FBI to Focus on Corruption in Sacramento

In an unusual announcement, the FBI on Wednesday said it is making the pursuit of public corruption the top priority of its Capitol office.

James Maddock, the new agent in charge of the FBI’s Sacramento office, also unveiled a 24-hour telephone hotline for tips about wrongdoing and confirmed that his anti-corruption squad is questioning Capitol lobbyists.

But Maddock cautioned that his office, which is also interviewing legislative staff members, is not focusing on any specific lawmakers or subject.

“Public corruption should be the No.1 priority,” said Maddock, who oversees FBI operations from Bakersfield to the Oregon border.

Corruption among officials, he said in an interview, needs to be spotlighted to maintain public confidence in government. “Once public confidence is eroded in elected officials or public institutions it has a serious impact on the public’s respect for government.”

News of Maddock’s announcement quickly spread among lobbyists and legislative staffers, many of whom were not in the Capitol a decade ago when it was engulfed in a wide-ranging FBI political corruption probe that included an undercover sting operation.

By the time it ended in 1994, the probe led to the conviction of 14 people, including five legislators. In recent years, the FBI office here has focused on violent crimes, including the Unabomber case, and drug arrests.

The FBI has also conducted a probe of wrongdoing in Fresno. Last month, former Assembly Speaker Brian Setencich revealed that he had received a letter from the FBI saying that he is a target of a federal investigation. The former Republic lawmaker served on the Fresno City Council in the early 1990s.

And last week, The Times reported on an FBI inquiry into allegations of improper influences on investment decisions at the two largest public pension funds in the state, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the State Teachers’ Retirement System. Maddock said his agents are not investigating violations of Proposition 208, the voter-approved campaign contribution limits that were overturned by a judge last month. But lobbyists and legislative staff members said agents are asking questions about campaign fund-raising and how bills become law, including proposals related to conversions of military installations to civilian use.

These sources said the FBI is focused, at least in part, on the way campaign cash was raised before and after Proposition 208 was struck down.

One veteran lobbyist, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that he was questioned for 90 minutes by the FBI about whether lawmakers were overzealous in raising funds.

“They were basically fishing for stuff,” the lobbyist said.

Senate leader John Burton said he was “stunned” by reports of a corruption probe. “It seems kind of bogus to me,” Burton said. “How could anybody violate [Proposition] 208? People weren’t giving money even after the court said it was OK.”

Assembly GOP Leader Bill Leonard said he believes the Legislature was ethical a decade ago and remains so.

“I assumed the FBI never left the building,” Leonard said. “It also struck me that if they did leave and came back they wouldn’t make an announcement about it.”

One former federal prosecutor suggested the FBI is doing more than just casting a wide net.

“When the FBI fishes, it is with a lot of preparation and because they believe there is something out there to catch,” said Sacramento attorney Malcolm S. Segal, a former federal prosecutor. “. . . Saying something like, ‘We’re just fishing,’ is the kind of baloney you put at the end of the fish hook.”

Times staff writers Jenifer Warren and Dan Morain contributed to this story.