Thursday, October 22, 2020

RED CHINA KNEW WHO THEY COULD BRIBE AND BUY - JOE BIDEN AND DIANNE FEINSTEIN WERE TOP OF THEIR LIST OF TRAITORS

 

Hunter Biden's CEO in a China venture drops multiple bombshells

An email recovered from Hunter Biden's hard drive had people asking who "the big guy" is.  That's the cryptic identifier given to someone on whose behalf Hunter Biden would hold 10% of the equity in a deal with China's largest private energy company.  Thanks to Tony Bobulinksi, who was part of that deal, we've learned that "the big guy" is Joe Biden.  And while the "big guy" email dates from a few months after Biden had left the White House, it has important ramifications.

Here are the players:

  • CEFC China Energy Co. (CEFC) was a private Chinese energy conglomerate that has since gone bankrupt.  In its heyday, CEFC, which had ties to the Communist Party, was part of China's Silk Road effort to acquire financial control over countries worldwide.  In 2017, the U.S. Justice Department prosecuted a CEFC official for bribing government officials in both Chad and Uganda.  China also accused CEFC of bribing local officials within China.
  • Sinohawk Holdings is a holding company partnership formed between CEFC and the Biden family, ostensibly to invest in infrastructure, energy, and more.
  • Tony Bobulinski is an institutional investor.  James Gilliar, an international consultant; Rob Walker, another investor; and Hunter Biden recruited Bobulinski to be Sinohawk's CEO.

The Hunter hard drive coughed out a May 13, 2017 email that Gilliar, who was handling negotiations with CEFC, wrote to Bobulinksi, with a cc to Hunter Biden and Rob Walker.  Gilliar identified proposed "remuneration packages":

  • Chair/Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC (Hunter) 850
  • CEO (Tony) 850
  • James (EEIG) international consultancy agreement business development (James) 500,000
  • Rob 500
  • Jim Unknown
  • Sanan (Under EEIG agreement) 72,000

The email also shows that Hunter demanded "some office expectations," while "James needs travel of 15,000K a month." Lastly, and most significantly, the email spelled out equity in the partnership:

[A] provisional agreement that the equity will be distributed as follows:

20 H

20 RW

20 JG

20 TB

10 Jim

10 held by H for the big guy?

When the email became public, people speculated that Joe Biden was the "big guy."  That theory gained credence from a text message Hunter sent his daughter.  Biden complained that he'd spent 30 years responsible for the family's expenses, adding, "It's really hard, but don't worry, unlike Pop I won't make you give me half your salary."  It seems Joe was always on the take.

On Thursday, news broke that Tony Bobulinski had revealed who the "big guy" was: Hunter, he said, routinely called his father "the Big Guy" or "my Chairman."  Joe wasn't the only Biden family member benefiting from the deal with a corrupt Chinese company.  James Biden, Joe's brother, was also getting a cut.  You can see Bobulinski's full written statement here.

Then, on Thursday evening, just before the debate, Bobulinski dropped a bombshell video saying Joe Biden was hip-deep in business transactions with the Chinese, that Joe's involvement was secret, that Hunter contributed access to the Biden family, and that CEFC eventually sent its money not to Sinohawk, but to Hunter's entities:

 

There's more: two days after the email described above, Joe's brother, Jim, emailed Hunter, Bobulinski, Walker, and Gilliar, with a list of "key domestic contacts for phase one target projects."  That list includes some familiar names:

[Kamala] Harris, D-Calif.; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio; former Virginia Gov. Terry McCauliffe [sic], among others.

It seems that Joe and Hunter Biden intended to take advantage of Joe's political connections, although there's no evidence they ultimately did so.

Considering that Joe had already left office by May 2017, why does this still matter?  There are several reasons.

First, as is discussed here, the initial phases of the Sinohawk project date to 2015–2016, when Biden was still the vice president.

Second, no one can doubt that Joe was contemplating running for election at the time, yet he crawled in bed with a corrupt company.

Third, China was then our largest geopolitical rival, making it unseemly for a former vice president and future (he hoped) president to do business with it.

