Mike Duvall Avoids One Probe But Possibly Not a Far More Serious One

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Al Pacino famously said that in Godfather III, but former Assemblyman Mike Duvall (R-Yorba Linda) could just as easily be muttering that to himself now.

That's because the Orange County Register's Total Buzz politics blog reports that Legislative Counsel, the attorneys for the State
Legislature, issued an opinion today saying that the Assembly Ethics
Committee doesn't have jurisdiction to investigate Duvall because he is no longer a member of the Assembly.

All's well that ends in shambles? Not so fast. Turns out that wasn't the only potential probe of Big Mike.
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Hot on the heels of Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) saying the Assembly would discontinue its Duvall investigation based on its attorneys' findings, the Los Angeles Times' L.A. Now blog reports today that the North County blowhard's boasts into a hot mic that he had
sexual relations with a woman believed to be a lobbyist has drawn the
attention of the FBI.

Agents have talked to at least two former employees of Duvall,
including his chief of staff, Carolyn Ginno, to determine whether there
is evidence of criminal wrongdoing that could lead to an investigation,
sources told Times reporter Patrick McGreevy. That was later confirmed on the record by Special Agent Steve
Dupre, a spokesman for the FBI.

Duvall resigned Sept. 9 after Weekly reporter R. Scott Moxley and KCBS-TV reporter Dave Lopez's tag-team revelations the night before about a videotape that showed Duvall telling Assemblyman Jeffrey Miller (R-Mission Viejo) about sexual
relations with a female lobbyist
for a public utility company and at least one other lobbyist.

Duvall, who is married, has two children and campaigned for office as a moral crusader, was vice chairman
of the Assembly's Utilities Committee.