Labrador’s decision to drop charges against Brady is so brazen it will send a message | Opinion
Raúl Labrador’s electoral opponents warned us during the primary that if he was elected Idaho’s next attorney general, he would put partisan politics ahead of the law.
It took him only a few days in office to prove them right.
On Thursday, Labrador issued his first press release about a case the Office of the Attorney General was involved with. He would drop misdemeanor charges against political ally Sara Walton Brady, who was charged with trespassing for defying anti-COVID health measures in 2020.
There was only one reason for charges against Walton Brady to be dropped: She is a political ally and a rallying point for the far-right Republicans during the pandemic era in Idaho.
Despite rather silly assertions to the contrary in Labrador’s press release, the case was a slam dunk. Everything was on video — Meridian police officers bending over backward to try to resolve the matter without an arrest, and Walton Brady trespassing while insisting that she be arrested. No prosecutor ever had it so easy.
Labrador also claimed that too much time and money had been spent prosecuting the case, another laughable explanation. It is highly abnormal to drop charges simply because the defendant is contesting them vigorously. If all it takes to get the prosecutor to throw in the towel is to file a whole bunch of motions, then you’ve basically written an instruction book on avoiding a conviction. Most prosecutors want to secure convictions, so they avoid setting such a precedent.
Labrador also asserted that his office intended to prioritize serious crimes, not nonviolent misdemeanors like Brady’s. Strange, then, that this sweeping change of priorities resulted in the decision to drop charges against only one person and announce it in a press release.
The excuses for Labrador’s decision are so patently absurd that it’s best understood as a political message rather than a legal decision. On the one hand, it’s a symbolic victory that Labrador can hand his far-right base, many of whom view Walton Brady as a martyr. Second, it sends a clear signal to holdovers from former Attorney General Lawrence Wasden’s professional tenure: Things work differently now, so get on board or get out.
(The move came a day after Labrador announced that he had asked all holdovers to submit letters if they want to keep their jobs.)
The most well-known images of Walton Brady are those of her being arrested and those of her acting as a human campaign billboard for Labrador.
Meridian Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea understood the message Labrador’s action sent.
“Fortunately for the people of Idaho, our police officers are apolitical in carrying out their duties; unfortunately this can’t be said for the new Idaho attorney general,” he told Nicole Blanchard.
Here, Labrador is taking a play right out of former President Donald Trump’s book. The point of the exercise was to be brazen.
Wasden used to liken his job to that of an umpire, calling balls and strikes, taking guidance from Idaho statute. Labrador just called a pitch 8 feet wide of home plate a strike and then winked.
The message this sends is that criminal prosecution is now a political matter, and letting off Walton Brady is the best way to send this message, because it not only seems corrupt — it seems brazenly, shockingly corrupt.
It’s going to take awhile before it becomes clear how damaging it is to have an AG whose first loyalty is to his political faction and then to his party, with the state of Idaho being a distant third. It will be significant.
Anytime a decision is made to pursue, or not pursue, one of this latter class of crimes — crimes often committed by the same sort of folks who make big political donations — it will make sense to check campaign finance records.
- Whom did the accused donate to?
- Whom did they campaign for?
- What is their party affiliation, and how long have they had it?
These are matters that sadly will be relevant to criminal prosecution as long as Labrador is Idaho’s chief prosecutor.