In many blog posts, I have pointed out that former California Senate leader Don Perata was under investigation for political corruption. He has now been cleared of the pending charges.

According to the Sacramento Bee … 

“After a nearly five-year probe that covered most of his tenure as leader of the state Senate, Democrat Don Perata has been told by federal authorities that he will not face charges in a corruption investigation.”

“Perata, who has announced plans to run for mayor of Oakland, had been the subject of an FBI probe into whether campaign contributors or others benefitted from his actions and power as the Senate president pro tem.”

“But Lawrence G. Brown, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, which is based in Sacramento, announced today that no criminal charges would be filed against Perata.”

" ‘Prosecutors from both this office and the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice have reviewed the matter involving Sen. Don Perata and have determined not to pursue criminal charges," Brown said in a statement issued at noon. "This office and the Criminal Division in Washington, D.C., worked collaboratively in undertaking this review.”

" ‘Each office reached its decision independently based on our respective analyses of the facts and the law. Beyond that, in accordance with departmental policy, we cannot disclose our deliberative process. Our review of this investigation was consistent with the sound exercise of our prosecutorial discretion.’"

Which means what?

Other than the obvious answer that Perata was not guilty of chargeable crimes, there could be other reasons for the government declining to take further action.

• Prosecutorial misconduct.
• Original Charges were brought for political reasons.
• Charges were dropped for political reasons now that there has been a change of Administration and a likely change in the DOJ and its far-flung outposts.
• Perhaps the evidence was circumstantial and was not sufficient to win a conviction.
• Perhaps witnesses were or became uncooperative.

What we do know is that the government spent a significant amount of investigatory manpower and a large amount of money to pursue this case – and now refuses to explain why. Which is highly suspicious for such a high profile case.

We also know that Don Perata  transferred a significant amount of money from his campaign fund to his legal defense fund; continuing to raise funds from special interests purportedly for his upcoming race for the position of Oakland Mayor.

The thought of Don Perata replacing the openly avowed black democrat socialist Ron Dellums should give pause to Oakland’s residents. They have been victims of a one-party rule which has allowed the city to become a cesspool of corruption and crime. In my opinion, by choosing someone like Don Perata for their Mayor, it seems that the citizens of Oakland would be voting to perpetuate the status quo and continuing policies which seemingly favor special interests over the interests of the citizens.

I am not a fan of Don Perata, the democrat party, Ron Dellums and his socialist party, former Oakland Mayor and ex-governor Jerry Brown, one party rule or the damage being done to the citizens of numerous democrat-run cities in California.

But it is up to the citizens of Oakland to assist in cleaning up their own city – by electing honest and honorable candidates. I wish all of them luck in the upcoming election and hope that there is a solution to restoring Oakland to a safe, prosperous and thriving community.

As for Don Perata, I can hardly congratulate someone I believe has been toxic to California politics and part of the reason that California is now enmeshed in a fiscal crisis.

-- steve

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OneCitizenSpeaking: Saying out loud what you may be thinking …

Research Links:

Ex-Senate leader Perata cleared in kickback probe - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee