a $20+ million coverup
will the new LA city controller audit the millions in taxpayer money being bled to pay elite attorneys concealing city corruption? he campaigned on it.
The multimillion dollar coverup by the City Attorney’s Office to whitewash its own mistakes over the collusive Los Angeles Department of Water and Power billing lawsuit is ongoing, illegal and should be audited. That’s according to a recent letter sent to City Controller Kenneth Mejia from Paul Paradis, the former private lawyer for the city who was involved in the scandal.
It’s easy to write off Paradis as the worst guy in the room who called all the shots. Those in power certainly want you to believe that, and for a while I did. But he was more like an interloper who had a lot of help from his bureaucratic masters. He also knows things, and he’s been a big help to investigators. His letter drives home a few points. Many of these payments to high-end attorneys authorized by the city attorney’s office under the Feuer Administration—itself the nexus of the corruption—were illegal because the law firms hired to defend the city from all of this have directly benefitted from the corruption, employing an attorney who was part of the collusive scheme. Those firms are Ellis George Cipollone and Annaguey McCann. The city has so far appropriated $20 million to pay the Ellis George Cipollone firm.
“Public funds paid to these two law firms were expended illegally in order to aid the Feuer Administration in covering up any form of illegal, corrupt or unethical activity, because any such payments would clearly not be considered lawful payments by the City under the Los Angeles City Charter,” said Paradis in his July 19 letter to the controller’s office.
So in short, those who committed the crimes cannot now be responsible for cleaning them up. Someone else has to look at that and do something about it.
Further, the coverup continues under the Hydee Feldstein Soto Administration, which is pursuing the same legal strategy as her predecessor Feuer.
“The potential misuse of public funds to perpetrate an ongoing fraudulent cover-up of alleged illegal activities by the city demands urgent action,” wrote Paradis. “Immediate action by the City Controller’s Office is required to safeguard and protect public funds because the current Feldstein Soto Administration appears to have abdicated its responsibility for supervising outside counsel who the Feuer Administration initially hired, but who the Feldstein Soto Administration continues to employ and is using public funds to pay.”
Specifically, Paradis points to Maribeth Annaguey, an area lawyer who has represented, and continues to represent, the city in the fake Jones v. City of LA lawsuit over incorrect utility billing. Annaguey worked for multiple law firms while repping the city in the case, first at Liner, then at Ellis George Cipollone. According to the voluminous court-sanctioned special master’s report into the scandal at the city attorney’s office, Annaguey committed 10 State Bar ethical violations, including moral turpitude, which is grounds for disbarment. She is under the investigation by the State Bar. No charges have been brought yet.
None of the involved lawyers, including Annaguey, told the judge in the Jones case that the lawsuit was a sham and that the city represented both sides of it, according to the special master. During this time, Paradis and his handpicked opponent to represent the ratepayers in Jones, Jack Landskroner, were co-counsel in a case together while they were also ostensibly “opponents” in the Jones case.
“Although Ms. Annaguey and other counsel for the city knew this relationship when the motion for preliminary approval of the Jones settlement was pending, they did not inform the court of this relationship or that Mr. Paradis represented both the city and Mr. Jones,” according to the special master’s report. By now you probably know the story: an illegal kickback went down between the two, and Paradis is awaiting his criminal sentencing.
Paradis calls the city’s move to employ her “inexplicable” given the special master’s findings. And the EGC firm knew what the report said before it came out, and quickly removed her from all cases she worked on for the city before the report’s release, according to his letter. Annaguey has since left the firm to form her own shop, but this summer she has been added on as co-counsel for the city of LA by EGC. Why was she cast out and then let back in?
Paradis has also unearthed an email he says shows a city official acknowledging that the city manufactured the collusive lawsuit. In the chain, Annaguey is telling city lawyers all the things that the lawyer for Jones, Jack Landskroner, didn’t do, including conduct any discovery. He also asked for more in attorney’s fees in exchange for backing down on other claims he could have pursued against the city. She called that “blackmail.” In response to Annaguey’s email, Deputy City Attorney Jim Clark, then second in command at the city attorney’s office, replied only to her and said, “Quo.” Paradis’ reading of this is, “quid pro quo.” Translation, “Yea no shit. This is what we paid for.”
“On August 1, 2015, Chief Deputy City Attorney James Clark informed attorney Annaguey that the City of Los Angeles was corruptly buying the collusive settlement in the Jones v. City action on terms and conditions that had secretly been dictated by the city by paying off plaintiffs’ class counsel with $19 million in attorneys’ fees,” wrote Paradis.
Paradis added the city didn’t comply with the State Supreme Court’s opinion in Santa Clara v. Atlantic Richfield Co., which states a municipality that hires private lawyers must ultimately control those private lawyers because their interests are primarily financial and not always aligned with that of the municipality. All final decisions during litigation are to be made by the municipality. And if a high-ranking city official ordered the collusive lawsuit and an extortion payment to conceal it—as multiple investigations have found—than that is certainly a violation of the ruling. Feuer in his deposition said his office was in compliance with the opinion, but how can that be if he also said his outside lawyers went rogue without his knowledge?
The funny thing is the Santa Clara opinion was written by then-State Supreme Court Justice Ronald George, who is the father of Eric George, a founding parter of Ellis George Cipollone that is representing the city and apparently doesn’t get his dad’s ruling. BTW I’ve been meaning to draw up a California legal nepo babies list, so please send me your submissions.
Mejia as a candidate for office was interested in the LADWP corruption saga, prolifically tweeting about LADWP in 2022:
Diana Chang, a spokesperson for the Mejia’s office, said, “We received the letter, but we can't speak to our response at this time.”
Mejia righteously rode into office as new blood who would challenge the system. Feldstein Soto said during her campaign that lol, “her office would never get raided by the FBI.” Maybe not, but will she take 5 minutes to look into what her office is doing in DWP? Both have the power now, and they should use it. DWP is a good place to start.
I am a tenent who resides in the SRO housing in los Angeles im in desprate need of emergency financial aid while trying ro put my life back together after (Still ongoing) years of intentional abuse and terorist acts of harrasment and organied abuse and misconducr against me and my emitional pet cat. Mostt recently my financial survival gas been impacted so secerely that my cat has not food nor litter and no hope in site. I'm doomed without ghelp but my peers and previous employees have made it impossible to find help on my own! My biggest barriers are A hacker on every phone and organized daily home invasion burglary and vandalism every day and then the attacks on my $$$ and physical slave labor in cleaning up the mess and attempted murder while . MY intruders have continuously tried to poison me and my cat. Can someone please come and speak with me in person
Without assistance we will be just another couple of dead bodies found dead in our home with tons of liars who say "we tried to help her! Thankyou to anyone who hears my cry for help. I am worthy Desparate And qualify for funding but cant claim it with A hacker a burglar and a handfull of haters who will not step aside
Tamara haque 747-600-1187 or by Email.
Hi thanks for the articles. Do you have the other exhibits?