Fourth, this transaction provides evidence of a pattern and practice: Joe used his political office to funnel money to his drug-addled son.  His son, in turn, would hold on to a huge cut for Joe.  In other words, Joe sold out America for his personal benefit.

Biden Whistleblower Emails: Chinese Energy Company Gave $5 Million Non-Secured, Forgivable Loan to Biden ‘Family’

US Vice President Joe Biden (C) buys an ice-cream at a shop as he tours a Hutong alley with his granddaughter Finnegan Biden (R) and son Hunter Biden (L) in Beijing on December 5, 2013. Biden said on December 5 China's air zone had caused "significant apprehension" and Beijing needed …
ANDY WONG/AFP via Getty Images
6:38

A 2017 email from a top official with a Chinese energy firm, provided by a whistleblower to U.S. Senate investigators, demonstrates the terms of an agreement included officials with the firm giving a $5 million non-secured, forgivable loan to the Biden “family.”

The email, sent to SinoHawk Holdings CEO Tony Bobulinski, shows how a top official with CEFC Energy — a now bankrupt and defunct energy company based in China — offered to wire $10 million into an account to begin operations, $5 million worth of which would be a non-secured forgivable loan to the “BD Family,” which means the Biden family.

Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer spent four and a half hours with Bobulinski before he went public, and discussed these communications in particular regarding this loan during that meeting. According to Schweizer, the Chinese energy company officials were going to put $10 million into an account, $5 million of which was designated as a non-secured forgivable loan to the Biden family. Schweizer said this would constitute significant leverage the Chinese energy company officials would have over the Biden family.

“In a way, this would give CEFC greater leverage over the Biden family than simply giving them a gift or bribe because if they were dissatisfied with what the Bidens were doing they could ask for their money back,” Schweizer told Breitbart News when asked about the arrangement upon the public release of Bobulinski’s emails.

The email also says that $5 million loan is “interest free” and asks how that $5 million would be used, and if used up, whether CEFC should lend more money to the Biden family.

This email further fleshes out details surrounding the controversial arrangement first uncovered by U.S. Senate investigators in a recent Homeland Security Committee report, and later further uncovered by a bombshell New York Post story on emails retrieved from Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Bobulinski’s new emails add to the story by including terms of the financial arrangement behind the wire transfer that CEFC officials made into a firm aligned with the Bidens that then made significant payments to Hunter Biden’s own firm, a wire transfer and financial payments that were first exposed by Senate investigators. The New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop emails added more information to this questionable arrangement by revealing emails that showed how Biden associates intended to divvy up the cash from the Chinese investors.

These new emails from Bobulinski add more to the picture by showing that the agreement was that this payment would serve as a non-secured forgivable loan, and that the CEFC side of the arrangement understood that the then-forthcoming payment — which Senate investigators confirmed was made just two weeks after these discussions —would serve as a loan to the Biden “family,” not just to Hunter Biden.

This email is part of a broader trove of documents that Bobulinski provided to U.S. Senate investigators with the Homeland Security and Finance Committees, and also to media outlets including Breitbart News. Other media outlets are reporting on the emails as well.

According to the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s recent report, $5 million was wired directly into the account in question two weeks later — and then Hunter Biden’s firm spent the next year wiring $4.8 million from there into his own firm’s account:

CEFC was a controversial energy company, as Breitbart News has reported. “The owner of CEFC, Ye Jianming, was among the most ambitious of Chinese tycoons before his business empire collapsed and he vanished into the Communist nation’s shadowy prison system,” Breitbart News’ John Hayward wrote earlier this week. “Ye was once portrayed as one of China’s greatest rags-to-riches stories, a humble park ranger who began making successful oil investments in his twenties and became a billionaire before he hit 40. He was marketed as an affable businessman foreigners could feel safe making deals with, well-connected but not an obvious tool of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

CEFC is at the center of the burgeoning Biden scandal. When Bobulinski went public on Wednesday night, he was the first source on one of the emails that the New York Post published from Hunter Biden’s laptop retrieved from a computer repair store in Delaware. One such story that the Post published was about Hunter Biden and the Biden family seeking a deal with CEFC, and in those original emails James Gilliar of J2cR emails Bobulinski about “remunerations packages” related to the CEFC deal.

