Big News in Los Angeles City Council Politics

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca pulled his endorsement of Councilman Jack Weiss for city attorney Monday over a television commercial that he said showed a "reckless disregard for the truth."
  
The sheriff had previously endorsed both Weiss and attorney Carmen Trutanich.
  
Baca frequently backs candidates on both sides of the ticket, including the race between Mark Ridley-Thomas and Bernard Parks for county supervisor and a state Senate election.
  
The commercial in question, titled "Polluters," indicates that Trutanich has defended people accused of drunken driving, rape, owning assault weapons and polluting Southern California waters.
  
Trutanich has been in private practice since 1998. Before that, he was a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County.
  
"I can no longer remain silent about the reckless disregard for the truth that Jack Weiss has brought to this race," Baca said. "Mr. Weiss' latest television commercial is desperate and an insult to the principles of
the American legal system, our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
  
"Obviously, Mr. Weiss doesn't respect the truth or our justice system that guarantees a fair trial for everyone," Baca said. "The radical portrayal in his twisted commercial against Mr. Trutanich undermines public trust for the fairness and integrity required by our courts."
  
Ace Smith with the Weiss campaign said Baca was always in the Trutanich camp, and rejected the statement that the sheriff made his decision based on a television spot.
  
"We stand by every word of every one of those commercials. We'll meet the Trutanich campaign on any street and go over every word of those commercials," Smith said.
  
The two candidates were scheduled to debate tomorrow in a town hall-style forum, but that event was canceled after the Trutanich campaign announced he would no longer appear with Weiss in a public venue. The Weiss campaign offered to debate Baca instead.
  
"If Carmen Trutanich doesn't have the courage to defend his deplorable record on polluters and guns, we will meet Sheriff Baca at high noon," Smith said.
  
Weiss and Trutanich will face off in the May 19 election to replace termed-out City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.