Missed this article in the am – but it’s certainly significant. It’s by veteran columnists Phil Matier and Andrew Ross…
FBI jumpstarts Perata probe; police academy class scrubbed — no funds
– Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross – San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Theeeeey’re back! After months of relative quiet, the Justice Department has kicked its influence-peddling investigation of state Senate leader Don Perata into gear again, with FBI agents interviewing members of the Oakland City Council over the past couple of days.
The interviews, conducted at council members’ offices, appear to center on whether Perata, D-Oakland, was leaning on council members to vote in ways that would indirectly help his friends and relatives.
"Basically, they wanted to know what kind of influence Don had on votes," said Councilman Larry Reid, who was interviewed by the FBI on Monday.
Reid said the FBI was also interested in any contact he and other council members had with others in Perata’s orbit, including:
— Former Perata college friend and business associate Timothy Staples.
— One-time Perata aide-turned-lobbyist Lily Hu.
— And Perata’s son Nick Perata, a political consultant.
Reid said agents had also shown him a list of Hu’s clients and asked if he knew any of them.
"They seemed interested in the contracts that some members of the African American community feel they were locked out of," Reid said.
Councilwoman Nancy Nadel also got a visit from the feds Monday.
"They asked me if I knew about any corruption that Sen. Perata might have been involved in," Nadel said. She said she didn’t.
"They also asked me if Lily Hu had lobbied me on certain contracts," Nadel said.
"They also asked me if I had ever taken any money for a vote," Nadel said. She said she hadn’t taken a dime.
As he’s risen from county supervisor to state assemblyman to Senate president pro tem, Perata has built one of the most effective political machines in the state.
That machine helps not only fellow Democratic politicians at election time, but also cities, school districts and transportation agencies seeking voter approval for bond issues.
In some cases, money for those races has paid for hiring Perata family members and friends as campaign workers and consultants.
The feds have been looking into Perata’s business and political connections for more than a year, with the emphasis apparently on three questions:
— Did Perata encourage companies and interests doing business with state and local governments to hire his friend Staples as a lobbyist, then later get money back from Staples?
— Did Perata receive money from lobbyist Hu in return for helping Hu’s projects before the Oakland City Council?
— And did Perata’s son, Nick, receive contracts from state and local agencies during bond campaigns, then later funnel part of the money back to Perata through rent and other payments?
Perata spokesman Jason Kinney said the latest round of FBI interviews did not come as a surprise.
"We’ve said all along that this investigation is a mile wide and a half an inch thick," Kinney said. "By the end, I wouldn’t be surprised if they dig up and interview Elvis.
"But in the end, it is our hope and expectation that it will be shown that the senator acted appropriately," Kinney said.
Read the entire article here.