L.A. councilmember John Lee is accused of violating ethics laws
Los Angeles Councilmember John Lee, who is seeking reelection next year to represent voters in the West San Fernando Valley, vehemently denied wrongdoing on Monday after the city's ethics commission announced that Lee may have violated ethics laws while working for former Councilmember Mitch Englander.
According to the commission, there is “probable cause” to believe that Lee accepted gifts in excess of a gift limit, failed to report gifts, misused his city position, and aided and abetted another person's misuse of a city position.
The commission also noted that a finding of a probable cause doesn't mean that Lee has actually violated the laws. That will be determined at a future hearing.
Lee represents Council District 12, which includes Chatsworth, Granada Hills, North Hills, Northridge, Porter Ranch, Sherwood Forest and West Hills.
He said in a statement late Monday that the accusations against him are “misguided” and “based on conjecture instead of actual evidence.”
“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,” said Lee, pledging to “vigorously fight these baseless accusations.”
According to the ethics commission, the alleged violations occurred while Lee was a city employee, working for then-Councilmember Englander, including as his chief of staff.
Several people were the focus of a corruption probe at City Hall by the Department of Justice, dubbed Operation Casino Loyale, and several pleaded guilty to varying charges in different cases, including Englander. The ex-councilmember pleaded not guilty to several federal charges in 2021, then pleaded guilty to one count of scheming to falsify material facts, according to the Department of Justice. Englander was sentenced to 14 months in prison and was released from federal custody on Feb. 3, 2022.
In 2016 and 2017, including during a trip to Las Vegas in 2017, Lee allegedly accepted gifts — many of which exceeded the city's
Los Angeles City Councilmember John Lee, shown on Sept. 7, is accused of violating ethics laws.
gift limit — from a businessperson and a developer, then failed to disclose those gifts on mandatory disclosure forms when he ended his city employment, the ethics commission said. He also did not amend the forms to disclose the gifts when he ran for City Council in 2019 and 2020, the commission said.
According to the commission, during an investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office into public corruption, Lee helped his former boss, Englander, attempt to mislead investigators about whether the two men had made reimbursements for gifts they received during the Vegas trip.
A “probable cause” conference was conducted by the ethics commission on Aug. 31, and Lee was served with an accusation last week.
The councilmember is accused of 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.
Lee, in his statement, said investigators have wasted taxpayer resources investigating a 2016 dinner he doesn't recall attending and said investigators “drastically inflated” the amount of food and beverages he consumed during the 2017 Vegas trip.
He further said that the ethics commission falsely stated that the FBI started an investigation into whether he accepted gifts and that he attempted to mislead the FBI.
“Both accusations are categorically false,” Lee said, adding that he's cooperated with the commission's investigation throughout the process.
“However, It became clear that Commission investigators are not interested in the facts. They have preconceived notions about where their investigation should go,” he said.
In addition, Lee said investigators from the ethics commission did not contact him until 2022, nearly five years after the alleged incidents took place, “to ensure their accusations line up with my 2024 reelection.”
Next, the ethics commission will hold a hearing to determine whether Lee actually committed any violations and, if so, what penalties to issue.
The maximum penalty is either $5,000 per violation or three times the amount of money improperly received or reported, whichever is greater.