WA Attorney General candidate questioned over employment claims, asked to correct website

WASHINGTON – Manka Dhingra has repeatedly stated that she is a “Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with King County since January 2000.”

It’s on her attorney general campaign website, her State Senate website, social media pages and video voter guides.

However, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has asked her to drop the claim, suggesting she has not worked at the office in nearly three years. The issue arose two weeks ago when the Human Resources Department at ZCKPK was contacted to verify her employment.

Dhingra exchanged emails with Human Resources Director Heidi Parkington-Thai that were obtained by KOMO News. The candidate for attorney general and state senator wrote that she was given a pass by former King County District Attorney Dan Satterberg and that current District Attorney Leesa Manion still considered her an employee.

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Parkington-Thai was blunt in a June 21 email, “Hi Manka, I spoke with Leesa and she doesn’t remember having this conversation.”

The HR director also wrote on June 24, “Our HR and payroll records do not reflect that you have been on leave at any time since your resignation email dated October 1, 2021. We understand that you may you had a conversation with Dan Satterberg while he was still the prosecutor’s office, which led you to believe you were on leave after resigning. But Leesa doesn’t recall being part of such a conversation or having such a conversation with you after being selected. Please know that our office does not currently consider you to be on leave.”

And all this happened after Parkington-Thai wrote: “Will you correct this in your campaign materials?”

“I find it very troubling that she hasn’t been a trial attorney for at least three years, and she’s still out there using the title,” said Dave Horn, who is a former assistant attorney general and chief of staff for Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “I think it’s a matter of misrepresenting your credentials. I mean, there’s an air of authority that comes with a title like that. She’s still got a lot of great experience, no question about that, but to pretend you’re in a job you’ve been in for a while is troubling.”

He added that he has never heard of anyone taking a three-year break.

Dhingra reiterated Friday that she still believed she was on leave from the prosecutor’s office.

“I also helped develop the 40-hour crisis intervention training at the Criminal Justice Training Commission and trained law enforcement in crisis intervention until I left to run in 2017,” she said of her initial departure. “(Satterberg) said, Manka goes on a vacation. No matter what happens with the campaign, you’re always welcome to come back. I went on leave in June 2017. After I was elected to the senate, we had an understanding where, whenever I was not running, they welcomed me back to the office”.

When asked if the emails from the HR director tell a different story, Dhingra said, “You’d have to ask him about that.”

She continues, “None of my campaign materials say I’m currently employed there. I just use the title Dan Satterberg gave me, which I still have. Nowhere in my campaign materials do I say that I am currently employed in an office? I’m always very clear that I’m on a break and I’ve said that over and over again.”

When asked why she wouldn’t just change the campaign or the official pages, she said, “We can do that. I can’t change it on the official site because of campaign rules, but permission. I’m sure we can change that to say I’m currently on vacation. But I’ve been a senior deputy prosecutor in King County since 2000.”

Horn admits he is backing former U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, who is a fellow Democrat like Dhingra, in the race.

“The Attorney General is a powerful position. They enforce many laws, one of the laws they enforce is the Consumer Protection Act, which makes it against the law for a business to mislead its customers even if they choose their words very carefully. If the impression left is misleading, they cannot do this. Now, that doesn’t apply to running for office. But for me, the principle is the same. It’s not good to mislead people about what work you’re doing,” he said.