Posts Tagged: investigation

A year-end report of California’s campaign law enforcer includes hundreds of violations, ranging from failure to report donations to money laundering to the infusion of millions of dollars in stealth cash to influence measures on the 2012 ballot. The 16-page annual report by the Fair Political Practices Commission’s Enforcement Division said violations involving two categories — political campaigns and lobbying — “were at the highest level ever in 2013” and that “conflict of interest prosecutions continued at record high levels.”

The state Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces California’s campaign finance laws, has decided not to open an investigation of Sen. Kevin de León in connection with a $25,000 donation to a nonprofit advocacy group headed by the brother of Sen. Ron Calderon, a figure targeted in an FBI undercover investigation.

In the months since the FBI raided the offices of Senator Ron Calderon, the most interesting thing that’s happened in the State Capitol is what hasn’t happened in the State Capitol. Unlike broader efforts for political reform that accompanied previous corruption scandals, there has been barely a peep from California politicians of either party about the need to clean up a system that has become consumed by non-stop fundraising.

Report of Investigation into Discrepancies in Financial Reports Submitted by the California Department of Parks and Recreation

By Thomas M. Patton, Deputy Attorney General

(Ed’s Note: The full report with exhibits, witnesses’ interviews and other documentation is avaialble here.) 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

California’s Natural Resources Agency issued a statement on July 20, 2012,