Meet Nathan Hochman, Candidate For LA County District Attorney

LOS ANGELES, CA — Nathan Hochman is running to unseat incumbent Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón.

Voters in the Nov. 5 election will decide between the two candidates in the most watched race in Los Angeles County and the most high-profile district attorney's race in the nation. The two squared off against one another in the March primary, garnering the most votes in a crowded field of 11 candidates.

Since he was elected in 2020, Gascón has been a lightning rod, instituting some of the most progressive reforms of any prosecutor's office in the country. For his part, Hochman garnered statewide name recognition when he ran for California Attorney General as a Republican in 2022, giving Democrat Robert Bonta a competitive race in a state that hasn't elected a Republican in more than a decade.

Now Hochman is sharing his goals for Los Angeles County.

To help voters in Los Angeles County glean more information about the candidates, Patch reached out to Hochman and Gascón with a list of identical questions that are top-of-mind for many. Hochman responded, and his unedited answers are below. (If Gascón responds, Patch will publish his unedited answers, too.)

Party: Independent / Non-Partisan

Family: Wife and three children, all born and raised in Los Angeles

Education: Brown University, B.A., magna cum laude (1985) Stanford Law School, Juris Doctor (1988)

Occupation: Attorney

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: Assistant United States Attorney (01/90 – 02/97) United States Assistant Attorney General (12/07 – 01/09) Los Angeles City Ethics Commission (08/11 – 06/16)

Campaign Website: https://nathanhochman.com/

Why do you want to be Los Angeles County’s District Attorney?

I am a lifelong Angelino, who was born, raised, educated, married (now 31 years), and able to raise 3 children (now 27, 25, and 23 years old) – all in Los Angeles County. Unlike those who look at what is happening in this County, with its crime, homelessness, taxes, traffic, smog, etc., and are choosing to leave, I have chosen to stay and fight for the community I love. Our current DA has instituted policies and taken actions that are not working and have made us less safe, have destroyed morale in the DA’s office, have endangered the DA’s partnership with law enforcement and the public, and need to change.

I am running to remove politics from prosecutorial decisions and restore independence, honesty, and integrity to prevent crime, protect public safety, and ensure justice is served to all LA County residents.

What are the critical differences between you and your opponent?

My tenure as DA would be distinguished from the current DA starting with my background and experience. Gascón has never personally prosecuted or defended a criminal case; I have personally prosecuted over 100 cases, from violent gang members, narcotics traffickers, and money launderers to corrupt police officers and public officials, environmental criminals, and tax and bank defrauders. I have also defended over 200 cases and understand the impact a criminal prosecution can have on a particular individual, family, and community. Thus, as both a former prosecutor and defense attorney, I will bring credibility in both worlds to the DA’s Office.

I will lead by example, unlike Gascón for whom 98% of his prosecutors supported his recall. In addition, unlike Gascón, I will be the one to establish, for instance, an Organized Retail Crime Task Force rather than not even being invited to the press conference after the mayor sets up the task force.

Gascón believes in blanket policies which are an inherently lazy form of decision-making that evinces distrust in his subordinates. I reject blanket policies on both ends of the pendulum swing (mass incarceration vs. de-carceration) and focus instead on the “hard middle,” which requires an individualized analysis of the defendant, the crime committed, and the impact on the victim to determine who are the true threats to our safety and need to be incarcerated and those who aren’t and can pay their debt to society by community service or a diversion program.

With respect to the partnership with law enforcement, I will restore that partnership that Gascón has decimated. I have unique credibility in this regard since I have personally defended law enforcement officers in administrative and court proceedings as well as having prosecuted those who crossed the line (deputy sheriffs who stole drugs and money from drug dealers). I co-founded the LA Sheriff’s Foundation and have worked with deputy sheriffs, their supervisors,and the Sheriff to bring needed resources to the LASD.

Law enforcement is looking for a DA to bring back accountability and uphold the law rather than a personal political agenda – I will be that DA that they are looking for as a partner.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle the job of the district attorney of the largest county in the country over the next four years?

