Los Angeles DA, criticized for charging officer who taped others making racist remarks, drops felony

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles district attorney has backed off felony charges against a police officer who secretly recorded his colleagues making racist remarks after facing criticism the response was too harsh and could deter whistleblowers from coming forward.

Los Angeles Police Officer Daniel Flores was charged in July with 16 felonies after he shared recordings last year that captured officers in LAPD's recruitment division making racist and sexist comments. He reported those recordings to the LAPD's internal affairs in early 2025. The Los Angeles Times first reported the existence of the tapes at the time.

More than a year after the tapes were shared, District Attorney Nathan Hochman charged Flores for violating a decades-old California eavesdropping statute that prohibits secret recordings without informed consent of all parties present. He faced up to 13 years in prison.

But those charges prompted swift backlash, including from Flores' attorney, who said it was wrong to prosecute Flores for exposing bad behavior. Attorney Alan Jackson told the LA Times in July that the charges sent a message that “if you document bigotry inside the LAPD, you will be the one who ends up in a courtroom. It tells them the safe move is to hear slurs and say nothing.”

Hochman on Wednesday said he still believed Flores violated the law, but announced that prosecutors would downgrade all 16 charges to misdemeanors. That will allow Flores to enter a diversion agreement, which means he can avoid jail time as long as he doesn't violate any laws for a year. Jackson did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Wednesday morning.

Hochman said his office was “listening to the impact the case was having on potential whistleblowers” when it decided to reduce the initial charges, which he said, “sent the wrong message” to the public.

Hochman vehemently denounced the comments made by the other officers, saying the remarks amounted to “hate speech.” But he said that there wasn’t evidence that they amounted to a hate crime, which prevented his office from criminally prosecuting those who made the comments.

The recordings Flores shared with LAPD internal affairs showed other officers making a wide array of offensive comments. Officers joked about a famous Latino baseball pitcher dying from eating “too many tacos,” invoked racist tropes about Black people, and on one occasion called a young LAPD recruit “rapeable” because they were “someone who could be taken advantage of,” according to a motion filed by the district attorney's office.

Hochman condemned the officers’ remarks on Wednesday, but said that he still adamantly believes Flores should face some consequences for breaking the law. He said he hoped his decision would encourage officers to work with the district attorney’s office to gather evidence through legal channels.

“Here we have an LAPD officer who should know the law better than anyone else,” he said, adding later that his office works “every single day with individuals who are whistleblowers who have brought wrongdoing forward through legitimate means.”

Carney Shegerian, a California-based attorney who frequently represents whistleblowers and pursues litigation on their behalf, called the entire case “disappointing.”

On the one hand, he said, that the district attorney shouldn’t have capitulated to public outcry since it's clear that state law prohibiting secret recordings was broken.

On the other hand, he said, it falls on the LAPD that there are still officers who espouse bigoted rhetoric — and that officers like Flores clearly feel like they have little legal recourse to respond.

“It’s unfortunate this cop obviously didn’t have the confidence in the LAPD that they would look into it or they would believe him,” he said, adding that Flores would be protected against retaliation from the LAPD under state civil whistleblower laws.

Flores was found guilty in a separate, internal LAPD investigation, and given a 22-day suspension without pay, the LA Times reported. It is not clear whether Flores served that time. The LAPD also opened confidential disciplinary hearings against the officers who made the comments, but the department has not said whether anyone has been disciplined.

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman delivers remarks at a press conference on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, at the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Safiyah Riddle)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending.

The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March. It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October.

The unprecedented $40 trillion figure highlights competing administration priorities, from boosting defense spending that the U.S. relies on to carry out President Donald Trump's almost-6-month-old war in Iran to lowering the cost of gas and groceries.

Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, said the Trump administration “has been focused on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America’s debt-to-GDP ratio trending in the right direction.”

However, experts say the exploding debt and the latest record milestone are already affecting Americans' pocketbooks by raising borrowing costs for things like mortgages and cars, lowering wages from businesses that have less money available to invest, and creating more expensive goods and services.

“If we want to improve our living standards, today and for the next generation, now is the time for lawmakers to put our nation on a more affordable and sustainable path," says Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a think tank focused on U.S. fiscal challenges.

The debt has exploded over several presidential administrations, as the nation's leaders spend more money than it collects in taxes. In recent memory, the multi-year COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the U.S. economy, where the federal government borrowed heavily during President Trump's first term and under former President Joe Biden to stabilize the economy and support a recovery.

More government spending was approved after Trump signed Republicans’ tax cut and spending legislation into law last year.

Advocates for a balanced budget also warn that the long-term trend of borrowing more and paying more in interest will force Americans to face tougher fiscal tradeoffs ahead.

"The federal debt is already raising the cost of living and choking out other spending and investment, threatening our economy and Americans’ long-term prosperity,” said Margaret Spellings, president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

“Our current fiscal trajectory is plainly unsustainable, and that’s the best-case scenario. AI disruption, a recession, global war, or any number of other events could quickly push us over the edge from a challenge into a full-blown crisis," Spellings said in a statement.

The U.S. is subject to a statutory debt limit, or a limit to federal borrowing, which Congress has the authority to set, adjust or abolish. The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that the U.S. will most likely reach the $41.1 trillion debt limit sometime between late winter and mid-summer of 2027, requiring Congress to again vote on whether to raise or suspend it.

The U.S.' fiscal position stands as the worst among other developed countries, according to recent data analysis from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

Specialist Gregg Maloney works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)