Attorney General blasts Oakland Mayor Schaaf, she fires back

Declaring “How dare you?” in a speech Wednesday in Sacramento, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ripped into Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who is under Justice Department scrutiny for sounding the alarm ahead of a major immigration crackdown, but did not say whether he is pursuing criminal charges against her.

Schaaf in turn accused Sessions of fearmongering and spreading misinformation and said former U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag has offered to represent her pro bono if Sessions and his department press charges.

The heated remarks on both sides came two weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swept across Northern California, arresting 232 people. Federal immigration officials have said — and Sessions reiterated Wednesday — that Schaaf’s warning helped 800 undocumented immigrants dodge arrests.

The question of criminal charges against the mayor remains open. The White House said last week that the Justice Department is reviewing Schaaf’s Feb. 24 warning to the community that ICE was planning mass arrests. But in a speech during the annual meeting of the California Peace Officers’ Association, a network of law enforcement agencies across the state, Sessions said nothing about his department’s review of Schaaf’s actions.

Instead, he lashed out at the mayor, accusing her of promoting “a radical open borders agenda” and putting ICE agents in danger by alerting “criminals” in advance.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivers remarks to the California Peace Officer's Association at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento, Calif., on Wed. Mar. 7, 2018. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivers remarks to the California Peace Officer's Association at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento, Calif., on Wed. Mar. 7, 2018. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close Attorney General blasts Oakland Mayor Schaaf, she fires back 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

“So here’s my message to Mayor Schaaf: How dare you?” Sessions said. “How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of law enforcement just to promote a radical open borders agenda.”

Schaaf retorted with her own “how dare you” riff hours later at Oakland City Hall.

“How dare you vilify members of our community by trying to frighten the American public into thinking all undocumented residents are dangerous criminals. ... How dare you distort the reality about declining violent crime in a diverse sanctuary city like Oakland, California, to advance your racist agenda.

“Oakland’s agenda is a thriving community. Trump’s agenda is bigotry and vindictiveness.”

Schaaf denied Sessions’ assertions that she endangered law enforcement officers.

“I did not intend to put the safety of law enforcement officers at risk,” the mayor said. “I was very careful in not sharing any specific information about these ICE raids that might have endangered law enforcement.”

In her warning, Schaaf said she had received confidential tips from “credible sources” about the ICE operation. Schaaf said she had conferred with legal counsel to make sure she wasn’t opening herself up to federal prosecution.

Schaaf said her warning was intended “not to panic our residents but to protect them.”

In defending her actions against a potential fight with the Justice Department, Schaaf now has not just the legal backing of City Attorney Barbara Parker — herself a former federal prosecutor — but that of Haag as well.

Former President Barack Obama appointed Haag to the U.S. attorney post for the 15-county Northern District of California in 2010. During her five years in the job, she oversaw high-profile prosecutions including the corruption case against San Francisco state Sen. Leland Yee. Prior to the role, in between stints in the private sector, Haag worked as a supervisor in the U.S. attorney’s office under its then-leader Robert Mueller, now special counsel in the Russia investigation.

In his speech Wednesday, Sessions said Schaaf allowed “wanted criminals” to escape arrest when she said that immigration agents were expected to be making arrests in the Bay Area as early as the next day.

He quoted Tom Homan, acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, as saying that “‘being a law enforcement officer is already dangerous enough, but to give the criminals a heads up that we’re coming in the next 24 hours increases that risk.’”

Sessions repeated Homan’s statement that “ICE failed to make 800 arrests that they would have made if the mayor had not acted as she did.”

“Those are 800 wanted criminals that are now at large in that community — 800 wanted criminals that ICE will now have to pursue with more difficulty in more dangerous situations, all because of one mayor’s irresponsible action,” Sessions said.

Schaaf said Sessions is “trying to distract the American people from a failed immigration system by painting a racist broad-brush of our immigrant community as dangerous criminals.”

She called Sessions’ comments “consistent with this racist distraction and fearmongering that others — newcomers, outsiders — are making our country less safe.”

She added, “It was not my intention to get caught up in a national debate, but I do believe that I am speaking for the residents of my city. ... The agenda of this administration is petty political vindictiveness. Clearly they are picking a fight with California, they are picking a fight with diverse sanctuary cities like Oakland and the people who lead them.”