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As RedState reported on Sunday, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta decided that, as chair of Budget Subcommittee 5, she would recuse herself from matters involving her husband, AG Rob Bonta, and his Department of Justice. Bonta had been questioned repeatedly by KCRA News reporter Ashley Zavala on whether she would do so in order to avoid the appearance, as well as the potential, of ethical violations.

Bonta’s statement read:

I’m proud to represent my constituents and all Californians on Budget Subcommittee 5 as my district is amongst the highest impacted by gun violence and the carceral system, public safety and justice are top priorities for me, and the Speaker appointed me to be a voice for the victims and communities affected.

Who knows why corruptocrat Speaker Anthony Rendon really appointed her, but it certainly had little to do with public safety and justice. Mr. Bonta’s background has nothing to do with law enforcement, but is steeped in education and public policy, as the U.K. Sun reports:

Mia has spent the majority of her professional career in public service, namely the department of education.

She has served as the city director of LEAP (Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership) and was the CEO of Breakthrough Collaborative, an organization that helps underprivileged kids with better education opportunities.

Mia founded the Literacy Lab in 2014 to help disadvantaged children access learning resources. She remains the CEO of the Oakland-based organization to date.

So, with 79 other Assembly members with more budget and finance, law enforcement, and public safety experience, Rendon could have made a better choice and one that did not strain credulity in terms of ethical malfeasance.

While it has been made abundantly clear that there is no legal or ethical conflict in my serving as Chair of Budget Subcommittee 5 as requested by the Speaker, I believe as legislators we have an obligation to ensure the people of California have absolute confidence in the legislative process. I will recuse myself from Budget Subcommittee 5 matters directly pertaining to the Department of Justice including budget change proposals, proposed trailer bills, and legislative budget proposals that pertain to the DOJ to ensure that the body may focus on the important work before us.

A good chunk of this committee’s job is that DOJ budget, and the whole public safety and criminal justice influence is supposedly why Bonta was appointed. Bonta has essentially said with this recusal, that she will be dead weight. So much for being able to focus on the “important work.”

I’d like to thank my colleagues in the Assembly and the Legislature as well as my district for the outpouring of support these few days, and I look forward to continuing my service on behalf of Californians.

Bonta does love to play the martyr and has been doing just that since she received pushback on this appointment, even from California’s Homegrown team. Those blind squirrels are finding some nuts these days.

The Sacramento Bee called out both Bontas for coloring outside the ethics lines in the past, and with this current appointment.

While Rob Bonta was an Assemblymember, he made donations to his wife’s foundation that, while not illegal, raised ethical questions. Now Mia Bonta is the one skirting to the edge of proper, ethical practice.

Sacramento’s NBC affiliate KCRA broke the news about Mia Bonta’s appointment and Rendon’s defense of it. The Assembly speaker said he sees no issue.

“I believe Ms. Bonta will continue to be independent and unbiased in her legislative judgment, as she has been since starting her service in the Assembly,” Rendon said in a statement. The Assembly has a “robust and transparent budget process, designed with checks and balances to ensure the best possible budget is passed.”

The attorney general deferred any comment on the matter to the Assembly.

Maybe nothing unethical is happening between the Bontas, but the standard we hold our government to is not merely the absence of unethical behavior, it’s also avoiding the appearance of it, and right now, the Bontas are in a prime position for bias to creep in.

The attorney general and the speaker have clearly ceded responsibility, so It is up to Mia Bonta to make it right: She must immediately step down from the subcommittee.

Even the Los Angeles Times wasn’t pleased with Bonta’s cavalier attitude:

Bonta is not chagrined by the arrangement either. She said she was happy to accept the appointment and suggested the question is sexist. In a statement provided to The Times’ editorial board, Bonta said: “There certainly are many examples in our legislative history where policy and budget chairs had spouses serving in another branch of government. Yet, I wonder if the reason I am being asked these questions is because I am a female legislator.”

More gaslighting! Since the speaker and Bonta fail to see the conflict, we will spell it out clearly: Having Bonta chair the budget subcommittee that is responsible for proposing and overseeing the funding of her spouse’s agency is inappropriate because it can create the perception of preferential treatment. There’s a big distinction between a legislator having a spouse serving in another branch of government and the Bonta-Bonta arrangement in which one family member has direct power to benefit the office of another family member.

And even less enamored by her claims of misogyny and sexism. Whut?!

But Mia Bonta’s defense of her situation was an obvious deflection of the topic. “Almost within my lifetime there would have been the ‘appearance of impropriety’ for me to marry my husband of a different racial background,” she wrote. “I’m certain a woman voting ‘appeared improper’ as well in our recent history.” What? The Bontas comparing their current situation, which is entirely self-made, to historically institutional racism and misogyny is not only an obvious diversion, it’s a blatant insult to the many people who have suffered — and continue to endure — under those rampant prejudices.

What does either have to do with the price of sliced bread? Since when did ethics have a color or a sexual orientation? Thanks to the cry-wolf attitude of people like Mia Bonta, they have rendered real claims of sexism or racism null and void. No one is buying it, least of all in this situation.

L.A. Times revealed a potential reason behind Bonta wanting to polish her resume with a plum committee assignment and toeing the line of ethical considerations. The retirement of Sen. Dianne Feinstein has put three congressional seats in play. West Hollywood District 30 Rep. Adam Schiff and Orange County Coast District 47 Rep. Katie Porter have already declared their candidacies. Oakland District 12 Rep. Barbara Lee is also alleged to make a run for the seat, leaving her congressional chair open for Bonta to fill.

This is the Democrat way: it’s never about the actual citizens or their concerns. Bonta makes a big deal about being “a voice for the victims and communities,” when all she is doing is positioning herself for the next political stepping stone.