Harry Seydoux, the embattled former mayor of Anaheim, has refused to publicly disclose emails and text messages from personal accounts he used to run the city’s business, calling into question the accuracy of the city’s investigation. corruption scandal Linked to the aborted sale of the Angel Stadium and The self-described ‘gang’ which allegedly directed the city’s policies.
In emails obtained by The Times, criminal defense attorney Sidhu claimed that the former mayor’s previous communications about the city’s actions on private machines were no longer public because he resigned and invoked his client’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Public records experts say the refusal violates California law, leaves a critical gap in public understanding of the behind-the-scenes actions that have upended the political establishment in Orange County’s most populous city, and could encourage other government officials to use private accounts to conduct official business and avoid public scrutiny.
“Just because Seydoux kept these records on his personal devices doesn’t make them his own,” said Paul Clifford, who has pleaded public records cases on behalf of journalists as Auckland-based first attorney for the First Amendment Project. They are, by law, public records that the government is entitled to restore.
“It will encourage government officials to go ahead and do business on their emails, especially if they expect not to be part of the government. That would create a disastrous situation for the public to know what their government is going to do.”
sidhu Resigned in late May distance FBI statement Support a search warrant that was targeted has been broken. The affidavit, which detailed his use of personal city business email, alleged probable cause to believe he committed honest service fraud, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and other crimes. Anaheim subsequently received several requests under the California Public Records Act for emails and text messages Seydoux sent or received while mayor. Although city officials searched Sidhu’s work email for responsive records, the law requires him to do the same on personal accounts.
But Sidhu’s attorney, Paul Meyer, on June 22 rejected an email to City Atty. Robert Fabella.
Mayer wrote: “On counsel’s advice, despite the fact that we believe that no further federal or criminal violations will ultimately be filed or substantiated against [Sidhu]Under the well-established theory that the Fifth Amendment was created to protect innocent people involved in a criminal investigation, he asserts the Fifth Amendment’s prerogative against self-incrimination to request the city release emails and texts from his personal accounts.”
Karl Olson, public records attorney at Kanata, O’Toole, Fix and Olson In San Francisco, to a California Court of Appeals ruling in 2007 that specifically cited “corruption” as a reason for the public’s right to access government records. A decade later, in 2017, the California Supreme Court ruled that communications that public officials make about private accounts are public records that can be disclosed.
“what or what [Meyer] “The more perverted you are, the less the public has the right to know how perverted you are…and if that is the law, it will turn the whole public records law on its head,” Olson says.
Mayer said Monday he had no further comment on the matter.
City spokesman Mike Lister said Anaheim has not received any records from Sidhu’s personal accounts since the FBI investigation became public, and is not aware of any responsive records.
“We are in a unique position and will continue to assess the matter,” Lester said. He added, “Other than the exchange of letters… the city has not taken any legal action. We understand that the federal investigation is ongoing and we have not made any decision at this time.”
Seydoux was not charged with any crime, and through Mayer asserted his innocence.
The affidavit asked FBI Special Agent Brian Adkins for permission to review records from Sidhu’s personal email and mobile phone. It cited an email Sidhu sent from the account to political consultant Jeff Flint – who represented the Angels – and then-Anaheim Chamber of Commerce president Todd Emment in July 2020 “in an effort to help the angels” during the city’s negotiations to sell Angel Stadium and surrounding parking to the team.
During a January meeting, Seydoux assured Lament that emails between the three men would not make their way to an Orange County grand jury investigating the stadium deal. Ament — who later accepted the electronic fraud plea deal, provided false statements to a financial institution and filed a false tax return — secretly recorded the conversation at the request of the FBI.
Seydoux told Lament that the communications were on “private emails” and that he “erased everything,” according to the affidavit.
In a footnote to the affidavit, Adkins wrote: “There may have been additional items related to the offenses targeted… which may have been omitted by SIDHU and thus failed to delete, and therefore are still held in the SUBJECT ACCOUNT and on the subject phone.”
The Times obtained more than 5,000 pages of records from Anaheim in response to requests for public records in the months following the written announcement. There is not a single email or text message sent from Sidhu among them, although many emails are sent to his personal account.
In one submission in late May, The Times sought to obtain emails or texts sent or received by Seydoux or his chief of staff regarding a detailed episode in second statement Target Ament. The FBI claimed that Flint wrote a script that Seydoux read during a city council meeting in March 2021. Multiple drafts were sent to Seydoux’s aide, according to the affidavit.
The city replied, “Despite diligent research,” the city is unable to determine which records fall within the scope of your application.
The response added that search efforts are continuing, although no response records have been produced.
Three days later, Fabella Meyer emailed me.
After Seydoux was asked by the city’s attorney to look into his personal accounts, Mayer said he needed to review “all of this material already in the city’s possession.” Fabella said they could provide Meyer with records from the city’s former mayor’s email account, “but I don’t understand how this affects Mr. Seydoux’s obligations to search his personal devices and accounts.” Anaheim eventually gave Mayer thousands of pages of documents that the city had collected in response to public records requests for information regarding key players in the investigation such as Ament and Flint.
In August, the Anaheim City Council voted to retain JL Group, a Laguna Niguel-based investigative firm, to investigate the scandal. The work is estimated to take six months and cost between $500,000 and $750,000.
The company, which declined to comment on the details of the investigation, is examining whether Sido or City Council members directed “the actions and/or activities of the city based on campaign contributions,” and that city employees engaged in “illegal and/or unethical behavior in the context.” of the federal investigation,” and city officials engaged in “communications/meetings” that violated the State Open Meetings Act.
in written update In front of Anaheim City Council ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Orange County Supreme Court Justice Clay Smith, who is overseeing the city’s investigation, said it was still in the “early stages” as investigators began interviewing the individuals involved and “working actively to identify documents that It must be analyzed.” Smith was not available for comment, according to his case manager.
James Weddick, a retired FBI special agent who has spent decades investigating public corruption and consult In white-collar criminal inquiries, Anaheim believes she needs to get Sidhu’s contacts as soon as possible if the investigation is to be credible. He described any emails sent from Sidhu’s personal account as a “crucial link”.
“You have a lot of information to get those records,” Weddick said.