Attorney General issues order to return cell phones, laptops to Supervisor Sheila Kuehl amid corruption investigation
According to LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, the California Attorney General has issued an order to return her cell phones and laptops amid a corruption investigation.
"I am glad that the equipment I need to conduct public business will once again be in my hands," she tweeted Thursday.
Kuehl's home and office were the focus of a raid by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department more than a month ago.
The raid stems from an investigation that centers on the claim that Kuehl helped steer contracts to her close friend, Patti Giggan's nonprofit. According to an affidavit released by the Sheriff's Department, a whistleblower submitted a complaint saying "the personal relationship between Kuehl and Giggans," among other factors, raised questions about a potential "conflict of interest." The affidavit said the MTA awarded a series of "sole source" contracts to Peace Over Violence, totaling more than $890,000.
The Department of Justice and Attorney General Rob Bonta were asked to take over the investigation from the Sheriff's Department.
Kuehl believes that the investigation and raid were an attempt by Sheriff Alex Villanueva to boost his profile ahead of the November election.
"Forty-three days ago, Sheriff's deputies executed an intrusive search of my home, an act that was ginned up to provide 11th-hour fuel for the Sheriff's doomed re-election bid," she tweeted.