“I am the recipient of the email published seven days ago by the New York Post which showed a copy to Hunter Biden and Rob Walker. That email is genuine,” Bobulinski said in his statement issued publicly.

Bobulinski had been, sources familiar with the matter told Breitbart News, cooperating with the Wall Street Journal for an investigation it is working on. But since the Journal has not published its story several days later after its staff had indicated it would, Bobulinski decided to go public on his own on Wednesday night — and made clear he is cooperating with Senate investigators.

In the original email, published by the New York Post, from Hunter Biden’s laptop, Gilliar references a breakdown of how money acquired would be distributed throughout the firm of which Bobulinski was CEO. The email says at one point that “10 held by H for the big guy.”

In his nearly 700-word statement, Bobulinski confirmed the authenticity of that email and further explained its meeting including that “the big guy” was a reference to former Vice President Joe Biden, the 2020 Democrat presidential nominee, himself.

“What I am outlining is fact. I know it is fact because I lived it. I am the CEO of Sinohawk Holdings which was a partnership between the Chinese operating through CEFC/Chairman Ye and the Biden family,” Bobulinski said. “I was brought into the company to be the CEO by James Gilliar and Hunter Biden. The reference to ‘the big guy’ in the much publicized May 13, 2017 email is in fact a reference to Joe Biden. The other ‘JB’ referenced in that email is Jim Biden, Joe’s brother. Hunter Biden called his dad ‘the Big Guy’ or ‘my Chairman,’ and frequently referenced asking him for his sign-off or advice on various potential deals that we were discussing. I’ve seen Vice President Biden saying he never talked to Hunter about his business. I’ve seen firsthand that that’s not true, because it wasn’t just Hunter’s business, they said they were putting the Biden family name and its legacy on the line.”

Report: Kamala Harris Listed as ‘Key Contact’ for Biden Family Business Venture in China

Olivier Douliery / AFP / Getty

22 Oct 20207,184

4:07

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) was reportedly 

listed as one of several “key domestic contacts” 

for a Chinese business venture proposed in 

2017 by Hunter Biden and James Biden, the 

son and brother of former Vice President Joe 

Biden, respectively.

Fox News reported Thursday morning:

A list of “key domestic contacts” for a joint venture involving Jim and Hunter Biden and now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co. included former Vice President Joe Biden’s current running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, among other prominent Democrats, Fox News has learned.

An email exclusively obtained by Fox News, with the subject line “Phase one domestic contacts/ projects” and dated May 15, 2017, Biden’s brother, Jim Biden, shared a list of “key domestic contacts for phase one target projects.”

The list, included Harris, D-Calif.; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio; former Virginia Gov. Terry McCauliffe, among others.

It is unclear if any of the Democrats were ever contacted about the “target projects.”

Last week, the New York Post revealed Hunter Biden’s venture in China, citing emails in which he said that a deal could be “interesting for me and my family” and that 10% of the equity in a new firm would be “held … for the big guy.”

On Wednesday evening, Breitbart News reported that one of the recipients of Hunter Biden’s emails, Tony Bobulinski, confirmed that “the big guy” was a reference to Joe Biden himself.

Bobulinski also said in a statement to the press: “I’ve seen Vice President Biden saying he never talked to Hunter about his business. I’ve seen firsthand that that’s not true, because it wasn’t just Hunter’s business, they said they were putting the Biden family name and its legacy on the line.”

Breitbart contributor Peter Schweizer noted recently in his book Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite that Biden’s relatives often traded on his name to make money abroad:

The Biden family partners are often foreign governments, where the deals occur in the dark corners of international finance like Kazakhstan, China, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Ukraine, and Russia. Some deals have even involved U.S. taxpayer money. The cast of characters includes sketchy companies, violent convicted felons, foreign oligarchs, and other people who typically expect favors in return.

