The emails suggest that Amazon employees were coordinating with vendors to encourage major retailers like Walmart and Chewy to raise prices on products listed on their platforms. In one instance, Amazon is accused of increasing prices on a popular set of dog treats and working with the manufacturer to persuade Chewy to match the hike. Amazon allegedly sent the manufacturer a list of products with price increases, instructing them to ensure Chewy followed suit. Just two days later, the manufacturer reportedly confirmed that the price increase had been applied on both platforms.

In another case, Amazon reportedly sent links to Levi’s showing that Walmart was selling Dockers khaki pants at a lower price than Amazon. The next day, Levi’s allegedly told Amazon it had coordinated with Walmart to raise the price of the pants to $29.99, which was then mirrored by Amazon shortly after.

Bonta’s office argues that these actions demonstrate Amazon’s attempt to manipulate the market by colluding with vendors and other retailers to raise prices for consumers, an allegation that the company strongly denies.

“The evidence uncovered today is clear as day: Amazon is working to make your life more unaffordable,” Bonta said, criticizing Amazon for price-fixing. “The company is price-fixing, colluding with vendors and other retailers to raise costs for Americans beyond what the market requires.”

In response, Amazon dismissed the claims, accusing Bonta’s office of a “transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case.” The company stated that it remains proud of offering low prices to customers and would address the allegations in court.

Walmart, Levi’s, and Chewy, while mentioned in the filings, are not named as defendants in the case.

These revelations are part of an ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed by Bonta’s office in 2022, accusing Amazon of manipulating prices across various online platforms to create an artificial price floor that limits competition while allowing Amazon to retain its competitive edge. Bonta contends that by controlling prices in this manner, Amazon can present itself as offering the best deals, even as it benefits from reduced competition.

The newly unsealed records were part of a motion filed in February by Bonta, seeking an injunction to halt Amazon’s alleged price-fixing practices. Amazon’s trial is scheduled to begin in January 2027, and the company continues to deny the core allegations, arguing that its practices encourage competition rather than stifle it.

This is not the first time Amazon’s pricing practices have come under scrutiny. In a separate release, the Guardian reported last week on additional court documents showing how Amazon’s tactics allegedly pressured smaller companies to raise their prices in order to compete on its platform.

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The jail system has reported its highest number of detainee deaths in decades, including several suicides, the New York Times reported. Deaths were reported as homicide, overdose, natural causes and suicide.

Alicia Upton, who died of suicide in 2022, was one of 19 people who died in custody that year. It was the system’s most lethal year in more than three decades. Upton was one of at least four suicides, the newspaper reported.

Neglect by jail employees, access to drugs and cell assignments put detainees at increased risk throughout 2022, the New York Times reported.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has reportedly assumed no responsibility for the deaths. County sheriff Chad Bianco did not respond to interview requests with the New York Times.

Meanwhile, California Attorney General Rob Bonta launched a civil rights investigation into the sheriff’s office last year, citing concerns over its jail facilities.

“Whether you have a loved one in jail or are worried about crime in your neighborhood, we all benefit when there is action to ensure the integrity of policing in our state,” Bonta wrote.

The newspaper reported five key takeaways about the jail system:

1. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department failed to adequately monitor detainees and intervene when they attempted suicide

2. Mentally ill detainees were able to block cell cameras and cell door windows even though the rules forbade it.

3. Deputies did not relocate detainees who expressed suicidal thoughts to cells where they could be monitored at all times.

4. The sheriff’s department left out important information about the deaths to the public and to the detainee’s families.

5. Riverside County paid out millions of dollars in settlements related to detainee deaths.

Read more from the New York Times: Inside a Deadly Southern California Jail System: 5 Takeaways

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California’s Democratic attorney general advanced to the November general election Tuesday and was on pace to face the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate in a state that overwhelmingly favors Democrats.

Attorney General Rob Bonta, the only Democrat in the five-way primary field, advanced after winning 57% of the vote.

