CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - When former Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes slammed the "leftist billionaire" who created a bail risk assessment tool used to release the Waukesha massacre suspect Darrell Brooks, attorney David Safavian, who worked in the George W. Bush administration, took offense.
It also led to heated response.
“There's a certain segment of the population that reads Steve Cortes's tweets and think he's right all the time,” Safavian told Legal Newsline. “So, let's make sure that we're all talking about facts and data. We should be commenting on the issues but we should be doing so as individuals based on accurate information, not some morphed, mischaracterized caricature of what is reality.”
Safavian was responding to Cortes’ Dec. 11 tweet, which retweeted a Legal Newsline article about John Arnold and stated in six parts the following:
“A leftist billionaire spends lavishly to reduce or even eliminate bail. And no, this oligarch's name is not Soros...it's John Arnold. Did Arnold's methods help free the criminal who subsequently perpetrated the Waukesha Massacre? John Arnold is, in many ways, in fact, a 'mini Soros' -- as detailed by Investors Business Daily a few years ago... John Arnold funds a leftist group called Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research. What do they do? For starters, they promote the myth that America is guilty of 'systemic racism' as they spread a bail calculation tool that is used across America... John Arnold's group says the bail calculator is used by Milwaukee County, WI, where the defendant charged with the Waukesha Massacre was freed on only $1,000 bail despite a lengthy and violent rap sheet, including assault with a vehicle... Energy trader baron John Arnold's stated goal is to 'decarcerate' society, meaning reduce the prison population, and thereby 'promote racial justice.' His bail tools are also used in major PA counties, including Allegheny (Pittsburgh)... Mogul John Arnold spends tens of millions on a leftist wish-list promoting leniency toward criminals. But, like Soros, he does not live with the consequences Instead, working-class Americans suffer - everyday people who don't enjoy gated communities or private security.”
Arnold is a co-creator of the bail calculation tool that was used to release Brooks who, after leaving jail, allegedly drove a sports utility vehicle through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisc., killing six people, among them an 8-year-old boy.
Safavian, director of the American Conservative Union Foundation’s Nolan Center for Justice, said that the bail industry has a longstanding problem with risk assessment tools.
“Brooks scored just 1 point below the highest level in the risk assessment," Safavian tweeted. "He should've been detained. But the judge chose to ignore the risk level. He could've detained Brooks, but didnt. Blaming risk assessments makes no sense, unless you're being paid for this tweet, Steve. So, let me see if I have this right. You equate John Arnold w/ Soros? Obviously, you have no clue what either man stands for. You're just ignorantly hurling superficial talking points like rocks to look tough. Take time to learn before spouting off. It'll save you embarrassment.”
Safavian accused Cortes of tweeting for pay.
“I don't know why a guy who doesn't have any background in criminal justice can throw out factually dishonest or intellectually dishonest information and not call into question whether he's financially motivated,” Safavian said.
Dallas-based conservative activist Doug Deason also joined the Twitter conversation on Dec. 12:
“This is an uninformed comment on bail reform. @JohnArnoldFndtn may not be a big conservative but he has it right on bail unlike the leftists in NJ, CA, NYC & Harris County, TX. He can’t make a liberal judge follow the RA tool’s recommendation. @RightonCrime @Arnold_Ventures.”
Deason did not immediately respond to requests for comment but Safavian expounded on his credentials as a subject matter expert.
“I've been in the criminal justice policy space for seven years now,” he said. “I'm a lawyer. I have a master's of law. I have been an advocate at the American Conservative Union for this whole time. I have been to prison. I have been prosecuted. I've been pardoned. I've made policy in the White House. I was a Chief of Staff to a judiciary member on Capitol Hill, I was a federal law clerk for a federal judge and I worked as a police officer."
Regarding why he felt compelled to respond, Safavian added, “When we try to do conservative criminal justice reforms in the state capitols, it makes it harder to accomplish good policy when people are calling their representatives and their congressmen but they are not calling based on fact.”