Perata Also Served With FBI Warrant

On the same day that FBI agents conducted a very visible raid on the home of the son of Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, they also quietly executed a search warrant on Perata’s Oakland house, a Perata advisor confirmed Wednesday evening.

The Dec. 15 encounter was the first time investigators are known to have directly contacted Perata (D-Alameda) as part of the federal grand jury investigation into business activities of a number of his relatives and associates. Several are political consultants who have business relationships with the senator, mostly in his East Bay district.

A person familiar with the search said that several agents presented Perata with a search warrant that asked for records involving specific topics. After consulting over the phone with his attorney, George O’Connell, Perata let the agents in and provided the documents. They left three hours later with computer files and papers, the person said.

The subjects of the search warrant were not clear, but the source said that many of them involved records related to Lily Hu, a onetime Perata aide who is a prominent lobbyist in Oakland. Federal authorities have seized some of her business records.

Jason Kinney, Perata’s spokesman, said: “As Sen. Perata has made clear, he is happy to cooperate with any legitimate inquiry because he knows that all of his public and private conduct has been appropriate. Therefore, when asked for documents, he was more than willing to provide them. Beyond the requests for these specific documents, Sen. Perata has still not been contacted to discuss this matter with the government.”

Spokespersons for the FBI and the U.S attorney’s office in San Francisco declined to comment Wednesday.

The search warrant was served on Perata shortly after federal authorities raided the Oakland home of Perata’s son, Nick, a political consultant who has worked on campaigns with his father. Eight agents wearing FBI windbreakers and bulletproof vests searched the house in front of neighbors and news photographers, eventually carting away two computers and a ream of papers.

In past months, federal investigators have probed whether Don Perata’s consulting company as well as some of his associates had received any contracts or had any correspondence with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system.

Another subject of the inquiry is Timothy G. Staples, Perata’s college roommate and later a business partner. Staples has worked on campaigns of political candidates Perata has helped.

Perata’s political consulting firm, Perata Engineering, earned more than $100,000 last year from Staples. He severed that business relationship, which dates back several years, after a number of newspaper reports.

Concerns about Perata were a major reason why some Democrats were reluctant to elect him Senate president. Perata ultimately won after a tie-breaking vote in the Democratic caucus. He was unanimously elevated to president pro tem by the Senate earlier this month, after its new members had been elected.