George Gascon, the embattled Los Angeles District attorney, has transferred top prosecutors who claim they were demoted because they publicly criticized his soft-on crime policies. Fox News Digital learned that John McKinney was convicted of murdering Nipsey Hussle in August.
McKinney, John Lewin and Jason Lustig were both deputy district attorneys in Major Crimes Division. They learned Thursday that their positions would be relegated to lower-level posts in two weeks. However, their salaries will not change.
McKinney declared in July that Gascon would be recalled and that he would run for the position of candidate to succeed him. He also supported the effort to remove Gascon, which did not receive enough signatures.
McKinney stated that the DA was reassigning McKinney to retaliate against him for drawing attention to the fact he is incompetent, and not following California law.
McKinney, who spent 24 years in the office of the district attorney, was informed by a supervisor that he would be moving to a small office in the area responsible for misdemeanor cases.
McKinney’s current cases including the brutal stabbing death of Brianna Kupfer (University of California, Los Angeles) will be reassigned.
Lewin was convicted last year of murdering Susan Berman by Robert Durst, a late real-estate scion. He will now be transferred to Inglewood’s area office. It has one felony courtroom.
The new position will not involve any trial cases, although it is unclear exactly what it entails. Lewin declined to comment.
Lustig, who is 33 years old, was the one to spearhead the unsuccessful recall effort against Gascon. McKinney, Lewin, and Lustig supported it. The new position for the veteran prosecutor will be that of a trial deputy in Los Angeles’ Major Narcotics Division.
Lustig said that although his pay won’t change, the transfer effectively stymies any chance of a future promotion. It also increases his commute time from seven to thirty miles. McKinney, Lustig both described their new positions in the same way: blatant demotions.
Gascon’s office spokesperson said that the transfers were not demotions. Fox News Digital was informed by a spokesman that the office routinely handles personnel transfers. “This transfer list contained nearly 50 employees, including new DDA hires. During this process, no employees were fired.
