‘Behested’ Bonta Leverages Trump Assassination Attempt to Pass Lawmaker Personal Security Bill

The attempted assassination on the 45th President and current Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump is being leveraged to resurrect fresh interest in a bill to allow politicians to use unlimited campaign funds for their own security.

AB 2041 by Assemblywoman Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), “Provides that candidates and officeholders may use campaign funds to provide security services for themselves and their immediate family and staff, including the reasonable costs of installing and monitoring a home or office security system and of providing personal security,” according to bill analysis.

But Bonta’s original bill AB 37, vetoed last year, blamed Trump for all political violence:

“When Trump took office as President and spewed lie after lie about how the election was stolen, radicalized followers have taken it upon themselves to confront public officials, and even their family members, by any means necessary, often justifying the need for violence,” said Assemblymember Bonta.

In 2022, Bonta introduced the legislation for the 2023 session to pay for security for candidates, elected officials, their family, and staff.

“In response to the rising tide of political violence in California and the United States, Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 37 on the very first day of the 2023 legislative session to improve security for candidates, elected officials, their family, and staff.”

Bonta is using the assassination attempt on Presidential nominee Trump to bolster her bill, without providing a single example of an incident in which an elected officer or candidate was unable to use campaign funds to purchase a security system after receiving a threat.

“What we saw on Saturday was proof that political violence continues to plague our democracy and reaffirms to me that we urgently need to allow state candidates to invest in their safety and fund security for themselves, their families, and their staff,” Bonta said in a statement on Monday, KCRA reported.

“AB 2041 has had bipartisan support because people on both sides of the aisle recognize that we must prioritize safety in this charged political climate,” she said. “I’m proud to be spearheading this legislation, and I hope that we can come together at this moment to see it across the finish line for the safety of candidates across the state.”

The Globe spoke with a Senate Republican Staffer who requested anonymity, and had plenty to say about this blatant opportunism in the face of real tragedy:

“Leave it to the ‘Behested’ Bonta’s to try the leverage the Trump attempted assassination into support for their bill to get them, all their relatives and staff free home security systems on the campaign donors’ dime.”

Attorney General Rob Bonta and Assemblywomen Mia Bonta were exposed in 2022 in a behest racket with their own nonprofit, The Bonta California Progress Foundation, which CalMatters revealed contributed funds to the organization that employed Bonta’s wife at the time, “Literacy Lab, a nonprofit where Mialisa Bonta at the time was earning a six-figure salary as CEO.” And it was not an isolated incident according to CalMatters. Rob Bonta several other times “directed money to Mialisa Bonta’s employer.”

The actual “behesting” was far greater, CalMatters reported:

He’s also helped his wife’s organizations by asking donors to give them money, or facilitating her fundraising efforts. Between 2014 and 2016, state disclosures show, Bonta solicited $517,500 from donors including Google, PG&E and the owner of an Oakland cannabis dispensary to support his wife’s nonprofits. The bulk of it — $500,000 — was in the form of a grant from Google to Bring Me a Book, where Mialisa Bonta worked before joining Literacy Lab. The rest were smaller donations to Literacy Lab.

The conflict of interest and political ethical violations are big. “This should not be allowed, and the law should be amended to prohibit it,” said Bob Stern, who was the principal co-author of California’s Political Reform Act, the landmark 1974 law that amounts to the state’s tool for preventing corruption.

Mia Bonta’s new version of the personal security bill, AB 2041, introduced in February 2024, would not only repeal the current $5,000 cap on such expenses, it also repeals the requirement that the candidate or officeholder must have first received a threat, and limits such expenses to the officeholder’s home and office. 

Here is more of the bill analysis, verbatim, blaming Trump supporters for “the rising tide of political violence”:

Purported to be Intended to Protect Candidates & Elected Officials from “Radicalized Followers” of Trump: Ignoring violent BLM and ANTIFA activists, the author claims that President Trump is responsible for candidates and elections officials feeling unsafe as the potential for confrontations between angry voters and policy makers is arguably on the rise. This bill is intended to provide the resources necessary (campaign funds) for candidates and elected officials to purchase various types of security for their protection and the protection of their family members and staff.

And more, blaming Trump supporters for “the rising tide of political violence:”

The author states that AB 2041 is in response to the rising tide of political violence in California and in the United States. “As public servants, there is a lot we sacrifice to serve, this includes spending time with family and our privacy. However, the one thing we should never be willing or expected to give up is our sense of safety. Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in threats against public officials, especially women, and harassment against legislative staff who are serving the constituents who elected us to office. The political rhetoric across the country is becoming increasingly alarming, with lawmakers across the country from local school boards to congressional leaders constantly receiving threats. When Trump took office as President and spewed lie after lie about how the election was stolen, his radicalized followers took it upon themselves to confront public officials, and even their family members, by any means necessary, with the Big Lie justifying the violence. Political violence is never the answer. When reactionary elements fan the flames of violence, they are putting candidates and elected officials squarely in their sights. Holding public office is about serving your community, but we never signed up for violence, and our families and children must be protected.” 

“In addition to CHP, Senate and Assembly sergeants available full time to them, now the Bontas want to hire friends and family members for an entourage. How nice,” said the unnamed Senate Republican Staffer.