Hookers take cash too, Mikey: Dana Parsons writes today that “the good news for [indicted OC Sheriff Mike] Carona is that the government doesn’t always win.” But Parsons says the “bad news” for Calamity Mike is that the feds take their “sweet time putting public corruption cases together.” He interviewed former assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Greenberg who says his old office is cautious and thorough “in cases like this where you’re trying to take down the county sheriff.” The Los Angeles Times columnist predicts Carona will plead guilty within two months. Meanwhile, Larry Welborn over at the Register reports that Al Stokke, a high-end criminal defense lawyer, thinks that Andrew Guilford, Carona’s federal judge, “is a down the middle guy.” The Dalai Lama should be impressed. Stokke is pals with Mike Carona operative Mike Schroeder, who is calling the FBI case “trash.” The county’s bean counters have now decided to take a look at the sheriff’s spending habits—including his use of petty cash and travel accounts, according to Gil Reza and David Reyes at the Times. Supervisor John Moorlach wants Carona blocked from using a county credit card while he’s on his two-month leave of absence. I don’t think Carona will mind. Hookers take cash too.
A Dunn Deal? Art Pedroza at the popular Orange Juice blog wrote yesterday that former state Senator Joe Dunn has dropped plans to run for the county board of supervisors. Instead, says Pedroza, Dunn–the most progressive Democratic candidate OC's ever elected—will go for the Santa Ana City Council seat currently held by Carlos Bustamante, a Republican sheep. Pedroza also speculates that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido could become Hillary Clinton's ambassador to Mexico, a move that would allow Dunn to become the next mayor.
Make Your Campaign Checks Payable to My Wife Please: Rhonda Rohrabacher, wife of the Huntington Beach/Long Beach congressman who skipped Vietnam combat duty when it was his time to serve, is still grabbing money from the campaign kitty. According to Dana Rohrabacher’s latest disclosure report at the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Rhonda took almost $14,000 including $3,000 for yet another computer during a three-month period that ended in September. She is mothering three babies but lists herself as campaign manager. Reports at the FEC also show: SEC Chairman Christopher Cox still has $251,000 in his congressional campaign account; long ago defeated ex-Congressman Robert K. Dornan continues to claim his campaign owes him $40,000; Loretta Sanchez has $642,000 cash on hand, which is dwarfed by an actual dwarf! Yes, Congressman Ed Royce (R-Munchkinville) has stockpiled a whopping $2.1 million.
A Hunger for Liberty! The Opinion boys at the Reg are toasting this morning because Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas recently set a single day fundraising record by hauling in $4.3 million. Paul is the only GOPer in the race who slams Dubya’s Iraq mess. But what’s fascinating is the growing popularity of Paul’s libertarian stances with young folks. It is quite refreshing given that the rest of candidates are Big Government Republicans. The Reg boys see the Paul cash haul this way: “There is a hunger for liberty among young and old of all races and backgrounds, and many are willing to put their money where their mouth is. Ron Paul has been the catalyst, but he has awakened a growing group
of Americans whom standard-issue politicians will no longer be able to ignore.” At least, they hope that’s the case.- And finally, no, no, no: I refuse to read this online Register story: “Person killed in wood chipper accident.”
— R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly
CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.