At the same time, Jackson also worked as a PR consultant for Lennar, a prominent real estate developer. “King,” who claimed to be seeking business opportunities in San Francisco real estate, hired Jackson as a consultant. Leland Yee, in a competing mayoral campaign, and continued assisting Yee in his bid for secretary of state.īut Jackson ended up playing for several sides. Jackson was previously a fundraiser for Lee’s rival, state Sen. “King” began sending contributions to Lee after Keith Jackson, another key figure in the federal investigation, suggested it. These would have included an undercover FBI agent posing as a mob-connected Atlanta businessman using the alias “Michael Anthony King,” and Lee himself, who according to FBI documents received thousands of dollars in illicit contributions from “King” to retire campaign debt from his 2011 mayoral run.Īlthough Chow’s jury did not hear the defense team's argument that the FBI improperly stopped investigating Lee, a KQED analysis of thousands of pages of court filings sheds new light on Lee’s alleged connection to illegal campaign donations from "King" in exchange for sweetheart housing development deals. However, under federal Judge Charles Breyer’s orders, the players who surfaced in that separate thread of the investigation were never called to the witness stand. 8 conclusion, finding Chow guilty on all 162 counts - including racketeering and ordering the murders of two rivals - also opened a window into potential “pay to play” politics in Lee’s administration.Ĭhow’s defense had planned to introduce evidence pointing to shady campaign donations fronted by an undercover FBI agent and facilitated by Lee’s fundraisers.
#Zula jones trial#
Lingering questions about this type of corruption pointing all the way to the top of San Francisco city government went unanswered during the recent federal criminal trial of Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow.Īnd the trial’s Jan. There is absolutely no place in San Francisco for this corruption, especially in City government, and Mayor Lee urges the District Attorney and City Attorney to pursue these charges to the fullest extent." The violation of trust is the same, as is the damage to the taxpayers."Ĭhristine Falvey, Mayor Lee's spokeswoman, told KQED by email: "Mayor Lee is deeply disturbed by the alleged criminal activities of Mr. There is no level of acceptable corruption. It does not matter if it involves millions of dollars or merely hundreds. "It does not matter if the corruption is national or local in scope. "This type of criminal activity erodes public confidence, undermines the strength of our democracy, and if left unchecked threatens our government," Johnson said.
These crimes initially surfaced as the result of a lengthy federal investigation, and authorities agree that this matter should be handled by local prosecutors."Īt the same press conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge David Johnson called public corruption "the No.1 criminal priority for the FBI." When government is for sale, we all suffer.
Speaking at a press conference, Gascón said, “Public corruption is a crime against all of us.
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