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Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, an elected prosecutor in Virginia backed by significant donations from organizations associated with billionaire George Soros, has characterized the violent rhetoric of Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones as “fake outrage.”
Dehghani-Tafti, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County, criticized media coverage regarding Jones’ texts that suggested the murder of a former prominent Republican official. This comes after her office faced scrutiny for its handling of a case involving a shopkeeper who shot at burglars.
In her comments, Dehghani-Tafti also targeted Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, urging him to operate independently from the governor’s office while expressing her support for Jones. Her remarks were prompted by a post from the left-leaning Virginia politics blog, Blue Virginia, which highlighted perceived media bias in focusing on Jones.
She noted, “Nothing on the government shutdown or decimation of CDC or a million other important stories,” adding, “Your ‘liberal media’ at work.” Dehghani-Tafti warned that re-electing Miyares would hinder Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s agenda, implying that the loss of Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is inevitable.
“If we fall for the false outrage and get frightened into abandoning Jay, Miyares as AG will remain Trump’s right hand in Richmond,” she cautioned.
Since 2019, Dehghani-Tafti has received $325,000 from the Soros-affiliated Democracy PAC II and $190,000 from the Justice and Public Safety PAC. In contrast, the next largest donor during that period contributed $10,900, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. OpenSecrets notes that Soros Fund Management and Democracy PAC are significant contributors to the Justice and Public Safety PAC.
While Arlington County has drawn acclaim for prosecuting serial sex offender Richard Kenneth Cox, Dehghani-Tafti has also faced controversies, including backlash in 2020 for prosecuting a smoke shop employee who shot at burglars. The employee, Hamzeh Abushariah, defended his actions by claiming he was threatened. Although initially charged with malicious wounding, a jury later acquitted him.
Dehghani-Tafti stated she could not discuss ongoing investigations but emphasized that evidence supported the charges. Arlington police subsequently charged two juveniles in connection with the burglary. Notably, Democracy PAC and Democracy PAC II contributed over $42 million to the 2022 elections alone, as reported by FactCheck.org.
