Judge in Brock Turner sex assault case hires Trump consultant
SAN FRANCISCO -- A California judge facing a recall effort after sentencing former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexual assault has hired a political consultant who ran President Trump's Arizona campaign.
Disclosure forms filed this week show that Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky paid $30,000 to Brian Seitchik's Phoenix-based RDP Strategies.
Reports with the California secretary of state's office show Persky has raised $128,000 through the end of June. The recall campaign has taken in $444,000.
Neither Seitchik nor Persky responded to requests for comment Wednesday.
Mr. Trump hired Seitchik in July 2016 to direct his campaign in Arizona, a state Mr. Trump won 49.5 percent to Hillary Clinton's 45.4 percent.
The push to recall Persky is led by Stanford University law professor Michelle Dauber, who helped Clinton raise money.
In 2016, Persky sentenced Turner to six months in prison despite facing a maximum of 14 years for three felony convictions related to sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside a Stanford fraternity house in January 2015. Perksy said last year that he found that Turner is genuinely remorseful.
Amid a national outcry, Turner only served three months in prison. He will be a registered sex offender for life.
