WEBVTT - Former Associate Attorney General Tony West (Kamala Harris' Brother-in-Law) on Her Campaign 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:05.519 Podcasting on location at Onyx Art Gallery in Phoenix, Arizona. 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:07.880 I'd like to welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.799 where our mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:13.160 I am your host, Rams's Jah and c Ward and 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:17.919 I had the opportunity to sit down with the man 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.440 known as Tony West, who is an attorney, former government official, 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:25.040 and the senior Vice president and chief Legal Officer of UBER. 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.319 Before Uber, he was Associate Attorney General of the United 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:32.400 States under President Obama and General Council of PEPSI Code. 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.239 He previously served as the Assistant Attorney General of the 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:39.159 Civil Division, the largest litigating division in the Department of Justice, 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:44.600 and perhaps notably nowadays, he is Kamala Harris's brother in law. 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:47.239 You're going to love what he has to say about 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.720 the forthcoming Harris administration. So sit back, relax, and enjoy 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:53.760 this episode of Civic Cipher. 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.440 So here with my brother Tony West in Arizona as 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:04.240 we try to get our collective to get out and 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:08.720 be very very involved with this selection. Vote early, show 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.319 about the ballot and take someone with you. We got 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.360 to have a conversation last week with former Attorney General 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.039 Eric Holder and we were talking about access to the 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.600 ballot and the way that we've kind of seen a 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:27.040 weaponization of trying to deter us from exercising in one 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.600 of our most fundamental rights. Can you give us some 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.120 insight into how you're seeing that play out and some 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:34.400 things that we can do to protect ourselves in that space. 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:36.560 Well, it's good to be with you, Quentin. There's no 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:39.840 question that we've seen over the course of the last 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.560 few years, but particularly this year, concerted efforts to make 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:47.319 it more difficult for folks to vote, to access the 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.800 ballot box, and as you well know, the right to 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:54.080 vote unlocks all others, and so if people can attack 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:58.080 that right, then it becomes very difficult to defend and 0:01:58.120 --> 0:01:59.400 protect other rights. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:00.040 You. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.320 So what we've been trying to do is make sure 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:07.120 that we're pushing back on those efforts and reminding people 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:09.760 of the important right that they have to vote, and 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.160 that includes educating people about where they can vote, how 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:16.280 they can participate in early voting, how they can participate 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:17.120 in mail in voting. 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:23.240 So one of the things that we've been talking about, 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:28.360 particularly on the Black Information Network, we've been dealing with 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:34.480 some pushback from younger voters more often than not in 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:39.400 terms of supporting another Democratic administration when a lot of 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:42.240 folks feel that they've been overlooked or they've succumbed to 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.000 the messaging on the right. I'm sure you well know 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:48.000 some of the talking points that come from this relatively 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:52.120 small base voters, but important based voters, and it's important 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:56.560 that they become educated speak to some of the issues 0:02:57.080 --> 0:03:00.560 that you've encountered. People that might be has a in 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:05.480 terms of which way to cast their vote, or have 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.680 decided to vote in a way that historically is inconsistent 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:15.920 with what we would have imagined if they would vote. 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:20.040 Well, I really appreciate that question, you know. I think 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:24.800 it starts with understanding that Vice President Harris is actually 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:32.760 put forward a comprehensive opportunity economy agenda that is inclusive, 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:36.640 that has space in place for everyone that looks to 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:40.720 invest in expanding the middle class to make sure that 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.640 people simply you know, aren't getting by, but that they're 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.200 getting ahead. A plan that says, listen, we can grow 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.560 our economy by making sure we're including everyone's talents in 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.160 the mix. She's talked a lot about the importance of 0:03:55.200 --> 0:04:00.960 building intergenerational wealth about bringing down prices, every day prices 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:06.480 by making sure we're focused on excessive price gouging. She's 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:11.160 talked about the importance of affordable housing and the importance 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:15.080 of expanding affordable housing because that still is one of 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:17.359 the big problems that we face in this country, where 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:19.800 you know, cost housing is way way too high. So 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.400 she wants to work with industry to increase the supply 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:26.880 three million new units in her first term. And she's 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:34.320 talked really importantly about investing in and supporting small businesses 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:38.560 because when you look at our economy, the job engine 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:42.200 in our economy is not the big, big corporations, it's 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:47.400 the small businesses. Small businesses are what create jobs for 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:51.640 our economy. They also create wealth in our communities, and 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.760 so she wants to make sure she is supporting the 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.680 creation of small business with expanding the small business Creation 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.840 tax credit for five thousand dollars to fifty thousand dollars, 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.960 because the average cost of starting a new small business 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.680 in this country is forty thousand dollars. She wants to 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.919 make sure that she's making it easier for entrepreneurs and 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.680 founders to access capital. And one of the things she's 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:19.359 particularly focused on are black small businesses because we have 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:23.400 so many entrepreneurs in our community. So