On March 22, 1994, Kamala Harris entered the San Francisco Chronicle through the back door, that of a news item by the legendary Herb Caen. The journalist, who signed in the columns of San Francisco Chronicle for half a century, reveals that at the party given for the 60the birthday of Willie Brown, local political celebrity, at the castle of billionaire Ron Burkle, near Los Angeles, Clint Eastwood spilled his glass of champagne on the elected official’s partner, Kamala Harris. Aged 29, she is an assistant district attorney for Alameda County, across from San Francisco. Willie Brown, the all-powerful leader of the Democratic majority in the California Assembly. No one imagines that the young woman will one day be a candidate for the presidency of the United States.
Willie Brown is one of the sacred monsters of California politics. In 1951, at the age of 17, he fled segregated Texas to seek his fortune in the West. In San Francisco, he became a lawyer, defending the poor and the marginalized—law firms were not rushing to hire a black man. Since 1960, he has participated in all the Democratic conventions. In California, he has become the party’s kingmaker. It was he who helped Nancy Pelosi, the future speaker of Congress, mount her first campaign in 1987; he who put Gavin Newsom, the current governor of the state, into orbit in 1996, by appointing him to the city’s parking and traffic commission. The city loves his Italian suits, his Ferrari and his witticisms.
Kamala Harris’ name returned on November 29, 1994, this time in the Los Angeles Times. Journalist Dan Morain reveals that Willie Brown, who must leave his seat in the California Assembly – the elected officials voted to limit the accumulation of mandates with the sole aim, it is said, of removing him –, appointed the young lawyer to the commission monitoring contracts with health insurance companies, for an annual salary of 72,000 dollars. This is the second time, adds the journalist, that the speaker has promoted his current partner. Kamala Harris has already benefited from a position – paid 97,000 dollars – in the unemployment insurance appeals office. He also offered her a BMW.

The flamboyant Democrat – he lives separately from his wife, chases women, but never divorces – is campaigning for mayor of San Francisco. He and Kamala Harris appear together at dinner parties in Pacific Heights, the upscale neighborhood overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, at the Oscars in Hollywood. Invited to give a lecture in Boston, Willie Brown learns that Donald Trump wants to talk to him about a real estate project. The casino magnate sends his private plane (decorated with masterpieces, Willie Brown will tell us) to take the elected official and his entourage, including Kamala Harris, to New York. The press has not established that she attended the meeting. But history will record that the White House candidate once traveled on the plane of the man she is to face on November 5.
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