By Pablo Lopez

Fresno Spotlight

Critics contend District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp uses her Public Integrity Unit as a political weapon to go after Democratic and Hispanic politicians and public employees.

Whether it’s true or not, the public will never know — Smittcamp’s office picked apart a public records request from Fresno Spotlight, releasing only tidbits of information.

Asked to identify the number of cases the unit has investigated since its inception in May 2015, Smittcamp responded: “This office does not keep a complete log of the cases it has internally investigated since the inception of the Public Integrity Unit.”

Asked to identify the people the unit has prosecuted, Smittcamp said: “The Unit does not keep an annual record of its prosecution.”

In total, Smittcamp’s office released the names of seven people the unit is prosecuting or has prosecuted from 2019 to present. A majority of the seven defendants are Hispanic. Her office declined to name the defendants prosecuted by the unit from 2015 to 2018.

To read the rest of this story, continue to this link at Fresno Spotlight.