Posted on 11/27/2004 9:37:31 AM PST by NormsRevenge
BART's political efforts on a seismic repair bond are a major focus of a federal political corruption probe into Sen. Don Perata and his associates. In a Nov. 8 subpoena, the U.S. District Court ordered BART to hand over records relating to the work of Perata, his children and their companies. The subpoena also names Perata's college roommate Timothy Staples, Oakland lobbyist Lily Hu, political consultant Sandra Polka and their firms.
The federal grand jury wants to know about direct or indirect payments to them. The subpoena highlights 26 BART checks to Hu's political consulting firm Lily Hu & Associates between June 2001 and December 2003.
BART paid Hu's firm a total of $112,000 in that time, the checks show. BART disclosed the records Friday in response to a California Public Records Act request lodged by the Oakland Tribune.
The transit agency said it hired Hu, a former Perata aide, for political groundwork in the run-up to a seismic bond on the ballot. BART's first attempt narrowly failed in November 2002, but the second attempt passed comfortably earlier this month.
But Lily Hu is not the only individual named in the subpoena with close ties to BART's seismic campaign.
Other records released by BART in a separate Oakland Tribune public records request show that the agency also paid Polka for political work on the bond.
The first of those contracts was executed Aug. 1, 2002. BART was to pay Polka $10,000 a month to help develop a public education campaign on Measure AA, work with "overlapping agencies with bond measure plans" and assist the elected BART directors "as needed."
After that measure failed, BART entered on May 1, 2003, a three-month, $7,500-a-month contract with Polka for public outreach on "a future bond measure to be placed before the voters." BART agreed to pay Polka before its Board of Directors had decided to seek a bond.
The contract was renewed for $7,000 a month in December 2003 and May 2004. BART paid Polka $7,000 in June and July, BART records show.
BART Director Dan Richard said in an interview earlier this month BART awarded Polka and Hu contracts without seeking bids.
Campaign finance records for BART's 2002 Measure AA show Perata's friends and relatives also got paid for their political expertise.
In 2002, the campaign paid BPR Communications $6,750 for Measure AA literature. The public relations firm is managed by Becca Perata-Rosati, the Oakland senator's daughter. She and another firm, BPR Productions, are named in the federal subpoena, but BPR Communications is not.
The Measure AA campaign also paid Staples Associates at least $47,500, according to public campaign records. The firm, owned by the senator's college roommate and close friend, Timothy Staples, is also named in the court order, as is Staples himself.
For his part, Perata says only that he has not been contacted by federal authorities and that he will cooperate if asked. He made the remarks in a brief press statement last week. He did not take questions.
News of the FBI-led investigation broke as Perata was preparing to take over as President Pro-Tem of the state Senate. As news of the probe swirled, his office was sending out press releases about who Perata, the new senate president, was naming to key committee assignments.
The timing of leaks has led to rumors that Perata's rival in the closely contested leadership race would stage a "coup" when lawmakers return to work this week, and there have been suggestions of a politically-motivated witch-hunt. Perata's rival, Norwalk Democrat Martha Escutia, has denied any suggestion she was involved in or plans to capitalize on the probe. Earlier this week she insisted Perata is indisputably the senate president.
That didn't keep the lawyers for Perata's children from firing off a letter Monday to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller, demanding an investigation into the leaks.
"These leaks are criminal and constitute violations of the very laws these (federal) officers are sworn to uphold. They are unfair because they pervert the grand jury process. And they are scurrilous because Nick Perata and Rebecca Perata-Rosati have never engaged in any form of criminal misconduct," the letter said.
How and why the probe began remains uncertain. Until now, most signs have pointed to filings in Alameda County Superior Court last fall when Hu, 48, and her boyfriend of 20 years, Frank Wishom, went through a messy break-up.
Hu's attorney, Sally Elkington, wrote in a letter during her client's proceedings to obtain a restraining order against Wishom, "My client is confident regarding her business activities. She has no reason to believe the FBI is investigating her and she is not taking or giving any 'kickbacks.'"
Wishom responded in court documents that the FBI "is investigating Ms. Hu's conduct in regard to her lobbying activities and her activities with politicians."
Hu has been away on a vacation since the scandal surfaced and has been unavailable for comment, but BART records obtained this week seem to indicate that the FBI is interested in her activities extending at least as far back as mid-2001.
pass the popcorn...
Democrats are criminials? Say it isn't so!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.