As California’s attorney general during the first Trump presidency, Xavier Becerra made headlines as a hero of the Democratic resistance, suing the Trump administration more than 120 times to defend key progressive policies, including the Affordable Care Act, the environment and immigrant and workers rights.
But as Becerra rises to the top of the Democratic field for governor, critics say that on some issues closer to home, he sided with powerful interest groups, including law enforcement and fossil fuel companies — and that on housing, he was as likely to use his power as attorney general to block development as to push for more.
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As attorney general, Becerra declined to investigate oil companies accused of misleading investors and the public on climate change. And perhaps most notably, Becerra’s office went to court to fight against the release of police misconduct records following California’s passage of a landmark transparency law — and once threatened journalists with criminal charges for possessing records his office had sent them.
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