Kamala Harris

This year, I'm pleased to say the legislature has taken this on, and they're helping us with our continuing advocacy for more resources.

As you know, California recently underwent a shift in criminal justice policy, where we realigned state responsibilities for low-level offenders to the counties, because a three-judge court panel decided that we rightly had decided that we…

We have a lot of old laws on the books. In fact, the Government Code nor California refers to the attorney general as 'he' in most sections where it talks about her authority.

That's correct; exactly right.

No, the court -- the court returned it for it to be retried. And so it would be retried.

The environment is different this time, and I'm actually pleased to tell you that the speaker of the assembly, John Perez, and others have engaged in a bipartisan approach to fixing this.

So we certainly have arcane laws on the books, but the most important thing is that we fix this problem and put the law back on the side of victims.

It's outrageous. And that's why we're putting the full force of law into going after these guys and, believe me, they will face a full accounting and consequence for their misconduct.

The reality is that there are a lot of predators who take advantage of our servicemen and women and our veterans.

Well, I would suggest, too, that they knew that they were misrepresenting the facts to the IRS on their 990 form and were misrepresenting it to such an extent that they inverted the numbers.

But as to these directors that we have charged, they've basically been lining their pockets off the compassion that Americans have for our veterans and our servicemen and women and that has to be stopped.

This is why, as part of our action, we're requiring the directors and officers step down, so that we can purge the organization of the bad apples and preserve the assets that exist.

It's outrageous. That's why we're putting the full force of law into going after these guys and, believe me, they will face a full accounting and consequence for their misconduct.

Well, I came into office in 2011 and focusing on our veterans in California has been a priority for my administration.

I would suggest to you that they knew that they were misrepresenting the facts to the IRS on their 990 form, and were misrepresenting it to such an extent that they inverted the numbers.

But as to these directors, we have charged that they have basically been lining the pockets off the compassion that Americans have for our veterans and service men and women and that has to be stopped.

The reality is backpage has proven to be a thriving marketplace. In the issue of human trafficking is a $32 billion industry in this country -- in the world.

This is not just an international issue. This is something that very much is an issue of the kid in Kansas who's the runaway, who's trafficked to Las Vegas and then brought in to be prostituted on Hollywood boulevard.

It is one thing for it to be overseas somewhere, you know, brothels in Cambodia that you follow. But it's another thing for it to be in the United States and to have large corporations profiting off it.

It's the issue that -- that there are individuals, and companies, and they can be cartels or they can be Backpage, who are making a huge amount of money off the trafficking of human beings.

We can issue subpoenas. We certainly are, and in fact, have requested a great deal of information from them about what they are seeing in terms of the complaints they have received.

Well, they're also in possession of a letter from all of the attorneys general of the United States expressing deep concern about what they have done in terms of facilitating human trafficking, exploitation of children.

I spoke to them earlier this week.

The conduct that this defendant committed is really extremely egregious and deserves serious consequences.