she's the only 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:27.560 presidential candidate in my memory who's ever come out with 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:32.640 a comprehensive opportunity agenda for black men speaking to the 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:37.239 unique challenges that black men face. So, whether it's talking 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:41.760 about more access to capital when it comes to starting 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.000 a small business in the form of forgivable loans, or 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.280 you're talking about a national health initiative that says we 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:52.799 need to invest in more research on diseases like prostate cancer, 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:57.040 like sickle cell, like diabetes, these are diseases that disproportionately 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.560 affect our community, or whether you're talking about, hey, look, 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:03.000 we need to make sure that we're investing in job 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.120 training and apprentice programs in two year colleges because a 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.600 four year college degree is great. We want to make 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.040 sure we certainly encourage folks to do that, but it's 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.760 not the only way people ought to be able to 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:18.720 access economic security and a solid middle class opportunity. And 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:22.479 so she's talked about all of these issues, but I'll 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:26.200 tell you one of the things that is incredibly important 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:31.960 is her position on capping the price of insulin at 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.320 thirty five dollars a month for seniors. She wants to 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.680 expand that to everybody. And the reason that's so significant is, again, 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.480 you know, diabetes is something that disproportionately affects our communities. 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:49.200 But she recognizes that the single biggest driver for indebtedness 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:53.240 and bankruptcy for so many families is medical debt. And 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:56.120 so she's talked about the importance of canceling medical debt. 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.960 She's talked about the importance of making sure medical debt 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:02.120 can't be held against you on your credit rating. So 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.320 because you know that affects so many other things, and 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:08.919 so she's she's got policy out there that's speaking directly 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:13.760 to our community and things that we feel in our 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:14.720 everyday lives. 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:17.119 So you touched on this a little bit. And before 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.760 we let you go, I just want some final messaging 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:25.640 with regards to either actual or imagined erosion amongst black 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.080 male voters. If there was a message that you wanted 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:31.560 to leave black men with in particular leading to this 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.040 election and during this early voting cycle, what would that 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:35.640 singular message be. 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:39.560 I think the singular message is that Vice President Kamala 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:43.560 Harris sees black men in all of the complexity and 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:48.720 beauty and challenge that exists in this country. She there's 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.400 a reason why she is put together an opportunity agenda 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:55.360 that is aimed specifically at the unique needs and challenges 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.280 that black men face. You know, there's a reason why 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:03.800 she believes that we can have an opportunity economy that 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:07.760 includes black men in that vision. She knows that black 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:13.480 men are a key, key part of America's story, and 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.880 as importantly, she knows that black men are an essential 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:19.960 part to our successful future as a country. And so 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.720 she has an economic agenda, she has policy that speaks 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:25.200 to that reality. 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.160 Another thing that's come up on both of our shows 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.800 is with respect to black men and younger black people. Again, 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:38.760 her history as a prosecutor, and there are some people 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:43.040 in our community who are still waiting for the George 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.360 Floyd Justice and Policing Act. Some people are waiting for 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.440 what they fill her unfulfilled promises. And you know, these 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.440 are the sorts of people that we talk to all 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.840 the time. We come from this group of people, speak 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:58.040 to some of the concerns that this base may have 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:04.560 about Kamala Harris's past and what a presidency under Kamala 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:05.920 Harris might look like. For them. 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:10.920 I'm so glad you asked about that. And by the way, 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.720 she was one of the most vocal supporters of the 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:18.760 George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, and she has championed 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:23.040 those police reform issues her entire career. But let me 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.280 let me back up and just give you a little 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.880 bit of context on the family. Her mother, my mother 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:33.240 in law. She was a civil rights activist in the 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:36.720 nineteen sixties. Mother Harris, who I called her, you know, 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:43.079 marched in civil rights marches in Berkeley, California, Andy in Oakland, California, 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:47.480 which was a hotbed of activism during the civil rights movement. 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:53.320 My wife, my Kamala's younger sister, Maya, my wife, became 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:57.079 a civil rights advocate and a civil rights lawyer. And 0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:58.480 a lot of people will look at that and say, yeah, 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:03.280 that makes sense. Civil rights mother, civil rights activist. As 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:08.640 a daughter, Kamala became a prosecutor. And sometimes people are like, well, wait, 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:12.480 how did that happen? And you have to understand that 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:17.000 her becoming a prosecutor was very much fueled by her 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.800 civil rights values. You see, what Kamala understood early on 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:25.960 is that when young people come in contact with that 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:28.760 criminal justice system. And she saw this a lot growing 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:32.440 up in Oakland. When folks come into contact with that 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:36.480 system and they're in court for the first time, the 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.400 most consequential person in that room is not the judge, 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.040 and it's not the criminal defense attorney. It's the prosecutor. