SACRAMENTO – State Attorney General Rob Bonta is stepping in to assume authority over the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department investigation into a contract awarded to a nonprofit by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority (Metro).
Bonta notified LASD that it is assuming control of the political corruption probe into county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and Metro over contracts awarded to the Peace Over Violence nonprofit group to operate a sex-harassment hotline, according to a letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Bonta’s letter orders the sheriff’s department to “cease its investigative activity and refrain from any actions in furtherance of these investigations, including public statements or court filings related to the investigations.” The development came shortly after a Los Angeles judge ordered the sheriff’s department to halt its search of computers and other equipment seized from Kuehl, Metro and the Metro Office of Inspector General pending a Thursday hearing on the validity of the search warrants.
Bonta also intervened in another controversial matter in Orange County over a land deal between the Anaheim Angeles and the city of Anaheim after residents believed the deal violated the Surplus Land Act.
After Bonta’s office approved a settlement on the matter, the feds swooped in and halted the deal. What followed was devastating.
Anaheim Mayor Harry Sindhu stepped down from office, the former CEO of the Anaheim Chamber Todd Ament plead guilty to fraud charges, and a California Democrat party leader Melahat Rafiei announced her departure after acknowledging she was a confidential witness in the FBI’s probe of the land deal.
Oh, and the owner of the Angels is contemplating selling the team to the owner of the Los Angeles Times.
The White House was notified of the search warrants into Metro as President Biden’s FAA nominee Phil Washington was head of the organization when the POV contract was awarded allegedly to keep “good favor” with Kuehl.
Yesterday it was announced the Los Angeles Field Office for the US Attorney’s office was sworn in after it was reported Biden called for an investigation into why the FBI wasn’t on hand for the search of Metro’s offices.
You can’t make this up.
City News Service contributed to this report.