The GOP’s endorsed candidate, Nathan Hochman, trailed with 17.5% of the votes counted. Hochman is a former federal prosecutor and former assistant U.S. attorney general.

Conservative Republican Eric Early was third, with 15%, while Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, running without party affiliation, had 8% of the vote. Green Party candidate Dan Kapelovitz had 3%.

The top two vote-getters advance to the November election under California law, no matter their party affiliation.

“No Department of Justice in the country is doing more to stand up to rightwing attacks against our constitutional and legal rights — from defending abortion protections and the right to privacy to strengthening our gun safety laws,” Bonta said in a statement.

He said it was too soon to say which Republican he will face in November, but said both “have dodged basic questions about how they would handle these constitutional and legal issues if they are elected Attorney General.”

Neither Republican immediately responded to requests for comment.

Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, predicted that Bonta will win in November despite his challengers’ attempts to tap into Californians’ growing unease on crime.

“Because this is not just about prosecuting crime, which mostly happens on the county level,” she said. “This is about what is going to be our legal policy with respect to reproductive rights, what’s going to be our legal policy with respect to Second Amendment rights, what’s going to be our policy with respect to immigration? And for all of those bigger policy questions, I think the November electorate will strongly prefer Bonta.”

California Republicans haven’t won a statewide election since 2006, and the last GOP attorney general left office in 1999.

Levinson was shocked that Schubert didn’t do better, and said Schubert likely would have presented a greater challenge to Bonta. The outcome, she said, shows that even California’s growing percentage of no-party-preference voters still prefer a candidate who is affiliated with one of the major parties.

Schubert said in a concession statement that she hopes the next attorney general will fight “to change our laws so that violent felons are not released early from prison without rehabilitation and that serial criminals will once again be held accountable.”

Schubert gave up her Republican affiliation four years ago to run as an independent.

Early had finished last in a four-way primary election for attorney general in 2018 and this year was far behind other candidates in campaign fundraising.

This is Bonta’s first statewide race after Newsom appointed him attorney general last year to fill a vacancy.

The office of California attorney general has long provided both a national stage and a stepping stone to higher office, including recently for Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Becerra used the office to fight then-President Donald Trump at every turn, while Bonta has championed reproductive and LTGBQ rights and the state’s gun control efforts at the national level.

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Ben Christopher | Contributed

In a 70-minute interview, Nathan Hochman, a Republican former federal prosecutor, vows to end a “spiral of lawlessness” in California as he runs for attorney general. Hochman is seeking to finish in the top two in the June 7 primary against Democratic incumbent Rob Bonta.

What does California’s attorney general actually do? According to Republican Nathan Hochman , who wants to be the next one, the job description is simple: Enforce the law.

That’s why during his 70-minute sit-down interview with CalMatters reporters, the longtime Los Angeles lawyer was quick to emphasize the depth of his experience as a federal prosecutor, defense attorney and tax law expert. It’s also why he was happy to speak at length about crime across the state and to lay the blame at the feet of current Attorney General Rob Bonta .

But on nearly all questions of policy preference and political point of view, he took the proverbial Fifth.

“If I want to go ahead and legislate California policy, I’d run for the state Assembly or the state Senate or maybe even for the governor,” he said. “I view the job of the California attorney general as enforcing the laws on the books of the state of California, full stop.”

Hochman was also mum when he was asked for his views on the death penalty. “I’m signing up for a job that’s enforcing the law, not making the law.”

And ditto on gun control measures and additional support for out-of-state women seeking abortions in California, both under consideration by the Legislature. “That’s for the California Legislature to decide,” he said.

Did the self-described “pragmatic” Republican vote for Trump? “I’m not willing to answer that question.”

CalMatters 2022 Voter Guide What Californians need to know to prepare to vote Go to Voter Guide

Hochman’s “just the facts, ma’am” approach could reflect his earnest belief in the nonpartisan nature of the position. But steering clear of controversy could also be his best shot at winning over a generally left-of-center electorate that hasn’t put a Republican in statewide office since 2006.

Either way, he has his work cut out for him if he wants to become California’s next attorney general .

