California ethics panel probes state Sen. Wright in campaign-law issue
The state’s political ethics agency has launched an investigation into whether state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) violated campaign law when he formed a legal defense fund without reporting the legal issue for which he was raising money, an agency official said Thursday.
Elected officials may use legal defense funds to raise unlimited funds for expenses including representation by attorneys, but are required to disclose the purpose for which the money is being raised, said Roman Porter, executive director of the Fair Political Practices Commission. The papers filed to form Wright’s committee said only that the money will be used for “any lawful purpose.”
Porter wrote to Wright that the commission “has initiated an investigation regarding the formation of the . . . legal defense fund.”
Wright created the fund after the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office searched two homes he owned. The September searches were part of an investigation into whether Wright correctly reported his address while seeking the legislative seat to which he was elected last year.
Wright said he would amend the disclosure form to say that the fund was “for legal expenses incurred for a residency investigation.” But he said he believed that he had complied with the law because he had not raised any money for the fund and no case has been filed that would require him to pay for a defense.
“There is no legal issue. . . . There is no case,” he said.
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