Although Brooke Jenkins secured her spot as San Francisco’s District Attorney in the recent election, her role in the Chesa Boudin recall, and the payments she received from nonprofit organizations involved in the recall, continue to make headlines. According to The San Francisco Standard, Mary Jung, the described leader of the recall, confirmed for the first time that she connected DA Jenkins with the three nonprofits that paid her more than $170,000 even though the campaign against Boudin described her as a “volunteer”.
The head-turner in all of this is that Jung had initially denied her role in getting Jenkins the paid gigs. According to the article, Jung told The Standard “I provided a connection for District Attorney Jenkins to the nonprofits that she consulted for. The leadership of those organizations ultimately made the decision to bring her on as a consultant.” However, Jung continues to deny that she got Jenkins the jobs and also dismissed ethical concerns about the payments to Jenkins and compared the situation to that of the Republican-led controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s emails. “I think they’re like Hillary’s emails,” Jung told The Standard. “I think what happens is people find something – it doesn’t matter how tenuous it is – and they run with that.” However, Jenkins could find herself in legal jeopardy if she was indirectly paid to act as a spokesperson for the recall. Complaints were filed with the San Francisco Ethics Commission and California Fair Political Practices Commission, as well as retired judge Martha Goldin filing a complaint with the State Bar, accusing Jenkins of being dishonest.