Now and Then: Gavin Newsom on the Yale Choir Beating

Today, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom faced reporters, asking for his reaction to charges being filed in the Yale Choir Assault Case. You can see a clip here:

ABC 7's Carolyn Tyler asks Newsom, "In the beginning, it seemed like you thought it was kind of being blown out of proportion, that it was a mutual combat thing." The mayor answers, "Never, that was, that was wildly-- there was never that suggestion, never suggested that, never suggested that. That was purely exploited by some that wanted to suggest something that was never stated. So, it's not true."

Really? We recall an I-Team interview with Mayor Newsom on January 11th -- three days after we broke the story of the Yale assault -- that received a lot of attention, mainly because of his heated reaction when I asked about reports of his alcohol use (this was before he admitted he had an alcohol problem and sought counseling at Delancey Street). You can watch it all here:

On the issue of the Yale assault, it seemed to us at the time that Newsom was pointing the finger away from the local college students, accused of beating members of the Yale choir. He seemed to be pointing the finger back at the Yale students and the people who hosted the New Year's Eve party in their honor.

Mayor Newsom: "There’s still a lot of questions I have. Why were these kids, they’re all underage, why were they in a home with a lot of liquor, how’d they get the liquor, what the heck were they doing down there, why is everyone hiring an attorney, who’s culpable, who’s not? You know, I have confidence, I have spent the last two days with the investigators, spent an hour with them today, literally an hour, going again through every detail and all these assertions in the press, and I have confidence we’re marching down the right path. They’re going to be meeting with the Yale kids tomorrow down in Southern California where they’re already going to be and hopefully we’ll get closer to having someone identify a witness, not just someone who’s wearing a hat that they think necessarily was uh, or identify a culprit, not just someone they think was a culprit. ... So, I’m very disappointed in the behavior of all of these kids that were involved in this incident. Apparently, a lot of people were fighting on all sides and it’s a good reminder how important it is to remind our parents to be good stewards of underage drinking."

“A lot of people were fighting on all sides.” That goes against the witness accounts we reported from the beginning, and it goes against what District Attorney Kamala Harris is saying now -- this “was essentially a group attack on innocent victims.”

Is the mayor trying to rewrite the history of his comments? I'd like to hear what you think.

Comments

[Stu Smith]

Increasingly I feel cheated and betrayed by Gavin Newsom and his inappropriate actions, choices and finger pointing. What values does our Mayor place on workplace integrity, honesty, loyalty, trust, acting lawfully as a public servant and adhering to the laws of the city and county he was elected to enforce and abide by?

Forgetting about subjective choices like Tony Hall to run Treasure Island, AnneMarie Conroy to succeed Hall and then get moved to the Office of Emergency Preparedness and flounder hopelessly with no support from the man who appointed her. Newsom has violated every principle of responsible governance in his personal and professional conduct and I'm hoping that the treatment he's finally getting will restore him to sanity and the competence to actually perform his job.

Please get over yourself and work with the Board of Supervisors and adhere to the Sunshine Ordinance you once supported. Work with citizen advisors from every rung on the economic ladder rather than just your rich friends who blindly support your evasive, arrogant ineptitude. Back to work, and sober on the job is a reasonable expectation of the voters of our fair city.

[S. Warner]

You caught Gavin in a lie -- a major lie. What's wrong with this guy? Why wouldn't he know that you kept a copy of his videotaped remarks from back in January? I would have more respect for him if he said something like, "Yeah, we thought it was a mutual combat situation, but this has been carefully investigated since then, and it appears different now."

Anyway, major kudos to Dan Noyes and your "team" at Channel 7. Too many reporters want to kiss the asses of major officials like the mayor rather than just do what you've done here -- contrast their remarks from two months ago and now.

Question -- why is this JUST on your blog? This contradiction should be the top story on your news at 6 and 11! Pete Wilson, Ronn Owens and Gene Burns ought to be talking about this all day tomorrow!

[Erika McDonald]

Mayor Newsom's pants are on fire! He shamelessly downplayed the incident in January and now he is shamelessly lying about what he said previously. He should know better. After all, the I-Team has it on TAPE!!
I think it is outrageous that the defendants were given such low bail amounts. I would be very afraid of these guys were I to see them on the street. What is to keep them from beating up someone else?

[Fake You]

Hey "King",

Dan's not hiding behind a pseudonym, and unlike your site, abc7news.com isn't set up with private registration. He and ABC 7 are out in the open where people know who they are.

King Conchobar: "Transparency is the hallmark of a good blog."

So what does that make your site? Oh yeah, bad.

It's clear that Dan is your sun, and without him to orbit, you would waste away in the cold dark space that is your empty life.

[dan]

I don't understand the problem. It apparently WAS a mutual combat situation. What is your point?

>

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/07/BAG8ROGRI81.DTL&hw=bakers+dozen&sn=002&sc=874

[dan]

here is the quote...

"...According to witnesses, there was a lot of back and forth, pushing and trash talk leading up to the brawl.

One law enforcement source told us, "The San Francisco guys were saying, 'Don't mess with us, we're 415' -- and the Yalies were saying, 'Yeah, well, we're 212.'..."

[dan]

Um I think the technical legal term is 'jury poisoning' but the military term is 'shaping the battlefield'....

"...Lawyers for the two alleged assailants, Richard Aicardi and Brian Dwyer, are probably going to have a field day asking questions of witnesses from Yale about why they immediately hired attorneys to represent them —..."

"...inquiries about the probe were being made from several U.S. senators, among others, and the Mayor’s Office was initially inundated with calls demanding more activity..."
"...it promises to be a circus once it gets to court — remember, this is the case where it was first portrayed that the a cappella singing group was attacked by vicious thugs right after performing the “Star Spangled Banner.” And once that myth was debunked, several others were offered up in its place.
.."

http://www.examiner.com/a-606665~Garcia__Baker_s_Dozen_case_loses_steam.html

[New KGO I-team watcher]

What's up with Kamala Harris? Why won't she meet with Aziz? It's not like she has anything better to do. This is a controversial high-profile case. I'm beginning to question her qualifications as district attorney. I suggest I-team do some digging on her. Keep up the good work.

[Jersey Dave]

What's up with Kamala Harris? Hm, let's see. The Mayor has political gimme power and access to money. Kamala Harris has political gimme power and money. Why does one not care what the other is doing regarding an attack on some innocent kids who aren't from the area and don't have political stroke or money there by people who have both? Gee I wonder why....

[Dean Barbella]

Gavin may suck, but salad eating Regressives blow!

The Regressives have lapse into a vegetative state. Daly, Mirkarimi & Gonzalez saw Gavin’s 75% Approval Ratings and folded before the flop!

Thereby, Newsom can finally tackle long ignored Quality of Life issues of which are my top priority.

In other words, Gavin is just four years away from a bigger office with a constituency far outside The City and far more conservative.

Thank God. Bleeding-panty politicians like Chris Daly have long drained the City of Tourism, Taxes and Clean, Safe Streets. So, Moooooove over Vegans. The Green Party is food’s food. Where’s my beef?

Read it here at Gavin Sucks.com