While former U.S. Vice President, California Attorney General, and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris is promoting her 107 Days about her presidential run against Donald Trump in 2024, TV anchor Ashley Zavala of KCRA, a Northern California affiliate of NBC, said on Tuesday: “California taxpayers are paying for Kamala Harris’ security detail for her international book tour. Dozens of CHP officers are assigned to it, sources tell me. State officials aren’t saying much, her campaign isn’t answering questions. Don’t taxpayers deserve to know?”
District Attorney of Yolo County, California, Jeff Reisig, responded by writing on social media that “it could be an illegal use of public funds for personal or political purposes and a crime under the California law.”
If that’s true, it could be an illegal use of public funds for personal or political purposes and a crime under the California law. Govt Code 8314 pic.twitter.com/zyoft9HFw8
— Jeff Reisig (@jeffreisig) March 4, 2026
British-born American conservative political commentator Steve Hilton, who is running for Governor of California, joined the Harris antagonists on social media, writing: “Kamala Harris MUST be prosecuted over her security detail scandal. The use of California taxpayer resources for her presidential campaign/book tour is a crime under California law.”
Note: In August 2025, while Harris was preparing to launch her book tour, President Trump revoked her extended Secret Service protection. (VPs are granted six months protection after leaving the White House; President Biden gave Harris an extension of an additional year, which Trump cut.)
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who is also running for governor, replied to Hilton: “What is this nonsense? Just say it Steve, you want to see her dead. Otherwise how do you explain complaining about the former vice president (a CALIFORNIAN) having security AFTER your cult leader took hers away? Maybe just denounce violence and protect those most threatened.”
What is this nonsense? Just say it Steve, you want to see her dead. Otherwise how do you explain complaining about the former vice president (a CALIFORNIAN) having security AFTER your cult leader took hers away? Maybe just denounce violence and protect those most threatened. https://t.co/rdNwTQWkeF
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 7, 2026
Republican Assemblyman Tom Lackey, who spent 28 years as a member of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), said of Harris to KCRA: “We’re living in an unstable environment right now, and it’s really hard to predict circumstances and people’s behavior, and so she deserves that kind of protection.”
Lackey noted that Harris is entitled to protection by law enforcement officers if credible threats exist, as mandated by state law.
Note: Hilton has also hinted that Governor Gavin Newsom “is spending $19 million of taxpayer money on an ad campaign to boost his image,” which Hilton asserted “is most likely an illegal abuse of public funds. I have written to the Attorney General to demand an investigation and a prohibition on Newsom appearing in these ridiculous ads.”
[Hilton’s contributor list includes billionaire Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and crypto executive David Marcus.]