Over the past 30 years, I have had extensive management and executive leadership experience relevant to the DA position for which I am running. As a federal prosecutor, I was in charge of the Environmental Crimes group, working with federal, state, and local investigators and prosecutors bringing cases against air, sea, and land polluters. When over $2 billion in federal funds landed in L.A. County after the riots, floods, earthquake, and fires, I created and then spearheaded the L.A. Disaster Fraud Task Force, bringing together 15 federal, state, and local agencies, personally prosecuting 70 cases in the first year, recovering over $25 million, and launching an amnesty program that recovered another $25 million.

After receiving a Presidential nomination and unanimous U.S. Senate confirmation to be the U.S. Assistant Attorney General in charge of the U.S. Dep’t of Justice’s Tax Division, I led over 350 lawyers and 150 staff (with a $100 million budget) litigating criminal, civil and appellate cases throughout the nation. I had to deal with a myriad of complex political issues, from getting budgets increased through internal DOJ and external Congressional negotiations, to dealing with the 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the country, the White House, the media, and the public. During my time there, I led the efforts that cracked Swiss bank (and other foreign countries’) secrecy laws to prosecute U.S. taxpayers using foreign bank accounts to evade taxes and launched the national Tax Defier initiative, a coordinated effort to prosecute tax defiers throughout the country.

Subsequently, I led two major international law firms’ gov’t investigations practices for 10 years; the L.A. City Ethics Commission as a Commissioner and President; and the L.A. Sheriff’s Foundation, which I co-founded, which has raised over $1 million to help the Sheriff’s Department meet needs outside of its budget (e.g., drones for air rescue, crisis communications center, gang intervention efforts, and financial help for cadets who were tragically struck by an oncoming vehicle during a training run).

These collective experiences will ensure that I am ready on Day 1 to lead an office with an over $460 million budget and over 2100 lawyers, investigators, and staff.

If elected, what are your priorities?

Crime & Public Safety: Under DA Gascón, Los Angeles County has become a haven for criminals of every sort. When the DA won’t do his job, criminals take note, and the law-abiding citizens, typically more vulnerable and minority communities, suffer the most. I will restore accountability, justice, safety, and security in LA County, and restore the people’s trust in the DA’s office to get the job done.

Fentanyl: Fentanyl, a drug 50 times stronger than heroin, is responsible for over half of the drug overdose deaths in LA County and is murdering hundreds of LA County children a year. This silent assassin kills indiscriminately across political, geographic, racial, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic lines. Gascón has failed to treat fentanyl poisoners as murderers or even adopt the “Alexandra law” warning to convicted fentanyl dealers that if they do the crime again and someone dies, they may be charged with murder. On Day One, I will launch a massive local- state-federal task force to combat fentanyl poisoners and simultaneously launch a huge educational effort targeted to children and their parents on the perils of fentanyl.

Homelessness: The homelessness crisis is one of the most visible failures of leadership. The DA’s Office needs to change the trajectory of addressing LA’s homeless challenges by partnering with law enforcement, municipal agencies, the CARE courts, non-profit organizations, as well as local stakeholders and community leaders, to work on effective programs to help break the cycle of homelessness among all Los Angelenos.

What reforms would you enact if elected?

In many ways, our justice system needs reform, however not the type of “reform” Gascón has brought that has endangered our public safety. Instead, we must sensibly balance the priority of public safety with ensuring the system acts fairly and without any bias. Gascón’s “reforms” have released violent and serious offenders before completing their sentences and prohibited the prosecution of such offenders to the full extent of the law. In addition, these pro-criminal, anti- victim “reforms” have banned prosecutors from representing victims at parole hearings.

Compared to the year before he entered office (2019), the current crime statistics are up in most categories. Importantly, polling shows that Angelinos — over 60% — feel less safe today than before Gascón became DA. This isn’t a surprise given that homelessness and the crime it generates are rising; fentanyl murders are the top killer of young adults; and smash-and-grab and home robberies occur on an almost daily basis. Criminals are taking advantage of laws favoring them.

