Justice and Public Safety PAC is a left-of-center PAC that focuses on supporting the campaigns of left-of-center prosecutors. ^[1] The PAC receives most of its funding from left-leaning billionaire George Soros and Democracy PAC, which also receives much of its funding from Soros. ^[2] It is one of several similarly-named PACs that receive substantial funding from Soros and contribute to the campaigns of progressive district attorneys across the U.S. ^[3]

Political Activities

National

From 2012 through 2022, George Soros has spent $40 million on Justice and Public Safety PACs throughout the United States to elect 75 left-progressive district attorneys and prosecutors who represent 72 million people, or about 20% of Americans. Over the last two years alone, Soros has spent $20 million on these PACs.^[4][5]

These prosecutors include George Gascon (D-Los Angelas), Chesa Boudin (D-San Fransisco) Kim Foxx (D-Chicago), Buta Biberja (D-Loudoun County), Alvin Bragg (D-Manhattan), and Larry Krasner (D-Philadelphia). Critics claim that these prosecutors have permitted or encouraged a rise in violent crime across the United States, especially since 2020. For instance, Alvin Bragg, the first black DA in Manhattan, ordered his assistant DAs to stop charging low level crimes, such as some forms of robbery, assaults, and gun possession crimes.^[6][7]

Virginia

In 2020, Justice and Public Safety supported the campaign of Parisa Dehghani-Tafti for Commonwealth’s Attorney for the county of Arlington, Virginia. Parisa Dehghani-Tafti has been the subject of national controversies multiple times, most recently for her decision to prosecute a store owner for shooting and injuring several young men that had broken into the store. ^[8]

Justice and Safety PAC also supported the campaign of Loudoun county prosecutor Buta Biberaj. Critics alleged that Biberaj was a member of Facebook group making and planning cyberattack threats on parents in her community that opposed the teaching of critical race theory in their schools. ^[9] The Daily Wire, a right-leaning news outlet, reported that the Loudoun County Sheriff was investigating statements made in the Facebook group for possible criminality. ^{[10] [11]}

Justice and Safety also provided support to the campaign of Steve Descano for Fairfax county prosecutor, who has been widely criticized as a “rogue prosecutor” for his controversial stance on prosecuting misdemeanor offenses. ^{[12] [13]}

In 2021, the organization quietly contributed $157,000 to the campaign of Ramin Fatehi for Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney.^[14] The contribution was accompanied by a second $41,500 contribution from Democracy PAC, another PAC funded by George Soros.^[15]

Expenditures

The largest recipient of Justice and Public Safety PAC’s expenditure are political consulting firms, particularly BerlinRosen, which as of June 2022, has earned over $200,000 in the 2022 election cycle, as well as $1.4 million in the 2020 cycle, and $81,000 in the 2018 cycle. Another recipient is the Democratic-aligned law firm Perkins Coie, which has earned $39,000 in the 2022 cycle. Lake Research Partners, a Democratic-aligned polling firm, has earned $90,000 in the 2022 cycle and earned $178,000 in the 2020 cycle.^[16]

In the 2020 cycle, New Virginia Majority, a voter mobilization group trying to “flip” Virginia blue, received $75,000 from Justice and Public Safety PAC. Also in the 2020 cycle, Parisa for Justice, the PAC of candidate Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, received $190,000. Dehghani-Tafti was elected the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church. The left-wing Working Families Party also received $70,000.^[17]

Leadership

Whitney Tymas is the president and treasurer of Justice and Public Safety PAC and holds similar positions “at 20 other similarly named groups at both the state and federal levels” funded by George Soros’s Foundation to Promote an Open Society (FPOS) which are focused on funding progressive district attorneys who want to end tough-on-crime policies. According to the New York Post, Tymas coordinates many of these groups on behalf of Soros and the FPOS.^[18] These groups are: Arizona Safety & Justice, California Safety & Justice, Colorado Safety & Justice PAC, Florida Safety and Justice, Georgia Safety and Justice, Mississippi Justice & Public Safety PAC, Missouri Justice and Public Safety PAC, Nevada Law & Justice PAC, New Mexico Safety and Justice PAC, New York Justice & Safety PAC, Oregon Law & Justice PAC, and  Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC.^{[19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]}

Previously Tymas was the director of the prosecution and racial justice program at the left-of-center Vera Institute of Justice, a senior attorney for the National District Attorneys Association, and the chair of Maricopa Strong, which opposed controversial then-Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio (R).^[28][29]

She has been on the board of directors for left-of-center advocacy groups Way to Win and the Civic Participation Action Fund (CPAF).^[30][31]