Congressman with close dairy ties seeks to end “political agenda”

by Brian Leubitz

The California Report has a very interesting report on a case heading to a federal appellate court involving Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) and a Central Valley Legal Aid group. The audio report is short, and well worth a listen.

But long story short, California Rural Legal Assistance has been accused by Rep. Nunes of using tax money for political purposes.  CRLS seeks to help farmworkers, primarily by getting them back wages and fair working conditions.  As you might expect, these are not causes close to the hearts of the dairy farmers that operate in and around Rep. Nunes district.

Now the question at hand is whether CRLA should be required to hand over information regarding thousands of clients that they have helped, or whether that information is subject to attorney-client privilege. The issues is that for many of these workers, the fact that they even went to an attorney is an offense that could cost them dearly.

After the oral argument, the matter will be in the hand of the courts to decide the scope of the privilege, with dire results for farmworkers at stake.