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:47.559 Because the prosecutor decides how or whether that person will 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.080 be charged with the crime, and that charging decision in 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:55.240 and of itself can completely change someone's life. And so 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:58.400 she wanted to make sure that someone with that much 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:02.920 power had the perspective of having grown up in a 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:07.560 community with lots of often young men, young black men, 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.320 experiencing the criminal justice system in a very negative way, 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:14.880 and so she wanted to make sure that perspective was 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:18.520 at the table. And that's why, you know, as district attorney, 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.600 you saw that play out in the way that she 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:23.360 was district attorney. So, for instance, you know, we talk 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.160 about re entry and diversion programs a lot now they're 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.319 kind of commonplace. Well, the very first one was created 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.800 by District Attorney Kamala Harrison San Francisco. The very first 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.440 re entry and diversion program, she called it Back on Track, 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.480 and what it was was, Hey, look, if you were 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.439 arrested for a nonviolent crime, we were going to try 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:45.680 to figure out a way to divertue from the criminal 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.880 justice system entirely. But if you were incarcerated, we were 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:52.840 going to make sure that you were getting educational resources, 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.559 you were getting job training resources while you were incarcerated, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.760 and when you came out, because eighty five ninety percent 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.200 of these folks will come out and be returning citizens 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.680 to their community. There was job training, there was a 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.360 job they're waiting for you, so that you could have 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.480 something to come back to. And that was really important 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:16.240 because in California and in San Francisco, the recidivism rate 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.160 was over fifty percent, and when she put in place 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:23.640 this program, that recidivism rate dropped to below ten because 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:27.000 now people had not only a second chance, but they 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.199 had something meaningful in their lives. That was because for her, 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:35.840 and she has had a progressive policy agenda both as 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.680 district attorney and as California Attorney General that she has 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.600 practiced throughout her career. You know, a lot of people 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:45.880 don't realize that California was the first state to come 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.400 up with body camps. That's because of her support. You know, 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:52.800 when it came to police reform. You know that those 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:56.800 big issues were because she was a leading vocal voice 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:02.000 on a limited qualified immun unity and making sure that 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:06.280 we held police officers accountable for what they did in 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.240 the way that they carried out their duties. And so 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.200 in Kamala Harris, you have the original progressive prosecutor with 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.080 a very progressive record. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.720 A lot of us had a very prominent emotional response 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.400 to the misinformation that was put out to her when 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:25.880 she was running for president, and a lot of us 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.520 have had to very loudly and very publicly apologize for 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.200 not doing our research properly, not vetting the information that 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:36.400 we got, and now, you know, trying our best to 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.000 make sure that we educate people as a collective one 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:41.480 what her real record was as a prosecutor. 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:45.840 So thank you for that, and I want to make 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:49.320 sure that it stated that you know, we've sat on 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:53.600 this show in the past that you know, in re 0:13:53.720 --> 0:14:03.559 examining this this second run for the president by Kamala Harris, initially, 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:06.120 there was no way for her to change the systems 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:11.360 that she may have taken issue with unless she infiltrated 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.719 those systems in a manner of speaking, and created the 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:17.640 change from the inside. And so this is something that 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:21.000 until today we've only been able to speculate. And so 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.080 you adding this to our narrative on this show, not 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.120 only does it validate the episode where we did suggest 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:34.160 that that was likely her agenda after dial Hugley came 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:37.760 out and he had to make his statement, but also 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:41.040 everything that we've done since then, because again, our show 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:43.440 was born out of an activist element. A lot of 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.840 our early listeners and strongest supporters are people who are 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:53.760 cut from that cloth, and us having to digest a 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:59.560 presidency where the critical examination of the way policing has 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.960 done is in this country feels like it potentially could 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:06.680 be performative until as I mentioned, we take a closer look, 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:10.560 and so we appreciate you providing not only the clarity 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.960 but the credibility to our theories that goes a long 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.200 way on both of our shows, to be honest with you, 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:18.320 So I want to say thank you for that as well. 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:23.880 Former Associate Attorney General and his new title Vice President, 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.760 Harris's brother in law, our brother Tony West. Thank you 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:29.760 for your time and thank you for making some time 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:30.160 for us. 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.200 Thank you, Quinnon. But I've had that title for twenty 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.240 six years, so I think I've had that title before 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:36.120 I had most others. 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.920 So he's been working in this position for a long time. 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:40.640 Truly an expert. 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:40.840 In his field. 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:43.640 Thank you very much, man, God bless you.