Todd Spitzer scares people

Steven Greenhut: Former Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, the Orange Republican who desperately wants to be Orange County’s next district attorney, has been in the news this week after he was fired by DA Tony Rackauckas for some allegedly inappropriate behavior in seeking out information for which he was not entitled. Spitzer has released his personnel files and is making the media rounds, as would be expected from a man who craves media attention. He won’t, however, waive his confidentiality agreement, which keeps the DA from telling his side of the story. How convenient.

One explanation, advanced by Spitzer, is that Rackauckas canned him to open the door to a bid for DA by his chief of staff. Susan Schroeder claims she probably isn’t running, but who knows? Spitzer had cut a deal with the DA not to run until 2014 in exchange for a job as a prosecutor and Rackauckas’ endorsement. That’s history now and Spitzer is doing what he does well — playing the martyr. That said, iIt wouldn’t surprise me if Rackauckas and the Schroeders (Susan’s husband, Mike, is a well-known and Machiavellian OC political operative) orchestrated something for political effect.

I don’t know what happened here, and the people I’ve talked to can only offer guesses. But this much is certain: The thought of a grand-standing tool of the law enforcement unions such as Spitzer becoming DA is scary to many people. Given his outrageous rhetoric as Assemblyman, his close alliance with the unions and his never-ending need for media attention — he even wore yellow firefighter boots and vest during the wildfires to look like he was a first responder! — it’s clear that many Orange County observers don’t want him to be the county’s top enforcer.

Watch Spitzer give a crazy demogogic speech on justice reform and then think about him as DA.

Here’s my column on Spitzer epitomizing what is wrong with Sacramento.

Here’s a blog about Spitzer’s union attachments.

And one about a bizarre case he prosecuted in OC.