Joe Cotchett, the attorney of Giants owner Charles Johnson, joined Gary & Larry on Tuesday morning and spoke candidly about the recent controversy involving campaign contributions made by the Giants owner.
Johnson and his wife Ann each donated the maximum $2,700 to the campaign of Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican U.S. Senator from Mississippi, as first reported by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Hyde-Smith recently came under fire for saying of a local rancher, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” Johnson and his wife made the donation nine days after the comment surfaced.
News of the donation comes less than a month after it was reveled that Johnson also donated $1,000 to a Super PAC called Black Americans for the President’s Agenda, that aired a racist radio ad during an Arkansas congressional election.
Cotchett claimed Johnson didn’t know who he was donating to, and that the owner is sick over what has happened. He also stated multiple times that Johnson “doesn’t have a racist bone in his body.”
“Let me put it this way to you: I don’t know if he wants his money back because the election is today,” Cotchett began. “All this came up what? Within the past 48 hours. I can tell you this: Charlie never met the woman. How this all came about, it’s a situation where both democrats and republicans who contribute to their parties, get a list of people and they write the checks. To be brutally candid with you, I’m not sure that Charlie wrote the checks. Maybe it was his assistant.
“He’s never met the woman, he didn’t know anything about her. I can tell you this: Charlie doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. I’m a progressive active democrat, I love the guy.
“Between you and me and whoever’s listening, I think the guy’s got to be sick about it. This is the last thing he needs in his life. He’s 85 years old. To be called a racist is crazy. The man has given, here on the San Mateo peninsula where he’s lived his whole life, he’s given to kids, he’s given to education, he’s given to the LGBTQ community, his foundation. This is a guy who is as straight up as it comes. He doesn’t have a racist bone in his body.
Cotchett said Johnson would not consider selling his stake in the Giants.
“The answer is absolutely not. The son-of-a-bitch at 85 would love to be a designated hitter next season. He saved them by the way. He was one of the guys that saved them from moving to Florida.
“This is an unfortunate situation where Charlie stupidly, and I’ll call it stupid, wrote checks as we all do…we all make mistakes. I think Charlie made a big mistake. By the way, let’s get this all out on the table. You know he gave to an organization called African Americans for the President or something like that. And then he found out they were running these ads in Arkansas, and he immediately wrote them a letter and said I want nothing to do with you, send me back my $1,000.”
Cotchett was then asked if Johnson should ask for his donation back in this case as well.
“Between you and me he should. Stop all the nonsense. He should, just to prove he truly believes what he’s talking about. The man is not a racist, he’s sick about it. Whether he thinks she’s a racist or not, I do. I have no question. The public hanging, the pictures, her attitude, sending her children to white-only schools, c’mon now.
“To be brutally candid with you, I would if I were Larry Baer I would say to Charlie Johnson, ‘Charlie, you’re one of our owners, we have great respect for you, we know you personally. Write a letter and get your money back.’”
Johnson is known to be a recluse who rarely, if ever, speaks publicly or gives interviews. Cotchett believes his client should make an exception in this case.
“You know the type of person I am, I would make a public statement. I’m going to get on his ass and see if I can get him to do that.”
Listen to the full interview below.