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With the dark cloud of a lingering federal probe behind him, there is nothing standing between former state Sen. Don Perata and the Oakland mayor's office but time, opportunity and blue skies. On Wednesday, the FBI closed the books on a five-year investigation into whether Perata's business dealings drove his legislative decisions. Perata announced his plans in March to run for mayor of Oakland in 2010. So far, his toughest competition, former City Manager Robert Bobb, is currently the state-appointed director of the Detroit public schools and lives in the Washington, D.C., area. The federal investigation was the darkest hour...

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday declined to file corruption charges against a former California lawmaker, clearing the way for his campaign for Oakland mayor next year. ... The announcement ends an investigation into former state Senate leader Don Perata that stretches back to 2004 and extended to his family and circle of political associates. ... Federal prosecutors released a statement saying only that they were declining to file criminal charges but did not say why. They said they could not "disclose our deliberative process."

SACRAMENTO -- Former state Senate leader Don Perata, who has been the target of a five year-long FBI corruption investigation, will not be charged with any crimes, sources told The Chronicle today. In declining to indict the 64-year-old Oakland Democrat, federal prosecutors in Sacramento put an end to a wide-ranging FBI probe into whether Perata had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars of kickbacks in return for actions he took as a legislator and as president pro tem of the Senate. Perata announced in March that he would run for mayor of Oakland in 2010. The government's decision not to...

It's official: former State Senate Pro Tem Don Perata is making the move to run for Oakland mayor. Chronicle comrade Chip Johnson has the scoop today, talking to Perata after last week's services for the four slain Oakland cops. And Perata said that was a catalyst for his decision to take on the tough job which has also been occupied for two terms by state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

SACRAMENTO—After an investigation that has spanned 4 1/2 years, federal prosecutors are racing the clock as they consider whether to bring corruption charges against a former lawmaker who was one of the state's most powerful political leaders. ... He also became one of the Capitol's most prolific fundraisers. The intersection of power, political fundraising and business connections is what attracted an FBI inquiry into the dealings of the 63-year-old Perata, his family, political allies and campaign contributors. Among the questions being pursued is whether Perata helped steer millions of dollars' worth of political consulting work to his family and friends,...

Former Senate Leader Don Perata filed a formal request with the U.S. Justice Department Wednesday for an investigation into the conduct of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Sacramento, who he contends abused their authority by resurrecting a lengthy ethics investigation of Perata. The request was submitted by George O’Connell, Perata’s lawyer and a former U.S. Attorney in Sacramento, with the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The office, among other things, conducts investigations into complaints against Justice Department personnel, including FBI personnel. The request was filed with Inspector General Glen Fine. O’Connell’s action stems from the...

Former state Senate leader Don Perata and his attorney have mounted a furious campaign against a decision by Sacramento federal prosecutors to review corruption allegations that San Francisco federal prosecutors declined to pursue. The Sacramento review violates a deal, called a tolling agreement, between defense attorneys and the U. S. attorney's office in San Francisco that stopped the clock on the statute of limitations while the parties discussed the matter, the defense attorneys insist. That agreement does not extend to the Sacramento U. S. attorney's office and the statute of limitations now precludes prosecution, the attorneys claim.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission enacted a new regulation today banning the kind of political committee fund transfers that former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata engaged in recently. Perata, D-Oakland, just after Election Day moved $1.5 million from his Leadership California committee — which had raised funds ostensibly to recall a state senator and to oppose a legislative redistricting reform ballot measure, among other things — into his legal defense fund, with which he's battling a years-long FBI corruption probe; he moved another $400,000 in early December. Long before these transfers, the FPPC had been considering cracking...

Mickey, Donald, Pluto and Goofy are helping to keep Don Perata out of jail and they may not even know it. The Walt Disney Co. is one of a number of well-known groups and companies that has pumped money into the former Oakland state senator's "Leadership California" fund, which was put together in 2005 to raise money "to support or oppose state and local ballot measures and other lawful purposes." In the past year, that "other lawful purpose" has been stoking the cooling boiler of Perata's legal defense fund, which has paid out about $2 million to attorneys charged with...

Contributors to Don Perata's political action committee this year might have thought their money would bankroll the attempted recall of state Sen. Jeff Denham or opposition to a legislative redistricting reform measure. But a day after the Nov. 4 election, and with only a few weeks left as state Senate President Pro Tem, the Oakland Democrat moved $1.5 million from Leadership California into his own legal defense fund, formed to counter a years-long FBI corruption probe. This sum dwarfs the California Democratic Party's $450,000 contribution to Perata's legal fund over the past year, which had caused an outcry from some...

