Yesterday it was announced that California legislators have hired former Attorney General Eric Holder as outside counsel to “prepare to defend the state” against potential policy conflicts with the Trump administration, leaving many wondering why, if incoming attorney general Xavier Becerra is so qualified, there is a need to spend $25,000 a month for additional counsel?

And they’re not even spending $25,000 a month for an attorney with a stellar record. They’re spending $25,000 a month for a man who okayed the “brilliant” (sarcasm) and deadly Fast and Furious gun-running program, who was then held in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with an investigation, and who has an astounding LOSING record defending government policy before the Supreme Court.

Maybe business isn’t so brisk for Holder, and this is a pity hire?

It turns out that there’s a circle of paychecks surrounding this move. Holder is an attorney with the firm of Covington & Burling, a firm with major ties to the California Democratic Party:

Dan Shallman, a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office, is the brother of John Shallman, whose Southern California-based political consulting and advertising agency serves as the longtime consulting house for de León and several other California elected officials. It is paid a $10,000 a month retainer by the California Democratic Party.

Interestingly, the contract was signed by Dan Shallman. And the circle of paychecks leads back to de León’s family:

This summer, Shallman Communications hired de León’s daughter, Lluvia de Milagros Carrasco, a recent graduate of Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, to work as an account coordinator.

But are members of the Sacramento press attempting to hide the connection between de Leon’s daughter and Shallman? The above quote was referenced in the CAGOP’s Facebook post on January 4 at 10:30 a.m. which linked to a Sacramento Bee story, indicating that the information was in the story. By January 5 at 10:00 a.m., the story ended before referencing the $10,000 monthly retainer to Shallman and the Shallman connection back to the de Leon family:

The Sacramento Bee is part of the McClatchy Company, and the same story Taryn Luna authored appears on the McClatchy DC website, but with the same verbiage (the stuff that’s missing in the apparently updated Sacramento Bee story) quoted in the CAGOP Facebook post:

Hmm, odd.

It’s shameful that California taxpayers are being forced to pay for a pity job, to employ a man who would like nothing more than to take away their fundamental rights while enriching himself and the cronies who made his job possible.