My reforms: eliminate Gascón’s blanket, pro-criminal policies in favor of “hard middle” policies of individualized crime analysis; allow enhancements justified by the evidence; institute a risk-based assessment for bail; have prosecutors accompany victims to parole hearings; and address crimes generated by those with serious mental illness and drug addictions.

As for fentanyl murderers, Gascón has refused for over three years until on the eve of the election to prosecute these fentanyl poison peddlers for murder, even those who are serial offenders. As DA, I will fully prosecute as murderers those who knowingly sell fentanyl or fentanyl-laced drugs that result in deaths, lead a local-state-federal task force to target the fentanyl chain of sellers and suppliers and work with local agencies to launch a massive education effort in schools warning students and parents of the dangers of fentanyl.

As district attorney, are there cases in which you would pursue the death penalty? Why or why not?

The death penalty should be subject to the highest level of scrutiny by the DA’s Office, a jury, and the courts and should only be used in the rarest of cases. However, there are such extreme cases – for example, where police officers are assassinated in cold blood, where mass shootings at a school occur, where terrorists kill hundreds through a bombing — when the death penalty should be on the table for consideration.

I am well aware of the troubled history of the death penalty, of those who have later been vindicated, and of the philosophical issues concerning its implementation. However, as District Attorney, I take an oath to uphold all the laws, not just the laws I like. There is no asterisk in this oath, and any candidate who cannot fully uphold this oath to enforce all laws should be disqualified from being the District Attorney.

As long as the death penalty is the law of California, I will honor my oath and subject it to the highest level of review, considering its charging in the most heinous of cases to which it applies.

What do you see as your role in reducing retail theft, violent crime, and property crime in Los Angeles County?

By eliminating Gascón’s extreme, blanket de-carceration policies, instituting the “hard middle” approach, and returning discretion to the 750 prosecutors who collectively bring 1000s of years’ prosecutorial experience to the decisions for prosecuting retail theft, violent crime, and property crime, I will be able to send a strong message to the public and criminals that there will be real consequences for their actions.

I will enforce the laws consistently, fairly, and impartially and will not decide up front based on my personal political agenda like Gascón that some certaincriminals and crimes will not be prosecuted even if the facts and the law compel prosecution. By working with prosecutors, I will bring back the esprit de corp that has been missing in the last four years under Gascón. I will then partner with law enforcement so that they know that if they do their job to arrest criminals and build solid cases, the DA’s office will do its job. Then I will work not to fill the prisons to the breaking point, but to deter criminals from committing crimes in the first place, thereby saving a lot of victims in the process.

What is your stance on trying juveniles as adults?

I support transferring juveniles to adult courts, subject to the court’s ultimate discretion, only in the fairly rare cases when the alleged crime merits such action. I am a staunch supporter of diversion and restorative justice programs (when appropriate) for young offenders and any effort to properly educate and engage LA County's youth on the dangers and consequences of crime.

One of my top priorities when elected District Attorney is that I will work to bring a massive education effort to students and their parents in middle and high schools about the lethal danger fentanyl poses.

What is your stance on the pursuit of sentencing enhancements?

I reject blanket policies, like those of the current DA, that preclude prosecutors from considering all legally available penalties, supported by the evidence, for crimes committed, such as sentence enhancements for using a firearm during the commission of a crime, the gang enhancement, the drug weight enhancement, and/or special circumstances. I believe that the current DA’s policies send an encouraging message to criminals, for example, to use a firearm in the commission of a crime since they face no additional penalty for doing so.

Instead, I believe in using the greatest resource of the DA’s office – the 1000s of years of collective experience of its prosecutors, its investigators, and its law enforcement partners – to make individualized determinations based on the evidence and the crime(s) committed, the impact on the victim(s), and the defendant’s background and criminal history.

The overall message is one of accountability – I will hold all criminals proportionally accountable for their actions and bring cases, supported by the evidence, to ensure that the message of accountability is heard loud and clear by the public, and in particular, those who are contemplating breaking our laws. Law enforcement will no longer have to bring its cases to the federal government to get justice for victims; the DA office I will preside over will be one that is a true partner of law enforcement where respect for the law and the DA’s office is re-established.

