Report: Prosecutors Who Criticized Los Angeles DA Gascón Faced Demotions

Time is running out for George Soros-backed Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.

The embattled California DA has been accused of intentionally demoting top LA prosecutors for criticizing his liberal policies on crime. Three prosecutors have come forward to accuse Gascón of retaliating against them. (RELATED: George Soros Will Continue Bankrolling Leftist DAs Despite Decline in Public Safety)

Deputy district attorneys in the Major Crimes Division, John McKinney and John Lewin have accused the DA of issuing reassignments due to their public outcry against the DA’s soft-on-crime policies.

“The DA is reassigning me to retaliate against me for calling attention to the fact that he’s incompetent and not following the law in the state of California,” McKinney said. 

McKinney, who won a murder conviction against the man who killed rapper Nipsey Hussle in July, says the DA has no professional reason to make the change. The deputy DA has worked for 24 years in the district attorney’s office but was recently told he will be transferred to a small area office overseeing misdemeanor prosecutions.

In July, McKinney announced that if Gascón was recalled, he would run as a candidate to replace him. However, the recall effort didn’t gain enough support to successfully recall the DA.

“I am only a month and half away from having prosecuted one of the highest profile cases in our office in recent memory, and I’m being reassigned to a job of literally no consequence,” he said in reference to the Hussle murder case.

“GASCÓN HOPES NO ONE WILL HEAR FROM ME OR SEE ME WHEN HE TRIES TO POSITION HIMSELF FOR RE-ELECTION IN 2024,” MCKINNEY SAID. “HE HAS BEEN PLAYING POLITICS WITH PUBLIC SAFETY FOR TWO YEARS NOW. THIS ACT OF RETALIATION WILL NOT SILENCE ME.”

Lewin, who won a conviction last year against late real-estate scion Robert Durst for the murder of Susan Berman, was notified of his transfer to the Inglewood area office, which has a single felony courtroom. Exact details on the new position were not made available but Fox News reported the role is unlikely to involve trying cases.

Lustig, who has served the office for 33 years, led the failed recall effort against Gascón. Lustig will now serve the Major Narcotics Division in downtown Los Angeles, a lateral move that essentially ensures he will not receive any future promotions.

“It’s clear retaliation. I’ve been hurt professionally and economically, and it’s extremely stressful,” Lustig told Fox News Digital. “It’s taking me back to the position I held in 1994, my fifth year in the DA’s office.”

“They’re destroying morale, destroying operations of the office,” he railed. “They’re instilling fear in anyone who might have the courage to speak out against this DA and his policies.”

All three prosecutors supported the recall effort against Gascón.

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