The Biden family’s apparent self-enrichment depends on Joe Biden’s political influence and involves no less than five family members: Joe’s son Hunter, daughter Ashley, brothers James and Frank, and sister Valerie.

The Bidens leverage political power not only for generating deals, but also for the opportunities to quietly develop the financial resources of wealthy friends for the benefit of the family. Friends that help the Bidens can count on Joe to grant them governmental favors.

Though Biden has tried to dismiss recent stories about Hunter Biden’s emails as a “smear” campaign, no one has yet disputed the authenticity of the emails released by the Post, Breitbart News, Fox News, and others.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

 

 

BOMBSHELL: Hunter Biden Email Names Kamala Harris, Others as Key Contacts for 'Joint Venture' With China Energy Co.

BY BRYAN PRESTON OCT 22, 2020 12:07 PM ET

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool via AP

The emails purported to be Hunter Biden’s on that abandoned laptop have been verified by one recipient. They’re real and they’re spectacularly damning, according to Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden.

Another email begs for answers from Joe Biden’s vice-presidential running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris. Fox News reports:

A list of “key domestic contacts” for a joint venture involving Jim and Hunter Biden and now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co. included former Vice President Joe Biden‘s current running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, among other prominent Democrats, Fox News has learned.

An email exclusively obtained by Fox News, with the subject line “Phase one domestic contacts/ projects” and dated May 15, 2017, Biden’s brother, Jim Biden, shared a list of “key domestic contacts for phase one target projects.”

The email is unrelated to the laptop or hard drive purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden, the former vice president’s son.

Jim Biden is the Democratic nominee’s brother.

It’s a shame the media won’t stir itself to cover this. Or, when they do, they’ll spin it faster than a NutriBullet.

Because it looks for all the world like the whole Biden family trades on Joe’s long and mediocre career in politics, with Hunter as the tip of the lucrative spear.

And they don’t care at all about who they trade with, including the communist oligarchy that rules China.

Here is the actual email. Mr. Bobulinski is one of the cc’d recipients, along with Hunter Biden and two others.

The Biden camp has not responded to it in any way. Joe himself remains under his self-imposed lid until after tonight’s final presidential debate, which will be moderated by a journalist with longstanding Democratic ties. Harris has yet to hold any sort of press event. The malevolent media have not clamored for one.

Sen. Harris is specifically named in the email, along with several other prominent Democrats and one Republican.

The list, included Harris, D-Calif.; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio; former Virginia Gov. Terry McCauliffe, among others.

One question comes quickly to mind: Was Harris ever contacted about this, and if so, by whom? Will the moderator ask it of Joe?

Will the moderator ask about Joe’s nickname?

Bobulinski has confirmed both the authenticity of the laptop email related to him and that the cryptic reference to “the Big Guy,” who would supposedly rake in $10 million from the deal with a Chinese energy company, is in fact a reference to Joe Biden.

Bobulinski was referring to an email, Fox News obtained last week, dated May 13, 2017, which included a discussion of “remuneration packages” for six people in a business deal with a Chinese energy firm. The email appeared to identify Biden as “Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC,” in an apparent reference to now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co.

Reaction from most of the media and the Biden camp: crickets.

CEFC is close with the communist government, as are all successful mainland Chinese companies, and has been involved in Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative by which China has sought to use its economic and manufacturing might to displace U.S. influence around the world.

Editor’s Note: Want to support PJ Media so we can continue telling the truth about the Biden-Harris campaign? Join PJ Media VIP TODAY and use the promo code LAWANDORDER to get 25% off your VIP membership

FBI Has Hunter Biden’s Hard Drive, Which May Contain Images of Underage Girls [Updated]

LAWYERS - THE LAWLESS CLASS - IS KAMALA HARRIS A SOCIOPATH? OR JUST A BRIBES FOR FAVORS CORRUPT POL?

