Posted on 04/08/2005 9:46:33 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Through her aggressive fund raising for San Francisco politicians, Julie Lee transformed herself from grassroots activist to City Hall insider and political power broker.
But that same largesse and the power it brought her have written the most bitter chapter of Lee's career, leading to the resignation from office of one of her biggest benefactors, Kevin Shelley, as California secretary of state --
and now felony charges said to have been filed against her by the state attorney general Thursday.
Lee coveted insider access, say those who worked closely with her, and she quickly learned that campaign contributions opened the doors to power. But the desire to mingle with the high and mighty that fueled her ambitions also proved to be a dangerous flaw, former associates say.
"There is a fight to get inside, and have somebody in the emperor's palace, but at what cost?" said attorney Edward Liu, who co-founded the San Francisco Neighbors Association, the grassroots group that launched Lee's career as a wheeler-dealer. He, along with other founders, split long ago over differences with Lee.
As Lee reached greater and greater heights, she perhaps could not match the rainmaker image she projected -- and that may have led to her downfall.
State prosecutors are said to be accusing Lee of diverting $125,000 from a taxpayer-funded grant to Shelley's 2002 campaign fund. The criminal complaint, prepared by the state attorney general's office, also is said to charge Lee with the "extraction" of $80,000 from two clients of her real estate business to contribute to Shelley.
In the last decade, Lee, 58, not only became a major player at City Hall but helped reshape Chinese American politics in San Francisco.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Criminal charges against San Francisco official / Sources say Shelley fund-raiser accused of diverting grant funds
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/08/MNGLFC57TE1.DTL
Christian Berthelsen, Vanessa Hua - San Francisco Chronicle
State prosecutors charged a top volunteer fund-raiser for former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley with grand theft and other felonies on Thursday, accusing her of diverting $125,000 from a taxpayer-funded grant to Shelley's 2002 campaign fund, sources with knowledge of the case told The Chronicle.
I wonder if she has connections with triads or even PRC covert ops?
It's a start! :-)
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