The i cast level three eroticismLos Angeles Ethics Commission made the following announcement on Oct. 2:
“Pursuant to Los Angeles Administrative Code section 24.26, it has been determined that probable cause exists to believe that City Councilmember John Lee violated governmental ethics laws by accepting gifts in excess of the gift limit, failing to report gifts, misusing his city position, and aiding and abetting another person’s misuse of a city position. Probable cause exists to believe the following facts.
“Prior to being elected to the City Council, Lee was employed for many years by former Councilmember Mitchell Englander, including serving as Englander’s chief of staff. In 2016 and 2017, including during a 2017 trip to Las Vegas, Lee accepted multiple gifts from a businessperson and a developer, most of which exceeded the gift limit. Lee failed to publicly disclose those gifts on the California statement of economic interests (Form 700) that he was required to file when he left city service, and he never amended the form to disclose the gifts when he ran for Council District 12 in 2019 and 2020.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office conducted an investigation into public corruption in the City of Los Angeles. Part of the investigation included interviewing Englander and Lee. Lee assisted Englander in attempting to mislead the FBI and the USAO regarding whether Englander and Lee had made reimbursements for the gifts received during the 2017 Las Vegas trip.
“In the wake of a 2020 USAO announcement of its investigation into the 2017 Las Vegas trip and a social media post revealing Lee’s involvement in the trip, the director of enforcement initiated an investigation and determined that an enforcement action should be commenced against Lee.
“A probable cause conference was conducted on Aug. 31, 2023, and the attached accusation was served on Lee on Sept. 26. The accusation details the laws that were allegedly violated and sets forth the acts with which Lee is charged: two counts of accepting excess gifts, three counts of failing to disclose gifts, four counts of misusing a city position, and one count of aiding and abetting the misuse of a city position.
“A finding of probable cause does not constitute a finding that a violation actually occurred. The members of the Ethics Commission board must now select a hearing officer for an administrative evidentiary hearing. Following the hearing, the commissioners must determine whether the alleged violations occurred and, if so, what penalty should apply.
“The maximum penalty that the commissioners may levy is the greater of $5,000 per violation or three times the amount of money that was improperly received or reported.
“A determination regarding whether a violation occurred may only be made by the commissioners. The commissioners and staff may not comment on a pending enforcement matter.”
In response, Lee issued the following statement:
“Today, the city Ethics Commission released an accusation against me that is misguided and based on conjecture instead of actual evidence.
“For the last 20 months, commission investigators have wasted critical taxpayer resources to investigate a dinner in 2016 that I do not recall attending, have drastically inflated the amount of food and beverages I consumed during a June 2017 trip in Las Vegas during my final 11 days as a City Council staff member, and lodged accusations that are completely false.
“The commission falsely states that the FBI started an investigation into whether I accepted gifts. Further, they falsely state I attempted to mislead the FBI. Both accusations are categorically false. They fully know I have never been a target or a subject of any federal investigation.
“Throughout this process, I have gone above and beyond to cooperate with the commission’s investigation in the name of transparency. I have provided bank statements that corroborate what I recalled about this trip, sat for interviews, and have been transparent every step of the way.
“However, it became clear that commission investigators are not interested in the facts. They have preconceived notions about where their investigation should go and have ignored any exculpatory evidence they obtained.
“Further, commission investigators opted to first contact me in 2022, nearly five years after the events in question took place. Conveniently, investigators have ignored the statute of limitations to ensure their accusations line up with my 2024 re-election.
“In my 20-year career with the city, I have never received an ethics violation. When departing city service, I voluntarily and proactively contacted the Ethics Commission to ensure I understood my obligations upon leaving city service.
“When I was elected, my wife left behind her successful 20-year career in IT consulting to ensure that there would be no potential or perceived conflict of interest on the chance that her employer would seek a contract with the city. While this has had a major economic impact on my family, my wife and I fully accept being held to the highest standard of accountability.
“I also know my actions and stand by my record. I refuse to be bullied by investigators that are seemingly more focused on garnering headlines than pursuing facts, evidence and the truth, even at the expense of people’s reputations.
“For these reasons, I will vigorously fight these baseless accusations and will never apologize for representing the people who live and work in Council District 12.”
Lee was first elected during a special election in August 2019, and re-elected to his first full term in March 2020.
The 12thCouncil District, located in the northwest San Fernando Valley, includes the communities of Northridge, Chatsworth, Granada Hills, North Hills West, West Hills, Porter Ranch, and Sherwood Forest.