Larry Elder Disputes Displaying Gun To Ex-Fiancee Throughout Heated Argument – CBS San Francisco

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Larry Elder’s former fiancé said Thursday that the Conservative radio talk show host, now running for governorship in California, showed her a gun during a heated argument in 2015.

Elder, widely regarded as the leader of the Republicans running to succeed Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in next month’s recall election, made a statement saying, “I’ve never thrown a gun at anyone.” Elder , who aspires to become California’s first black governor, noted that he grew up in South Los Angeles, an area with high levels of violent crime.

“I know exactly how destructive this type of behavior is,” he said.

Alexandra Datig’s accusation, first reported by Politico, comes less than four weeks until the election on September 14th and at a time when the postal ballot papers have already reached the voters. Elder said he intended to “focus on the issues” that inspired the recall of Republicans who were angry with Newsom’s progressive policies and handling of the pandemic.

His campaign said he was planning weekend rallies.

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Datig, 51, a longtime Los Angeles resident, said she worked on Elders Show and they lived together during their 18-month love affair from 2013 to 2015. A letter and other records from Datig to The Associated Press – including a 6th 2015 email writing about the breakdown of their engagement – outlined a portrait of an emotionally abusive relationship in which Elder routinely used medical marijuana in excess.

Datig claims Elder got high during the 2015 argument and went to a cabinet where he kept his weapon “and made sure it was in my sight”.

“He didn’t point it at me, but he wanted to make sure I knew he was looking,” to see if it was loaded, she told the AP.

Threatening another person with a gun could constitute a criminal offense, but Datig said she never reported it to the police.

Elder did not specifically address the cannabis use claim in the questions AP asked of his campaign. His testimony in response to Datig’s allegations of abuse was broadly based on “lewd allegations.”

“It is precisely because of this kind of politics of personal destruction that people do not come into public life. I will not honor that with an answer – it is below me, ”Elder wrote. A short time later he tweeted: “They come up to me with every dirty trick because they know what’s coming on September 14th.”

Datig supports one of Elder’s Republican rivals, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. Earlier this week, Faulconer began criticizing Elder and specifically questioning his attitudes towards women. He noted, among other things, that Elder had written that employers should be able to ask women if and when they plan to become pregnant.

“Larry Elder has neither the judgment nor the character to run our state,” Faulconer said in response to Datig’s allegations.

Another Republican in the running, State Representative Kevin Kiley, said in a statement that he found Datig’s claims worrying.

“I believe that every woman who comes up deserves to be heard and Mrs Datig’s deeply troubling report should be treated with the utmost seriousness. Mr. Elder should be given every opportunity to comment, ”he said.

In a televised debate on Thursday evening with Faulconer, Kiley and his GOP colleague John Cox, however, the topic never came up.

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Elder took part in the race in July, and Datig said she had waited until now to come forward because at first she didn’t think he would be competitive.

“I didn’t take it seriously, but when Larry started to be on trend and become the front runner, I was very worried,” she said.

The documents made available by Datig describe months of emotional stress caused by the escalating romantic and business relationship. “I feel trapped and scared,” she wrote in the mail.

Datig also provided the AP with a copy of a confidentiality agreement she signed in 2014 prohibiting her from discussing the “personal and business matters” of Elder and his business, Laurence A. Elder & Associates, Inc., from going with their allegations to the public.

A letter from her attorney dated March 31, 2015 to Elder asked for $ 6,000 in monthly support for Datig for one year to cover expenses such as rent, auto, and health care expenses. She also asked for $ 195,000 for public relations, marketing, and other services that she allegedly provided for his show.

The two eventually signed an agreement on April 13, 2015, under which Elder would pay Datig $ 20,000 and pay for her legal maintenance of $ 5,000 and $ 185 for dry cleaning her wedding dress. Elder agreed that he and his assistant would sign a non-disclosure agreement on anything related to Datig, that he would write her a letter of recommendation for her work, and that they would both “stop insulting each other.”

Datig describes herself as a survivor of the sex trade and has publicly announced that she is working for the so-called former Hollywood woman Heidi Fleiss, who was convicted in the mid-1990s for running a high-priced call girl ring, a conviction that was later overturned. Fleiss was later sentenced to federal prison for defrauding her taxes and laundering call girls’ profits. In an interview with KCAL-TV in 2013, Datig described that he became an informant at Fleiss.

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