Wednesday, June 5, 2013

FBI raid

FBI raid, From all appearances, the federal investigation involving a veteran Democratic legislator is far from over.

One day after FBI agents raided two offices belonging to state Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, multiple sources confirmed that legislative staffers have been informed they will be served with subpoenas, and that federal agents have a list of people they want to question that includes several more Democratic legislators.

"This was news to me, like it was news to you," said Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, before a committee hearing on Wednesday afternoon. The Senate leader confirmed that Calderon did not travel to the state Capitol on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday, our colleagues at ABC7 in Los Angeles videotaped the 55-year old politician going into an area home; a family member later tried to convince the news crew that it wasn't the man at the center of California's most talked about political story.

An FBI spokesperson has confirmed that the Sacramento raid Tuesday afternoon is part of an ongoing corruption investigation in southern California. But beyond that, she declined to offer any further details. The search warrants in the case remain sealed.

The agents did not, as first reported, raid and remove files from the offices of the Legislature's Latino Caucus. Instead, they searched an auxiliary office of Calderon's located down the hall in an office building across the street from the state Capitol. They also spent several hours in the Montebello Democrat's main office on the Capitol's fifth floor.

It remained unclear as Wednesday afternoon came to a close exactly how many additional legislators could be interviewed by the FBI. None of the senators whose names were being bandied about had been contacted by federal authorities, said aides to those lawmakers.

Meantime, published reports say FBI agents have been asking questions about the relationship of Calderon and his brothers, both former legislators, to a southern California municipal water district. Tom Calderon, a former assemblymember, has long been identified as a paid consultant for the water agency. And both Ron Calderon and his brother, former assemblymember Charles Calderon, have sponsored bills in the past for that particular agency.

The Calderons are one of the most recognizable parts of modern state Capitol history; one of the three brothers has served in the Legislature every year since 1983. Last fall, the next generation came into power: Assemblymember Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, is the son of Charles Calderon and nephew to Sen. Ron Calderon.

The family's political influence is a valuable commodity, says Phillip Ung of the government reform advocacy group, California Common Cause.

"It's about how much influence the special interests have in this game, and what it is that legislators need from special interests," he said. Ung said it will be interesting to see whether Calderon opens a legal defense fund as the FBI investigation continues - a fund which, by state law, allows donations of unlimited size.

Meantime, the corruption investigation - highlighted by the first FBI raid at the state Capitol since the infamous 'Shrimp Scam' raid in 1988 - threatens to take some of the focus off of the Legislature's sprint to sending a new state budget to Gov. Jerry Brown. The budget is due in the governor's office by June 15.

"I'm telling my members to focus on their work," said Senate leader Steinberg, who has been positive in recent weeks about the state's improving finances. "You know, what was a little unfortunate about yesterday -- a lot unfortunate -- is that we're on a bit of a roll here. We're doing really well."

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