A longtime advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom and a consultant for other top Dem politicians has been arrested and charged with domestic violence.
Nathan Ballard allegedly pushed his wife into a glass door and attempted to suffocate their four-year-old daughter with a pillow.
His lawyer’ said: “I am confident that my client, Nathan Ballard, will be fully acquitted of these charges after the District Attorney’s Office has a chance to review the facts and learn all sides of the story.
“Nate is a well-respected professional and a member of the bar with a spotless ethical record. He has no criminal history.
“Nate knows that he is not perfect, but he is facing his own challenges head-on.”
From The Daily Mail:
An attorney for Mr Ballard – a prominent California Democratic strategist who is a longtime friend and advisor to Gov. Newsom – called the charges ‘unsubstantiated allegations.’
According to Napa County Sheriff’s Department, Mr Ballard pushed his wife, then stumbled and fell, which left him bleeding from his head and nose.
The wife has also accused him of also leaning his weight on a pillow over their four-year-old daughter’s face.
She told investigators that she pushed him off, and took her daughter and a three-year-old boy into another room and locked him out.
She also told officers that Ballard had consumed ‘a large amount of alcohol and some marijuana,’ and was suffering from a mental health episode.
She reported the alleged attack to police on October 18, and Ballard was arrested and transported to the county jail on October 20.
Ballard paid his set bail of $75,000 and was released later that day, according to documents from the Napa County Sheriff’s Department.
Ballard issued a statement in response on Thursday saying: ‘I’ve spent my career in crisis communications fighting on behalf of the wrongfully accused, and now for the first time I really know what it feels like to be in their shoes.
‘I will be exonerated. I love my children more than anything on earth, and we will be reunited.’
Mr Ballard’s lawyer said he resumed drinking in April after an eight-years of sobriety after the death of his father but is now sober again.
He is currently in a residential recovery program to deal with his drinking problem.
Dem strategist Nathan Ballard — a longtime friend and adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom — was arrested and jailed on two felony domestic violence charges in Napa that include an allegation of attempting "to suffocate a child with a pillow"@cmarinucci reportshttps://t.co/B4GCdZtr5g
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) December 3, 2020