California faces a massive deficit even higher than projected in recent weeks - $11.2 billion this fiscal year -- Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said Wednesday. Without immediate intervention, the nightmare could total an additional $13 billion next fiscal year, according to Perata, citing numbers he said came from the governor's office. The Oakland Democrat said the budget gap cannot be bridged by cuts alone, and that he supports raising revenues by restoring vehicle license fees and taxing offshore oil production. Together, the two tax proposals would generate about $7 billion per year - though considerably less in the...

The Democratic majority in the California Legislature is counting on a veteran leader, Don Perata, to see the party through a fight with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over the state's $15 billion budget deficit. But a federal corruption investigation of Mr. Perata could stymie his efforts to get the job done... San Francisco federal prosecutors have been investigating whether payments made by lobbyists and others to Mr. Perata in the past four years were improper. Prosecutors have indicated to defense lawyers that they're close to wrapping up their probe, said people close to the defense, who added that they expect...

This week's exhaustively detailed indictment of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens for allegedly failing to disclose $250,000 in gifts from an oil magnate in his home state of Alaska is dismaying enough. But the stench is hardly limited to Stevens and San Diego's own convicted congressman – Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Rancho Santa Fe. There are abundant signs that corruption in Congress goes beyond just trading votes for contributions to actual bribery. Yet public outrage remains disturbingly muted. Unfortunately, this indifference is also the norm in California. Consider the case of Senate President Don Perata. The Oakland Democrat is the focus of...

It has been 44 months since a federal corruption probe of state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata became public knowledge, and 43 months since federal agents searched his and his son's Oakland homes. Witnesses have testified before a federal grand jury. Thousands of pages of documents have been gathered under dozens of subpoenas issued to public agencies and private companies. Perata's legal defense fund has spent about $2 million, much of that either transferred from one of his campaign accounts or given by the state Democratic party. Almost four years on, some wonder whether it's time for the federal...

Prosecutors will probably soon ask a federal grand jury to indict state Senate boss Don Perata on public corruption charges, according to two sources familiar with the investigation. An indictment would culminate a four-and-a-half-year federal probe of California's second-most-powerful politician. The FBI, the US Attorney's Office, and a federal grand jury have been investigating whether the senator took bribes or kickbacks in exchange for providing official government favors to close friends, business associates, and major campaign donors. It's not clear who else may be charged along with the Oakland Democrat. But based on public records and interviews, the feds also...

The California Democratic Party has donated $250,000 to help Don Perata pay off his legal bills, as the Senate Democratic leader continues to rack up expenses fending off an ongoing FBI corruption investigation. The party made the quarter-million dollar donation on July 1, according to campaign filings. The money comes just in time for Perata, who, according to a May disclosure, had only $273 cash on hand in his legal defense fund and $250,000 in unpaid bills. Jason Kinney, a spokesman for Perata on legal issues, said the donation -- and the continuing expenses -- are "no indication of anything."...

Already almost five years in the works, it doesn't appear the federal corruption probe of state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata will end anytime soon. For the second time this year, the U.S. attorney's office has asked defense attorneys representing Perata and some other potential defendants for an extension of the legal deadline for filing charges. Additional time would allow prosecutors to wrap up their work, sources close to the case tell us. As for why a target of a federal investigation would go along with a request for more time? "Because then (the feds) say we have no...

SACRAMENTO -- Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has seen it before: his name, side by side with the description, "arrogant, corrupt political boss." The Oakland Democrat took the charge in the Proposition 93 ballot measure wars earlier this year, sharing the heat with Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, as symbols of power-hungry politicians in their effort to extend term limits. The same political team that brought down Proposition 93 is again accusing Perata, forever linked to the FBI investigation that hovers over him, of yet another power grab. But this time, they may not be able to keep...

Holding an election to recall state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Atwater, may seem like a juicy political move for some Senate Democrats. But it also will be an unneeded distraction at a time when the Legislature can least afford one. Democrats say they are going after Denham because he voted against last year's budget, flip-flopped on support for schools and voted against a flood control bond, etc. Yet as we all know, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata isn't trying to unseat Denham to enforce policy purity, or crack down on hypocrisy. (If that were the case, dozens of recalls would...

This guy is nuts. Termed-out Democratic Senate leader, Dom Perata, laid out some insane claims yesterday in his whistle stop tour of the Bay Area to drum up support against education cuts during California’s budget crisis. Perata was flanked by local democrat soldiers, Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, who will be unopposed in the Democrat Primary for Torlakson’s seat, along with termed out Senator Tom Torlakson, who will be running for DeSaulnier’s seat; kind of a Contra Costa County two-fer. When informed businesses are importing foreign workers that can actually read English while the government run schools fail to teach American kids...