Judge Davila Denies Ro Khanna’s Attempt to Delay Injunction Hearing

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — A federal judge denied motions by congressional candidate Ro Khanna’s campaign that a court hearing on South Bay Rep. Mike Honda’s cybertheft charges against his opponent be delayed until after the Nov. 8 election.

Khanna’s continuance argued that “The Honda campaign is hiding behind the litigation privilege to tell lies for political ends” and that the court “need only defer this matter by less than a month to prevent such abuse.”

Edward J. Davila, a judge with United States District Court for the Northern District, denied the request for a continuance, and a hearing on the case is now scheduled for Oct. 11 in a San Jose federal court. Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the Honda campaign, said the request for a continuance was little more than an effort by Khanna to avoid answering the charges against him

Khanna and his campaign “shamelessly seek to distract the court with red herrings and innuendo,” Honda’s legal team said in a legal response to Khanna’s motion. “Time is of the essence.”

Last week, the Honda campaign charged in a civil suit that Khanna’s campaign manager illegally broke into the private computer system of his former employer and downloaded the personal information of more than 10,000 of Honda’s donors.

Khanna and his campaign manager, Brian Parvizshahi, “conspired to intentionally access Mike Honda for Congress’ confidential, proprietary information” that contained “trade secret data regarding past, current and potential donors,” according to the suits, which were filed under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Economic Espionage Act.

Parvizshahi resigned “at his own request” a few hours after the suits were announced.

There’s no argument that Honda, a San Jose resident who has held the Congressional seat since 2000, is using the suits, and the nation’s growing concern about high-tech cybercrime, to attack Khanna’s credibility as someone who will represent the Silicon Valley.

Khanna is unfit to represent this district, Honda said in a statement released Tuesday.

“Silicon Valley is the epicenter of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit that fuels the tech community,” the congressman said. “Mr. Khanna’s illegal activity sends a chilling message to all businesses, innovators and residents across this country who cherish their privacy.”

This isn’t the first clash between the two — Honda narrowly won re-election in 2014 and finished second to Khanna in June’s primary election. Honda is widely-believed to be well behind Khanna in the current polls between the two. A high-profile court case in the days before the election could be a boost for his campaign.

The request for a continuance sought “to delay this litigation — by gravely prejudicing Mike Honda for Congress’ right to a prompt, pre-election hearing,” Honda’s attorney, Gautam Dutta, said in the response to Khanna’s request. “Their motion must be swiftly denied.”

“You can’t credibly argue that this isn’t political,” said Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Khanna campaign. “It took (Honda) 41/2 months to file the damn thing.”