First, Hochman, who has never held elected office, will have to introduce himself to the state’s roughly 22 million voters. Then he’ll have to persuade the Democratic-voting majority to overlook his party affiliation and pick him over Bonta, a Democrat; Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert who is running without a political party label; or anyone else vying for the job of California’s top cop.

Finally, he’ll need to convince voters that legal experience really does matter more than partisan affiliation — and to forgive him for his silence on most of the hot-button issues of the day.

Here are three other highlights from our conversation with Hochman:

A few exceptions to taking the Fifth

While Hochman was clear that he preferred not to talk policy details, he made a few notable exceptions.

He had a clear position on Proposition 47, the 2014 state ballot measure that reclassified the theft of items valued at less than $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor, along with other low-level crimes. Like virtually every major Republican office holder in the state, Hochman blames the measure for the apparent increase in property crime statewide over the last two years.

“You got the idea that people can just go ahead and commit crimes of higher and higher degrees because there’s no consequences,” he said of the law. “If you create a spiral of lawlessness, you are going down the wrong path. I would do my best from Day One to create a ‘spiral of lawfulness’ — that crimes actually do have measured consequences.”

Hochman also said he emphatically supports the legalization of online sports gambling, a position he said he’s held for decades. That puts him firmly on one side of what is likely to be one of the fiercest ballot measure fights in November. Sports betting giants DraftKings and FanDuel are funding a November initiative to legalize the practice online, while tribal governments are pushing a competing measure that would restrict sports betting to their regulated casinos. Hochman’s position also draws a policy contrast with his main competitor for the tough-on-crime vote, Schubert.

Pointing to his resume, calling out Schubert

Hochman touts his resume as his chief qualification. Of the three top candidates for attorney general, his does run the longest.

For eight years he worked as a federal prosecutor, culminating in a one-year stint as assistant attorney general for tax law enforcement in the George W. Bush administration. He also has decades of experience working as a defense attorney in private practice in Los Angeles. His past clients include the hip-hop and R&B singer-songwriter Lauren Hill, when she got into trouble with the IRS, and disgraced former Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca .

It’s that diversity of experience that Hochman says more than makes up for the fact that he’s never been elected to anything. It also makes him the strongest candidate, he said.

Anyone running for office “without a criminal background,” he said, “should go back to the Legislature and legislate” — a not-so-subtle dig at Bonta, who was serving his 11th year in the Assembly before Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him .

And “to the extent that people are running for the attorney general’s position and have no civil litigation experience, God help them,” he said. That one was directed at Schubert, who has spent her entire legal career as a Sacramento prosecutor.

Only the top two vote-getters in the June 7 primary will move on to the November ballot. And with most rank-and-file Democrats likely to back Bonta, Hochman will be competing most directly with Schubert.

GOP, no problem

Hochman and Schubert make very similar criticisms of Bonta. What distinguishes them most clearly is that Hochman is a Republican and Schubert is running with “no party preference.”

Schubert isn’t the first statewide candidate to ashew the GOP label and run without the support of a party. Political consultant Dan Schnur and former state insurance commissioner Steve Poizner, both former Republicans like Schubert, tried it. Both failed. But with Republicans making up only 23% of California voters , the argument for ditching the brand remains as compelling as ever.

But Hochman said he doesn’t buy it.

2022 Election News from CalMatters What to know about the 2022 elections in California All Election Coverage.

First, he emphasizes that he is not a partisan firebrand. Touting his approach as “pragmatic” and “common sense.” He criticizes current state criminal statutes, which he said makes it too onerous for police and prosecutors to enforce the law, but also the “blanket policies that result in mass incarceration.” He dubbed his third way, alternative approach “the hard middle.”

But Republicans, he said, have also tended to do well when crime is top of mind for most voters. After a decades-long hiatus, angst about safety is on the upswing, even if it still isn’t a top concern for most voters . In this political environment, the California electorate, he predicted, are “going to look beyond the party and they’re going to look at the actual individual — on who can make their communities more safe and more secure.”

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