Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is personally on the hook for $25,000 after a judge ordered him to pay restitution to a whistleblower he retaliated against.
But Spitzer might’ve set up a new way to get the money – his campaign donors.
According to campaign finance disclosures, Spitzer opened up a legal defense fund in May and filed updated paperwork for it earlier this month.
That July filing came after the county lost its case against Tracy Miller, formerly the top female prosecutor in the district attorney’s office.
In that case, Miller claimed she was retaliated against after she helped other prosecutors report sexual harassment from the best man at Spitzer’s wedding, who Spitzer later put in a senior role.
While county taxpayers are on the hook for a $3 million payment, the judge also ordered Spitzer to pay $25,000 directly to Miller.
[Read: OC District Attorney’s Conduct Costs Taxpayers Millions In Court Loss]
Spitzer argued against that fine in court, telling the judge that while he was not “struggling to make ends meet,” that a $50,000 impact would be “a significant hit,” and called for it to be dropped to the $25,000 he was ultimately forced to pay.
“It’s going to change our life trajectory,” Spitzer said from the witness stand on June 5. “There’s a substantial chance I’ll have to work longer.”
Spitzer did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this article.
The opening of the fund has raised concerns across Orange County, including from Jon Fleischman, former director of the California Republican Party.
“If you go out and raise money from other people to pay the fine, then you’re kind of potentially evading justice, which would be very ironic for the person whose job it is to make sure the justice system is working properly,” Fleischman said in a Monday interview.
Under guidelines from the Fair Political Practices Commission, California’s top agency overseeing campaign finance, the funds can be used to pay attorneys fees and other legal fees.
“A candidate or officer may only raise funds under this regulation for defense against a civil or criminal proceeding,” reads the regulation, which also requires candidates to not hold onto any money not spent in their legal defense.
Fleischman noted that while these funds often get used in court over ballot statements and initiatives, the timing of Spitzer’s fund opening was “pretty awkward.”
“Opening it now seems to imply that he wants to raise money from donors to pay his court ordered fine,” Fleischman said.
While the legal defense fund has not yet disclosed any donations, Spitzer’s campaign account set up to run for reelection in 2028 has over $144,000 in donations as of the end of last year.
It’s unclear if Spitzer’s legal fund can take donations from other committees he has set up.
Spitzer’s new legal fund comes after former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu used campaign money to fund his defense in a federal case stemming from the Anaheim City Hall corruption probe.
Sidhu, who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges and was sentenced to two months in prison, used over $300,000 from campaign donors to fund his legal defense.
After that, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law banning any politician from using their campaign funds to defend themselves in a criminal trial.
Spitzer’s trial was in civil court.
It’s also unclear if Spitzer will face penalties from county leaders as another half a dozen retaliation cases are still working through the courts.
Those cases are from women who allege the same treatment as Miller.
Miller called on Orange County Supervisors to take action to reign in Spitzer after the judge ruled on her case.
“There’s lots of options they can take,” Miller said in an interview last month. “I think they should take as much action as they can.”
[Read: OC Supervisors Don’t Answer Calls For Action Against DA For Harassment of Female Prosecutors]
While county supervisors have yet to take any formal action against Spitzer, there are ongoing conversations about changing how his HR department functions or taking it completely out of his control.
[Read: OC District Attorney Could Lose Control of HR Department After Retaliating Against Whistleblowers]
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.