FR friend Chuck Poochigian, the Campaign Manager for Chuck Poochigian, the GOP nominee for Attorney General has released the following campaign strategy memorandum:
Over the past few days you might have seen a story about Jerry Brown’s refusal to stop sexual harassment in his Mayor’s office. This is an enormous scandal and was confirmed in detail recently by the emergence of one of the victims who came forward last week over concern that voters would overlook Jerry Brown’s failure of character. However, the media covered this story for only a single day, and Jerry Brown has refused to come forward to take responsibility or answer pointed questions about his tolerance of sexual harassment. Thus, our campaign has communicated each day with the political media to ensure that they realize that condoning sexual harassment in the workplace is unacceptable behavior, and Jerry Brown’s documented failure to act when requested confirms his lack of fitness to be California’s chief law officer.
Jacques Barzaghi was Jerry Brown’ closest aide, confidante and roommate over a period of some 32 years. He served as Brown’s principal adviser in the mayor’s office, carried a gun, and wielded enormous power. He also engaged in serial sexual harassment of women in the mayor’s office as reported in many news accounts and through the first hand observation and victimization of Ms. Nereyda Lopez-Bowden, the woman who publicly criticized Brown last week.
Ms. Lopez-Bowden took this courageous step knowing that Brown’s handlers, as Brown himself has done, would disparage her. She won a $50,000 judgment in a sexual harassment claim against Barzaghi a few years back but also believes that as many as 19 other women recounted tales of harassment and that seven employees quit, refusing to submit to this humiliating conduct. When Ms. Lopez-Bowden told Jerry Brown that Barzaghi threatened her with firing if she did not submit to his demands for sexual favors, Brown declined to act to stop Barzaghi.
Moreover, after the claim was resolved, Barzaghi received a slap on the wrist and was able to keep his highly-paid position for three more years. Thus, as the campaign comes down to the end, it is clear that Jerry Brown fails basic tests of character and integrity.
What can you do? Help get the message out. Jerry Brown has been in hiding for the last four days, refusing to account for his deplorable behavior. The man who claims he will be tough on crime is cowering from scrutiny in an undisclosed location.
You need to let your friends, colleagues and family members know – to spread the word – that before anyone votes, they need to understand that this fundamental contempt for women’s rights undergirds Jerry Brown’s candidacy.
As Ms. Lopez-Bowden so eloquently put it: "I believed it was imperative that I step forward so that Jerry Brown is not politically rewarded for his insulting conduct to me and the other women with whom I worked."