 

KAMALA HARRIS, THE GODLESS.

https://kamala-harris-sociopath.blogspot.com/2020/10/kamala-harris-godless-just-follow-money.html

Harris is no friend of religious liberty. Her recent decision to exclaim in the year of our Lord, which has been conveniently picked up by her staff, is a ploy designed to appeal to unassuming Christian voters impressed by "God talk." As the old adage says, actions speak louder than words, and on this score, Harris fails to convince.

It is the handmaidens working for Planned Parenthood who have joked about selling aborted baby body parts.  And it was Kamala Harris, when she was A.G. of California, who viciously prosecuted the young man who exposed that scandal, after she had received a hefty donation from Planned Parenthood.

THE SAN FRANCISCO CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE WAS VERY GENEROUS AFTER KAMAL HARRIS LET THEM AVOID PRISON…. JUST FOLLOW THE MONEY!

As most people know, prior to her being a Senator, she served as the chief prosecutor for the city of San Francisco.  Now, complaints are coming forward that she flat out refused to pursue criminal cases against Catholic priests who allegedly sexually battered children.

People who say they were victims of childhood sexual abuse call out Harris for not doing all that she could to prosecute their cases. 

LAWYER KAMALA HARRIS, PATHOLOGICAL LIAR AT LARGE

https://kamala-harris-sociopath.blogspot.com/2020/10/lawyer-kamala-harris-pathological-liar.html

Duplicity aside, perhaps the only details of Harris’s speech more cringeworthy than her insincerity was her inability to tell the truth about virtually anything. DAVID KELTZ

 

SHE’S CORRUPT, AMORAL, BRIBES SUCKING BUT ISN’T THAT WHY BIDEN WANTED HER TO BE V.P?

SHE’S A SOCIOPATH LAWYER!

https://kamala-harris-sociopath.blogspot.com/2020/09/kamala-harris-amoral-corrupt-bribes.html

Tucker Carlson of Fox News calls Harris a corrupt and dangerous fraud who sees laws and powers only as means to punish her enemies, pursue her agenda, and get elected. 

KAMALA HARRIS   -  I CAN CON THEM! I'M A LAWYER, IT'S WHAT I HAVE DONE MY ENTIRE BRIBES SUCKING LEGAL CAREER!

https://kamala-harris-sociopath.blogspot.com/2020/09/kamala-harrs-i-can-con-them-im-lawyer.html

All of this is, if we can be permitted to use Biden’s catchphrase, “malarkey.” Harris has already proven herself as a trusted servant of the interests of the rich and powerful at the expense of the working class. The Wall Street Journal wrote last week that Wall Street financers had breathed a “sigh of relief” at Biden’s pick of Harris. Industry publication American Banker noted that her steadiest stream of campaign funding has come from financial industry professionals and their most trusted law firms.

PARASITE - THE CONFESSION OF A MAN WHO NEVER MADE AN HONEST DOLLAR IN HIS LIFE - DAN RIFKIN - LOAN SHARK AT BEVERLY HILLS LOAN COMPANY, BEVERLY HILLS

 

BLOG CONSUMER WARNING:

THE CASE OF LOAN SHARKER DAN RIFKIN OPERATING AS BEVERLY HILLS LOAN COMPANY

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5440581937224467578/768276047361309175

 

first they loan you next to nothing on your valuable property. that's all they lend on. then they suck the blood out of you until they are repaid. then they steal your property!

dan@beverlyloan.com

Beverly Loan Company

9440 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 301

Beverly Hills, CA 90210

(310) 275-2555 ext. 25

Dan@beverlyloan.com

www.beverlyloan.com

THE PARASITE ECONOMY

Do you still remember when American business did not operate on the basis of hook, crook, and steal, but had to provide an honest service or product for an honest price?

BUT NOW IT’S ALL RIGGED!

Rigged to steal money from people.

It’s really a simple paradigm they all use, and it follows that of the banksters who have stollen trillions of dollars from the American economy. The five biggest banksters alone suck out of us more than $5 billion per year on account ‘overdraft’ charges which they’ve rigged to make massively profitable. There is no real cost to rejecting a check NFS. Yet the banks suck off $35-$45 dollars each for this cash cow.

