AP Exclusive: California Legislature's legal bills for sexual misconduct investigations topped $1.8 million in 13 months, when four lawmakers resigned over allegations of wrongdoing.
FILE - This Jan. 23, 2018 file photo shows state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Investigators say Mendoza likely engaged in unwanted "flirtatious or sexually suggestive" behavior with six women. He resigned in February 2018 and is a Democrat. The California Legislature says it racked up more than $1.8 million in legal costs from sexual harassment investigations during 2018 and the first month of 2019.
But both chambers previously have disclosed hiring outside attorneys during that time to investigate five current or former Assembly members and four current or former senators. “It’s not the kind of place you want your taxpayer dollars being used,” said Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, a Democrat representing part of Los Angeles and surrounding communities who led the committee to change harassment policies. “The goal of our new policies is to try to intervene much earlier before we get to a point where you need to have a very large investigation.”
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said his priority is for staff to feel safe and to create a more respectful, diverse and civil culture. Former Senate president Kevin de Leon, who was in charge when the firms were put on retainer, said in a text message that employees’ safety was the top priority and that the outside firms were brought in to ensure complaints were “aggressively investigated, free of any political influence.”
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