What is your opinion of the rate at which police officers have been charged in connection with on-duty shootings and in-custody deaths over the last four years in Los Angeles County?

I have worked on the issue of accountability for police officers since the 1990s when I was part of a team in the U.S. Attorney’s Office that brought down members of the elite LASD narcotics teams who were stealing drugs and money from drug dealers. I have also participated in police accountability from the side of law enforcement, as I am also the only candidate who has represented law enforcement officers in administrative, civil, and criminal proceedings. As a result of these experiences, I am very familiar with the balance that needs to be achieved between supporting the vast majority of law enforcement officers who do their jobs excellently and professionally every day and investigating and prosecuting those who violate the law.

The DA’s office must maintain a robust presence early on in the process of officer-involved shootings as well as regularly work with the chiefs of all law enforcement departments to increase training and supervision of officers to deter problems from happening in the first place. George Gascón has failed on all sides of this issue, having brought in a Special Prosecutor who has only brought one police on-duty shooting case in over three years at the cost of $750,000.

Unlike Gascón, who has no prosecutorial experience investigating police shootings, I am prepared to use my experience to address the issues head-on. As scores of law enforcement officers have told me, no one hates a bad cop more than a good cop. I will work tirelessly to ensure that any “bad cops” who cross the criminal line are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

What would you say was the most pivotal experience of your career?

One of the most pivotal experiences I had in my career was being nominated by a President, unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, to run the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division in Washington D.C. With a $100 million budget and over 350 lawyers doing criminal, civil, and appellate tax cases throughout the nation, I had to wear a variety of hats every day to ensure the successful functioning of the Division.

I was in charge of creating the budget, meeting with all the heads of the over 10 departments, dealing with all significant employee issues, negotiating with Congress and the internal bureaucracy of the Department of Justice as well as 94 different U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the county, addressing the media, working with the Division’s partners at the IRS, FBI, DEA, and local agencies, speaking to the public at forums around the nation, arguing certain appeals before circuit courts, and establishing initiatives and priorities for national tax enforcement.

My wife used to joke that it was I was a guy in my 40s who got to go to fantasy job camp because I was having such a meaningful, fun, and fulfilling experience. And she was right.

Can you think of a case from your past that you would handle differently today? What was it and why?

The only trial I ever lost as a prosecutor was the first trial I handled by myself, a narcotics trafficking case. The defense seemed nonsensical: the defendant was a cocaine dealer, but the cocaine that was the subject of the indictment was not his cocaine.

Because I was young and inexperienced, I trusted that the investigator had brought all the facts to my attention. However, I learned in the defense presentation that the cocaine seized by the investigator was potentially a different level of purity than the cocaine the defendant had previously sold. The jury ultimately found reasonable doubt and acquitted.

The great lessons I learned were to personally review all the facts, testimony, and evidence and not trust until I had personally verified; be highly wary of assumptions and attuned to people’s biases, and own any mistakes made.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I was raised by two incredible parents, who came to Los Angeles County in the 1940s and set examples to myself, my brother, and two sisters, on how to balance their lives with a strong and active commitment to the community. My father was a federal prosecutor, an Air Force Captain, the head of the Jewish Federation Los Angeles, and a leading tax lawyer in Los Angeles County for over 50 years. My mother was a trailblazer, often the first woman to lead educational and communal organizations.

At my family dinner table growing up, my parents taught me and my siblings three important lessons: (1) giving back to your community is not optional but an obligation and responsibility; (2) the Hebrew word for charity is “tzedakah” which means justice, signifying that the more good and charitable deeds you do in this world, the more justice you are spreading; and (3) if you save even one life, it is as if you saved the entire world.

I have done my best in the past 60 years to take these words to heart, to turn them into active community involvement, and to teach them to my three children. As District Attorney, I hope to channel these lessons into restoring safety while bringing fairness and justice to my community.