 

Banks, and virtually all businesses use deceptive means to lure consumers into their web. They offer all kinds of perks to come their way, most, if not all, are fraudulent, grossly exaggerated, or simply withdrawn once you connected your bank account with the parasite operation.

 

The American middle class didn’t die of natural causes. We were plundered and looted by the special interests who suck the blood out of this nation, buy the filthy politicians to enable and abet their crime waves. 

DAN RIFKIN IS THE CONSUMMATE LOAN SHARKER CON MAN.  He operates on a very simply and entirely parasitic paradigm to suck the blood out of consumers.

First, he offers you next to nothing for your valuable objects, such as your Cartier watches.

He charges blood sucking interest rates and other fees that are obscene in their greed. This is one greed fucker who has probably done nothing in his entire life other than parasite off people.

Once you have repaid the amount borrowed and then some, Rifkin hooks and crooks to steal your property.

Business is booming for the BEVERLY HILLS LOAN sharkers. So good they built a special elevator up the side of the building for their victims.

THE DEMOCRAT PARTY, MURDERING COPS AND BRIBES SUCKING LAWYERS - THE CASE AGAINST JACKIE LACEY, LOS ANGELES CORRUPT DISTRICT ATTORNEY

 

THE LAWLESS LAWYER CLASS

LAWYER JACKIE LACEY PROTECTS HER MURDERING GANG INFESTED L.A. SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT. SHE IS A REMINDER THAT THE LAWS DO NOT APPLY TO THE LAWYER CLASS!

ONLY KAMALA HARRIS HAS DONE MORE FOR MURDERING COPS AND THEIR GENEROUS NEO-FASCIST COP UNIONS!

https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-lawless-class-how-lawyer-jackie.html

During her time in the DA’s office, Lacey has prosecuted only one officer for killing a civilian, leading to protests outside her office and her home

“She continues to find that it is necessary for police 

to kill unarmed people,” Gascón said. “Perhaps she 

thinks it’s fine, or perhaps it’s all the money she 

has taken from police unions.” Lacey has benefitted

from more than $5 million in contributions to 

outside committees benefiting Lacey has come 

from law enforcement unions. 

 

Oversight Panel Calls for Resignation of LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva

BY FRANK STOLTZE IN NEWS ON OCTOBER 15, 2020 3:48 PM

FILE: L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks in August at the graduation ceremony for the latest Academy Class. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

In a significant erosion of support for Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva, the Sheriff's Civilian Oversight Commission Thursday called on him to resign as leader of one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the country. Commissioners said the sheriff has obstructed oversight at nearly every turn and failed to address major problems at the agency, including the existence of "deputy gangs."

The commission's resolution describes "a serious lack of judgement and leadership by Sheriff Villanueva" and decries "his efforts to block meaningful reform." It also says Villanueva has restricted access to the department by the county's inspector general.

In an extraordinary move, the sheriff opened a criminal investigation into Inspector General Max Huntsman in 2019, accusing him of unlawfully accessing department records. Huntsman — and the county's attorney — said he had access to those files under the law that created his office. Members of the commission called the sheriff's move an act of intimidation.

LOST CONFIDENCE

The nine-member panel says it has lost confidence in Villanueva's ability to effectively govern the agency, which employs nearly 18,000 people and operates the largest local jail system in the country.

Villanueva was an unconventional candidate for sheriff when he beat incumbent Jim McDonnel in the 2018 election. He was a retired lieutenant with little management experience who had never supervised more than 100 people. Villanueva won largely because of the backing of the deputy's union and an endorsement by the LA County Democratic Party.

The vote Thursday to call on Villanueva to resign was unanimous. Some of the panel's most traditionally pro-law enforcement members agreed the sheriff must go, including former Federal Judge Robert Bonner, former Deputy District Attorney Lael Rubin, and former Sheriff's Lt. J.P. Harris.

Despite those credentials, Villanueva has called the panel anti-law enforcement.

"They're political philosophies are either they really, really hate cops or they slightly hate cops or they're not too sure," he said. In the sheriff's view, attempts by the panel to oversee his department are part of a "proxy war" by the Board of Supervisors. The board appoints the panel.

