Republican Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison has used her power to target her opponents and protect her political allies.
There’s nothing more undemocratic than biased law enforcement. Only dictators use police and prosecutors to target their political opponents, which is exactly why a broad coalition of Seattleites — including the Seattle Times — consider Donald Trump a threat to democracy. Seattle demands fair, professional law enforcement.
Unfortunately, Republican City Attorney Ann Davison has used her three years in power to target her opponents and protect her political allies. Davison has strong ties to extremists: she formally joined the Republican Party less than a month after the January 6 insurrection and was active in the WalkAway campaign, whose founder was convicted of storming the Capitol. Davison has pursued a Trump-friendly agenda, attacking refugees and other oppressed communities while shielding political allies. Seattleites should deny her a second term next year.
The best illustration of Davison’s political bias is her treatment of Jonathan Choe. Choe, a former KOMO journalist fired for fawning coverage of the fascist Proud Boy movement, is an outspoken Davison supporter. He’s also been credibly accused of misdemeanor assault twice in a year; the exact type of crime Davison claims to prioritize. Both times, Davison refused to hold Choe accountable.
Choe’s first alleged victim was a Seattle Public Schools special education professional, who claimed to have suffered a concussion after being punched in the head by Choe. The educator provided photographic evidence of the assault’s aftermath and obtained a protection order against Choe. The police recommended that Davison charge Choe with assault. She never did.
Choe’s second alleged assault was even more serious. Choe was accused, by three witnesses, of repeatedly punching a refugee advocate before grabbing her by the hair. One investigating officer believed Choe had lied to police, but Davison did not prosecute.
Davison’s reluctance to pursue cases against Choe, her supporter, contrasts starkly with her willingness to pursue significantly weaker cases against her ideological opponents.
She prosecuted a Stop the Sweeps protestor accused of standing on an RV for 12 minutes with obstructing a public officer, punishable by 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine. A jury refused to convict. She also charged protestors advocating for vulnerable refugees with obstructing a public officer and criminal trespass, both of which are punishable by up to a year in jail. And she charged an anti-war protestor with property destruction—again punishable by a year in jail—for placing a single sticker on a McDonald’s sign. A judge refused to find probable cause.
All these prosecutions used taxpayer money to target Davison’s real or perceived political opponents. All these prosecutions wasted time and money that could have been used to confront genuine threats to public safety. All these prosecutions forced Seattleites to scramble for funds to pay legal fees, or even cash bail, to fight frivolous charges.
Davison hasn’t limited herself to biased prosecutions, though. She’s also attacked City officials and protected powerful corporations.
Davison’s primary target has been Judge Pooja Vaddadi. The City attorney began pursuing a vendetta against Judge Vaddadi, who was elected with support from 61% of Seattle voters, after Judge Vaddadi disqualified a city prosecutor on ethical grounds. A higher court upheld Judge Vaddadi’s ruling, but Davison’s office has continued to accuse Judge Vaddadi of misconduct – without providing supporting evidence – and has disqualified Judge Vaddadi from hearing any criminal cases. The ACLU is suing Davison for abusing her power.
But Davison’s refusals to use her power are just as troubling as her abuses. Unlike her predecessor, Pete Holmes, Davison has refused to protect Seattle residents by proactively suing polluters or prosecuting wage-stealing corporations — abandoning hundreds of millions of dollars in potential settlements as the City struggles with a massive budget deficit.
Davison’s approach to power mirrors Trump’s: protect your allies, no matter what they do, and crush your critics, no matter how unthreatening they may be.
Seattle can’t afford to waste resources pursuing Ann Davison’s political vendettas. To protect democracy nationwide, we must first replace our extremist, anti-democratic City Attorney with an even-handed professional. One challenger is already running to replace Davison, more will likely follow — hopefully attorneys with both civil and criminal experience. Seattle can’t afford four more years of unprofessional law enforcement.
Austin Field (Guest Contributor)
Austin Field is a public defender in Seattle. Before attending law school at the University of Washington, he was an Army infantry officer, a law firm operations manager, and a public defense investigator. The views expressed are his own.