Ca. Gubernatorial Hopeful Claims Opponent Plotted to Bring Sharia to U.S.

Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly’s mudslinging campaign for California governor is drawing the ire of civil-rights groups and local GOP leaders. On his Facebook page Monday, Donnelly accused primary opponent Neel Kashkari, a former investment banker, of helping conspire to bring Sharia law to the United States because he participated in a Treasury conference about Islamic finances while serving as the interim assistant secretary of the Treasury for financial stability in 2008. Donnelly’s post immediately sparked backlash from Kashkari, who called it “absurd” and from leaders within the Republican Party. California state GOP Vice Chairwoman Harmeet Dhillon called the baseless accusations against Kashkari “troubling and irresponsible.” On Wednesday, the Alameda County Republican Party charged Donnelly and his supporters with using “bigotry, racism, and outright ignorance to try to win the primary.” As of Tuesday, Donnelly still stood behind the claims, tweeting proudly that the Los Angeles Times had “picked up our highlight of Neel Kashkari’s submission to Sharia law when he ran TARP.”