It's worth noting Villanueva's relationship with the board has deteriorated too — two members of the board have asked him to resign. Aspiring members of the board also are critical of the sheriff. In Wednesday's debate hosted by our newsroom, Herb Wesson and Holly Mitchell both said the sheriff was unqualified to do the job. They're vying for the open District 2 seat, which represents cities such as Carson, Compton, Culver City and Inglewood; all or part of L.A. neighborhoods including Crenshaw, Koreatown, La Brea, and Mar Vista; and other unincorporated areas of the county.

Villanueva did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the commission's vote.

AN ELECTED OFFICE

The sheriff is elected by the voters — so it's unclear what effect the calls for resignation will have. In fact, several commissioners worried their resolution will close the door on any hope for effective oversight — even though it simultaneously calls on the sheriff to cooperate with the panel.

"It does seem to be a bit of a contradiction," said Harris. "I hope it doesn't close the door."

"He is the one that closed the door, he's the one that can open it," said Commissioner and Loyola Law School Professor Priscilla Ocen.

The vote comes amid a raging debate over policing in the country and a demand for more accountability and transparency. It also follows a series of controversial shootings by sheriff's deputies that drew angry protests, as well as accusations of brutality by the department during the George Floyd and other demonstrations.

Among the resolution's points:

§  Sheriff Villanueva removed the Sheriff's Department's constitutional policing advisors, while at the same time attempting to rehire deputies who were fired for cause, such as fabricating evidence and domestic violence.

§  Sheriff Villanueva alleged, without proof, that the disciplinary process was "unfair" and deactivated the disciplinary proceedings against deputies accused of using excessive force and committing child abuse

§  Violent deputy cliques or gangs continue to operate within the department, particularly in the Compton and East Los Angeles stations... Despite Sheriff Villanueva's claims that members of these cliques/gangs have been disciplined or reassigned pursuant to Sheriff's Department policy, Inspector General Max Huntsman has said that he is "'aware of no implementation whatsoever' of the policy and that his office can't effectively investigate the secret societies 'because of the obstruction of the Sheriff's Department.'"

In another part of the resolution, the commission says the commission has "violated the First Amendment rights of residents engaging in protest activity as well as journalists covering protests." It cites the arrest of LAist/KPCC reporter Josie Huang, who was taken into custody by deputies last month after identifying herself as a member of the press. "In defending the arrest, Sheriff Villanueva cited inaccurate and misleading information that was contradicted by contemporaneous video footage."

THE BACKSTORY

When Villanueva took office in December of 2018, commissioners initially were hopeful for a better relationship with him than his predecessor Jim McDonnell, who sometimes resisted requests for information from the panel and attended only a handful of their meetings.

Indeed, Villanueva attended several meetings during his first few months in office but as commissioners' questions became more pointed about deputy discipline, use of force and other matters, he quit showing up.

Villanueva was particularly perturbed by the panel's demand for more information about his decision to rehire a former campaign aide who had been terminated by the department for alleged domestic violence and lying. The rehiring of Caren Carl Mandoyan sparked a lawsuit by the board of supervisors and a judge's ruling it was unlawful.

His relationship with the nine-member civilian panel steadily deteriorated since then with his often refusing to even send subordinates to answer questions necessary for them to conduct effective oversight. McDonnell almost always sent his undersheriff to meetings - even if his responses to inquiries left the commission unsatisfied.

In May, Villanueva defied the first ever subpoena by the commission to testify about how he was handling the spread of coronavirus inside LA County's sprawling jail system. The sheriff worried it would be a "public shaming" of him.

The commission was created by the Board of Supervisors in January of 2016 to increase transparency and accountability at the department. In March, voters approved a measure giving subpoena power. At each point, criminal justice reform advocates expressed high hopes for better oversight and changes at the sheriff's department.

With the commission now at a standoff with the sheriff, nobody expressed much hope.

There was talk of a recall of the sheriff among a few activists who spoke at the meeting - the only hope for some to oust a sheriff who's vowed to remain in power.

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