Campaign donors, staffers for L.A. Councilwoman Nury Martinez were summoned to L.A. County grand jury

Three years ago, federal prosecutors issued subpoenas to several of Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez’s aides, instructing them to appear before a federal grand jury to discuss her 2015 re-election campaign.

Within weeks, FBI agents also went to the homes of people listed in city records as donors to Martinez’s campaign to ask them if they were indeed contributors. Four of them later told The Times they did not make those donations.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office never announced charges and since then has declined to say whether the probe is over. But earlier this summer, several people with ties to Martinez or her campaign were summoned to a different grand jury, this one representing Los Angeles County.

At least two people who worked for the councilwoman in 2015 – one a current employee, the other a former staffer – were called to the grand jury in June. At least three others, each of them identified in city reports as Martinez’s donors, were summoned that same month.

A spokesman for L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, responding to a Times inquiry, confirmed that prosecutors are looking at Martinez. He declined to say what his office is examining.

“Our office has received complaints regarding Nury Martinez and they are under review,” said Lacey spokesman Greg Risling. “We cannot comment further.”

Martinez told The Times she has not heard from either the D.A. or the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “I have no idea who they’re talking to,” Martinez said in an interview. “No one’s ever made me aware of anything. I’ve been sort of kept in the dark.”

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Appeal-democrat news services