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Miller Off Ethics Committee, But Not Krekorian?
Speaker Karen Bass today temporarily recused Assemblyman Jeff Miller from the Ethics Committee that is investigating Mike Duvall’s actions. Presumably that’s because it was Miller to whom Duvall was regaling with his sexcapades in the infamous video, and bass feels there would be some sort of conflict.
But what about Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, who is the co-chair fo the Ethics Commitee? Here he is at a California Against Waste event with ith Heidi Barsuglia, the lobbyist with whom Duvall was (allegedly) having an affair:
Somehow, I don’t think Speaker Bass will be quite so sensitive to appearances off conflicts in this instance.
[Don’t bother looking for the photo: it’s been dropped down the memory hole].… Read More
Bass Dumps Duvall From Committees; Blakeslee Dumps Duvall From GOP Leadership
The Sacramento Bee has reported that GOP Assemblyman Mike Duvall has been removed from the Assembly Rules and Utilities and Commerce Committee after the startling revelations about his extra-marital affairs with Capitol lobbyists. Also, the leader of Assembly GOPers, Sam Blakeslee, has dumped Duvall from his leadership post in the Republican Caucus.
In the story are statements from Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Assembly Republican Leader Sam Blakeslee:
"I am saddened and disappointed in the recent comments made by Assemblymember Mike Duvall. There is no question his comments were inappropriate. … The Assembly has some very important policy work to complete in the next couple of days and we will not allow this situation to become a distraction." — Speaker Karen Bass "I am terribly … Read More
OC GOP Chairman and Former Assembly Republican Leader Calls On Duvall To Resign
OC Weekly’s Scott Moxley has just posted a follow up piece to his breaking story of last night on the ever-growing scandal of Mike Duvall.
In his latest piece, Moxley reports that well respected Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh, formerly Assembly Republican Leader, has called on Mike Duvall to resign his office.
An excerpt from Moxley’s piece…
"There’s nothing defensible in what I saw or heard," Baugh said about the airing of video capturing Duvall graphically boast to a colleague during a public committee hearing about his sexual conquests with lobbyists. The key memorable line from the boasting was his gleeful observation that one of the lobbyists had complained that the assemblyman was "dripping out" of her when she walked up stairs after a sexual interlude. "My heart goes out to Mike’s family," said Baugh. "But … Read More
Duvall Scandal Goes International: Headlines in UK Paper
The pseudo-news, tabloidy UK Daily Mail has decided to run with the Duvall scandal, choosing to tie the story to, of all people, Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s worth a read to see how this is being portrayed over in jolly London… THE LINK: The spanking senator: Politician friend of Schwarzenegger caught on camera bragging about extra-marital affair… Read More
Another Head Scratcher: Meg Whitman “Huge Fan” of Van Jones
Like many conservatives in California, I regret ever getting on the Arnold bandwagon. Although he has been very good for the past two months, he squandered his political capital on nothing, then aided the State’s freefall into the abyss by not being even remotely fiscally conservative. I have the same misgivings about Meg Whitman. That sinking feeling that she is not authentic, too quick to praise leftist radicals, and not resolute enough to stand up to the leftists in this State largely responsible for our debt and deficits.
Conservatives throughout California got a glimpse of a very naive Meg Whitman this week in her video praising former Obama Green Czar Van Jones.
Whitman, who didn’t even register as a Republican until 2007, said that… Read More
Assemblyman Chris Norby?
Over at the venerable Red County/OC Blog website, editor Matt Cunningham has already begun to look past the fact that scandal-embroiled incumbent Mike Duvall still occupies his seat in the legislature, and is looking towards a potential special election if Duvall follows the advice of OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh and resigns his seat.
Cunningham is a fan of Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby, whose Supervisorial District overlaps much of the 72 Assembly District, and who is facing term limits next year. You can read Norby’s comments over on Matt’s blog post here.
This Duvall scandal is exploding at light speed — and this kind of analysis coming from a "steady hand" in Orange County like Cunningham is telling indeed…… Read More
This post is about the Supreme Court and the FEC; not sex in Sacramento
The other news today besides the unexpected and Claude Rains-like shocking information about an Assemblyman having sex with lobbyists in Sacramento, comes from the halls of the United States Supreme Court, where a special second oral argument was held in the Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission case that I have written about here before. Without going into too much detail on the legal mumbo jumbo, from the questions asked of the lawyers, it looks like there is a pretty firm 5-4 majority (at least to this observer) in favor of overturning the longstanding ban on corporate contributions in Federal political campaigns. For election lawyers, reading such a decision would be a little like being an Israelite observing Moses parting the Red Sea. But it is a question squarely before the count, and Justices Kennedy, Scalia and Thomas are absolutely on board with this notion, and by their questions, it appears that Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts are on the verge of deciding that the First Amendment belongs to everybody, including people who work for corporations (and likely unions to follow). Judge Sotomayor’s… Read More