveals the truth
Kamala Harris was frequently absent for California Medical Assistance Commission meetings, even though she was appointed to the position by her boyfriend at the time and then-Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.
Harris and Brown dated for about a year when she was a 29 year old lawyer for the Alameda District Attorney’s office and he was the powerful speaker who ran for mayor of San Francisco at the age of 60.
Brown appointed Harris to the CMAC position in 1994, drawing some criticism for impropriety despite Brown’s willingness to publicly flaunt accusations of political patronage.
Harris had already served six months on the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, a job that paid $97,088 annually, but resigned to take the new position with CMAC.
It’s unclear why Harris missed so many meetings, as she took leave from her job as the Alameda County District Attorney’s office according to the Los Angeles Times.
Willie Brown and Kamala Harris at a dinner in April 1995
Harris was absent from more than 20 percent of the meetings according to a Daily Mail review of the committee minutes. On other occasions the minutes reveal that Harris arrived after commissioners started the meetings and already conducted some of their business.
Of the 111 CMAC meetings, Harris was absent from 23 of them, making her the most absent commissioner on the board.
The job required that board members meet twice a month, as it was not a full-time position. The Commission was responsible for negotiating contracts with hospitals to limit costs paid by government funded health care.
But it still paid Harris a great deal of money, $99,000 annually, according to a report from SF Weekly. All told, Harris made more than $400,000 over the five year period she was appointed by Brown to the state positions.
Kamala Harris faced questions about her relationship with Willie Brown and her performance in the jobs that Brown appointed her to when she ran for District Attorney of San Francisco
Willie Brown admitted that he had an impact on Kamala Harris’ political career
Harris was fiercely defensive of her role on the boards when she campaigned for District Attorney of San Francisco, insisting she did the work despite questions about whether she had earned the position that Brown had appointed her to.
‘Whether you agree or disagree with the system, I did the work,’ she told SF Weekly magazine in a 2003 profile of her career.
‘Well, I worked,’ Harris said to journalist Joan Walsh when asked about her positions in 2003 for San Francisco City Journal magazine.
‘I’ve worked my ass off for everything I have,’ she said.
Brown confirmed much later in his career that he appointed Harris to the positions, which helped boost her career.
‘Yes, I may have influenced her career by appointing her to two state commissions when I was Assembly speaker,’ he acknowledged in a San Francisco op-ed confirming their relationship to the San Francisco Chronicle in January 2019.
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Confused Trump struggles in ‘painful’ crypto interview and keeps trying to change topic
Donald Trump has spoken (Image: Getty)
Donald Trump has struggled in a ‘painful’ interview on cryptocurrency – and he kept trying to change the topic.
The former president has spoken about changing the ‘old’ financial system and moving to cryptocurrency during an X Spaces interview from Mar-A-Lago, just one day after a gunman was detained by police after attempted assassination.
Trump, who recently revealed ownership of over $1 million in cryptocurrency and earnings of $300,000 from sales of branded Bibles, spoke to social media influencer and entrepreneur Farokh Sarmad, who has 3m followers on his @goodlife Instagram page.
When asked why it’s so important for America to lead in crypto adoption, he replied: “It’s so important. It’s crypto. It’s AI. It’s so many other things. AI needs tremendous electrictiy capabilities beyond anything I ever heard.”
Trump pledged to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet” but found it hard to handle the concept, admitting he has to be taught by 18-year-old son Barron, who was supposed to speak but went missing.
“Barron knows so much about this,” said Trump. “Barron is a young guy. He’s got four wallets or something. I’m saying ‘explain this to me.’ He knows it so well. And Eric and Don. I have a lot of respect for them.”
When asked direct questions, Trump changed the topic to AI needing electricity or China. At one stage, he made a comparison between crypto and his granddaughter learning Chinese.
He said: “It’s sort of like a language. I have a beautiful granddaughter, Ivanka’s daughter, Arabella. She speaks perfect Chinese. Their other two children speak perfect Chinese. From a nanny who was from China.”
Trump slammed the Biden/Harris administration for being “extremely hostile” to crypto, despite initially claiming it was a scam himself.
“My attitude is if we don’t do it, China will. We have to be the biggest and best,” claimed Trump.
“The value of this whole thing is bigger than the top 20 corporations. The numbers are gigantic. It suffers from some credibility lapses.
“It’s very young and growing. If we don’t do it other countries will do it. We have the advantage because it’s me, I do believe in it.”
Barron trump has been helping his father (Image: Getty)
Responding to the interview, one critic said: “Trump doesn’t know a damn thing about crypto and it’s painfully obvious.”
“If this whole Trump space is just crypto grifting after a 2nd assassination attempt is absolutely sad and pathetic,” added another.
A third wrote: “Let’s be honest Trump doesn’t even know what crypto is or why he’s being asked to shill it.”
Trump’s stance on cryptocurrency has evolved since his presidency, when he initially dismissed it as a scam.
